Because We All Struggle With Something

 

For this light momentary

       affliction

is preparing for us

an eternal weight of glory

  beyond all comparison,

as we look not to the things

       that are seen,

but to the things

       that are unseen.

           2 Corinthians 4. 17-18

What we are facing may be

  hard, difficult and confusing.

But that does not mean

   that God is not in it,

forming something new in us.

I was struggling with an exercise

       in a fitness class,

when I realized that I had not

even reached the hard part yet.

But I knew it was not unending,

nor random, nor defeating,

but designed to strengthen me,

not just for what I can see

      right in front of me,

but for what is yet unseen,

both the hard and the joyous.

O LORD,

Remind us that we are

      not alone in this hardship.

And through these difficulties,

   You are forming something new

for our well-being, 

for Your goodness sake,

and to energize us

   for what we do not even know.

Your weight of glory in this situation

    far exceeds anything we endure.

We cannot see it,

              but You do.

Build our muscles of faithfulness,

     dear Father.

Help us to see

    this struggle is not an exercise in futility,

         but strength training.