The Struggle

     It seemed like the day I turned 40 my eyes decided to rebel.  I struggled more and more with reading things.  I went to the eye doctor thinking that, over all, my eyes or contact prescription had changed but the eye doctor said my prescription really had not.  He said to me "you just need a pair of reading glasses".  Inside I gasped, but I already had kind of known that this was the answer,  just didn't want to admit it.  He told me that I could just easily go to a store and pick up a pair of the weakest prescription they had and that should do the trick.  I really didn't want to, but eventually I caved.  Now I am much older and I pretty much have a pair in every room of my house, including my purse and at work in my desk.  I only seem to need them when I read or am working on the computer.  I can get away without them, but I have come to the conclusion of "why struggle?".  The battle was really with my admittance that I needed to wear them.  I have contacts because I don't like things on my face, but I also don't like how I look in glasses.  The battle was admitting that I needed them to make my life easier and getting over myself.  As I think about it, again the Lord used this to speak to my heart.  I laughed out loud because He just knows me so well and clearly how my mind thinks.
     It seems that when something is going on in our lives, where we know we are struggling, we either don't want to admit the struggle, admit we need help, or we don't want to release the struggle to actually receive the help, and maybe we are afraid of how we might look if we admit that there is a struggle.
What is going on in your life that you need to release to God?  You know you are struggling, but you are either afraid of admitting the struggle, asking for help, or we are just afraid to let go of it fully.
1 Peter 5:7 comes to mind where He tells us literally, to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us.
Then remembering that Ephesians 3:20 and that He is able to more that we could ever ask or think of in our lives.
Then lets not forget that He knows the plans He has for us.  He has plans to prosper and not to harm us, and one to give us a hope and a future in Jeremiah 29:11.
Also on of my favorites; Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.

We also need to remember that in our weaknesses He is strong.  I think that so often we forget that.  Our lives become so much easier when we allow Him to fight battles for us.  When we release our cares, be still, and allow Him to do a work because His grace is sufficient for us. Trust Him.

2 Corinthians 12:9

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My 

strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I 

will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ 

may rest upon me.