Articles
Struggle
The verb struggle is defined as “to proceed with difficulty or with great effort.” The noun struggle is defined as “an act of strong motivated striving.” That’s a good description of life—or at least my life. We spend our lives struggling with life.
I struggle with being a good person. I struggle with being a good husband, father, neighbor, friend, and Christian example. I don’t always say the right things. I don’t always do the right things. I don’t always do what I know I should or even what I say I will do. It’s not that I want to fall so short. I just do. And that causes more struggle. That sounds somewhat familiar though…
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? —Romans 7:18-24
Paul struggled just like me. He was frustrated with his struggle… just like me. It even appears there were days that he almost felt like the struggle was too much… just like me.
Paul asks the question, “Who will deliver me?” Thankfully, he provides the answer: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (Romans 7:25). Thankfully, there is hope. Through Jesus I can overcome my struggles.
It is important to remember when we are lost in the “struggle” of life that God loves and cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). He wants to help us overcome the struggle and even works in us to accomplish that task (Ephesians 2:8–10). There are days Satan uses our emotional response to our struggles to cause us to forget these important truths. But we must always remember God is on our side. He wants us to overcome.
As you go through the struggle of life, cling to God. He will see carry you through
