Discouraged? Here’s where you find hope
By Scott Hilgendorff / Cowboys of the Cross
How much do we really think about just how deep God’s love for us is?
Those aren’t the thoughts of a typical cowboy.
At the rodeo, we face pressure to win or we don’t have entry fees for the next few weeks, we get our thumb taken off and miss the calf roping win, our truck breaks down, we get discouraged
At the ranch, political issues crop up that affect how we use our land, prices sometimes dive before our cattle get to market, a storm blows through and an extra week of work piles up making repairs to broken fences and barns. It gets discouraging.
Don’t worry, God’s in control.
I’ve heard that so many times and yet, I still worry. There are times it makes me think I haven’t matured as a Christian nearly as much as I had hoped when I can’t seem to give my stress and worry over to God.
First, we have to remember as Christians, we have a perfect eternity waiting. As bad as our situation is right now, it actually can be worse. It is hard for us to grasp just how short our time here is and when we are struggling and even suffering, it gets even harder to see that.
But we are loved by God so much that He sent Jesus to die a painful death to take all punishment meant for our sin that if we believe in him, repent of our sin and ask to be forgiven, we are given a perfect eternity it Heaven.
Romans 5:8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us
The troubles we face are because this is a sinful broken world. We are born into this world as sinners separated from God because He won’t allow sin in His presence and will judge and condemn it. But despite deserving God’s punishment as we live sinfully, He still sent Jesus to die and take the punishment in our place.
When we receive that gift of salvation through our saving faith in Jesus, it doesn’t mean our struggles end but there are two things it does mean: a perfect eternity awaits us free of struggle and whatever we are going through, God will use it for good.
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Sometimes with hindsight, we can see how God used a struggle to build us up or even to save us from an even bigger struggle. But sometimes, we don’t always get to see the direct outcome of God’s plan. It’s one of those places where we need faith when that happens and hope in our perfect eternity, free from struggles. It doesn’t mean it isn’t hard but our strength to endure comes from God and the hope He gave us through Jesus is what can get us through anything.
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