“It’s fine, it’s fine! Everything is Fine!” Friends, how many times do we find ourselves in a season of struggle, but we put on a happy face and pretend everything is okay? So often, in the church, we hide behind these masks of happiness, but the Lord invites us to bring our suffering, our agony, and our seasons of struggle to Him.
You see friend, there are countless examples in the Bible of people taking their groaning to the Lord. For example, the Israelites groaned to the Lord in Exodus (2:23-24), Job’s groaning poured out like water (Job 3:24), David became worn out from his groaning (Psalm 6:6), and Jesus’ sweat became like blood, as He fell on His face in agony praying (Luke 22:39-46).
I think the most notable example here, is Jesus, who being fully man and fully God, cried out to the Lord in anguish to the point of His sweat becoming like drops of blood. He was asking God to change His situation.
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42
As we see from these examples, the Lord invites us to bring our suffering, our agony, and our seasons of struggle to him. He invites us to wrestle with Him. He invites us to cry out to Him, asking Him to change our situation. But then, He invites us to move forward in faith. You see, after Jesus cried out in agony to God, He said “yet not my will, but yours be done”. Jesus moved forward in faith, trusting the will of the Father because he knew that God’s plans and ways were better. And it was. It is.
So friend, I invited you to take off the mask of “everything is fine”, and take it to the Lord. Cry out to him, but then move forward in faith trusting that his ways are better. Because they are.
Ashley Cooper has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. She is married with two children and three dogs. She enjoys spending time with her family, running, hiking, kayaking, reading, and writing. Ashley’s seasons of struggle and journey to healing through the power and blood of Jesus Christ has driven her passion to encourage and mentor others in their own journeys. For more encouragement, you can visit Ashley’s blog at www.forgivenfree.com.