Does it seem that you are always struggling with various circumstances in life? Does each new day bring serious decisions to be made? Allow me to encourage you to seek wisdom, direction, and comfort from the Lord in your trying times.
As you wrestle with things be careful not to make the opinions of man more important that the Word of God. As I sat down with my Bible today I was reminded of the verses in Jeremiah 17:5-8 that begin in this way:
"Cursed is the man who puts his trust in man, and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord…”
The passage goes on to say that putting your trust in man and taking pride in your own strength is like being like a shrub in the desert that inhabits the parched places in the wilderness. I can tell you from experience that there is nothing good that comes from trusting man over God.
Does it seem that (like me) you start out strong with the Lord, looking to Him for your answers and putting your trust in His word but you tend to fade in the long stretches...when the road gets long and rough?
In discussing this with other women the consensus is that in general we begin by praying and wanting what God wants for us, but over time we become wrapped up in the opinions of other people as to how we should go through troublesome times. We make their opinions more important than Scripture, and we adopt sinful attitudes with respect to our afflictions.
Remember that all that is of this world - including your suffering and affliction- is temporary.
“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” 2 Corinthians 4:17
While Paul describes the afflictions of this life as “light” and “momentary” and our sufferings as temporary and designed only for this lifetime there are times I certainly struggle to focus on the eternal weight of glory they are producing (Romans 8:18)
Do you have a hard time with the thought that your present suffering will cause future glory? This is a tremendous promise! All of the difficulties, and trials, and sorrow and suffering that you and I endure in this life is affecting a change in the image of who we will become in eternity! This makes every single moment of our suffering very significant.
Even the worst of our sufferings are light compared with that “eternal weight of glory” which they are producing (1 Peter 5:10; 1 Peter 1:6; 2 Cor. 4:17.) They are nothing in duration!
Because of our finite abilities, the human mind really does not have any concept of how long eternity is. We have to take by faith that our sufferings are but for a moment; but the glory we will experience will be eternal. Our sufferings will soon pass away; but the glory we will one day experience is never going to end.
Paul wanted us to get two ideas in as emphatic a manner as possible; first, that his afflictions were light, and, secondly, that they were momentary, and soon passing away. His object was to contrast trials with the glory that awaited him, as being heavy, and as being also eternal. He may not have understood it either, but he believed it by faith. He tells us that he learned to trust God through trials that began the moment he began to preach Christ.
In the same way, your afflictions are working, producing, and affecting future glory. This is why we are to set our minds on what is to come. Not on the problems, the suffering, or the afflictions but the glory that is to come! Think of what God is accomplishing and the changes that have been made in your heart and life. Think of how your perspective has changed on things as a result of your trials, and by all means, stay out of the wilderness of human opinion.