How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough
The maples were speckled with tangerine hues when the long season began. I didn’t know what the months ahead might hold. I was in the middle of a rugged stretch of roadway, and the tunnel ahead looked long. Where do you turn when the going gets tough and you’re not sure how to gut it out?
When the Going Gets Tough
I was trudging forward on an autumn day, and I stumbled into the following words:
“He (Jesus) learned obedience from what he suffered . . .” (Hebrews 5:8 NIV).
I stopped in my tracks. I’d never noticed these words, and maybe you haven’t either.
Jesus, the King of kings, learned obedience through his suffering. He also taught us how to endure suffering when the going gets tough. Let’s take a closer look at Jesus’ example of how to keep going in tough times.
How to Keep Going Through Suffering and Trials:
1. When the going gets tough, pray through your suffering.
I tend to forget all about praying when life becomes physically difficult. Particularly during times of deep physical anguish (think, hunched over the toilet with the stomach bug kind of anguish), I have a hard time seeing out of the fog of my circumstances.
Jesus prayed while he suffered. Hebrews 5:7 reads: “During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death.”
Dear friend, keep praying. Keep asking God for help.
God has not deserted you. Psalm 34:18 tells us that God is close to the brokenhearted. He saves those who are crushed in spirit. Don’t stop praying.
2. When the going gets tough, tell God how you feel.
Jesus talked to God with fervent cries and tears. He didn’t mask his suffering, pretend it was easy, or put on a facade for God. We can do the same. We are called to do the same.
Are you heartbroken? Tell God.
If you don’t know how to go on, voice your concerns to God.
Is your burden too heavy and your assignment insurmountable? Be honest with God about your emotions.
Is your burden too heavy and your assignment insurmountable? Be honest with God about your emotions. #suffering #prayer #trials #burdens Share on XGod already knows how you’re feeling. Tell him for your sake, not for his.
He is listening. He wants to carry your burdens for you. But you must be willing to admit to them and release them. (For a post on the lie you might believe about your greatest struggle, read here.)
3. Submit to God in your suffering.
Just before he went to the cross, Jesus asked God to make another way for the salvation of humanity. He concluded his prayer with these words: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42 NIV).
After voicing what he felt in his heart, Jesus submitted to God in his darkest hour. We would be wise to pray this precise prayer, offering our humble submission in our pain.
4. When the gets tough, trust God to use your pain for good.
God used Jesus’ suffering to make him the source of eternal salvation for all who believe. It was the ultimate demonstration of God’s love and goodness.
When I walk through the darkest valleys, I hold fast to the words of Romans 8:29: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
God works all things for the good of his children. God’s idea of “good” is different than ours. He makes us look more like Jesus when we suffer: His ultimate idea of “good.” We can thank God in our suffering because God is using it to shape us into the image of Christ.
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Let’s thank God for his promise to one day wipe away every tear and make all things new. Suffering will cease forever. We will walk in the redeeming light of his love forever.
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