Perplexed, But Not In Despair

I was listening to a message (sermon) online by Tim Jackson. The title is A Better Hope. My word of encouragement today was one word...Hope. I really liked what he said at the
beginning. He referred to listening to what he says as taking a walk with him on the path that he's on, but know upfront that it could lead to a dead end. That reaffirms what I believe. Every individual should have their own personal walk with Jesus. Although our paths may be leading in the same direction, we still each have our very own unique path to walk.

Sometimes I get so wrapped in what I'm expecting God to do, that I lose sight of what is really important. My salvation, my eternal life. God never promised us that every minute of our
life would be happy. The Bible says,

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
-2 Corinthians 4:8-9

He never promised us a life of luxury. We were told that our path was going to be hard at times,
but there is hope. In the times that our life is easy, we should rejoice and be grateful for everything around us and remember who gave us everything we have. Our trials that we have now will seem small compared to what we will face in the future. In order for us to strengthen our faith, we have to go through tough times. We would be like spoiled children if everything in our life was easy.

No one's life is easy, but in my life I have hope. In spite of everything I've done, He still wants me. He sent His Son because He loves me. When I chose to get to know Him, I chose a hard life, not an easy one. Because I chose to get nearer to Him, I have to go through trying times to strengthen my faith in Him so He can reveal more of Himself to me. At a time in my life when I
could panic and turn away from Him again, I have chosen to trust Him. It may not be easy all the time, but it will be much more rewarding.

God showed me that even though I may have failed in man's eyes, I am not a failure. When I may be worthless to others, I'm still everything to Him. He will take care of me.

I asked God to strengthen my faith. He will show me the rest of the way out of this struggle that I'm going through. Physically I may come out of it exhausted and a little bruised, but spiritually I will come out of this stronger.