How To Respond When God Does Not Remove Something Hard from Your Life
How do you respond when God does not remove something hard from your life?
Have you prayed and prayed (Psalm 5:3) that God would remove this difficult thing and it is still there?
Today we are looking at some amazing verses in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.
My favorite verses or my ‘life verses’ are found in 2 Corinthians 12:9 & 10 but what I never noticed before were the two verses that come first.
And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 2 Corinthians 12:7-8
Isn’t it amazing how we can hear God speaking to us in a totally new way?
I have read over and over how Paul had a thorn in his flesh. I never noticed how the two sustaining verses in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 come right after he shared about his thorn.
We aren’t told what that thorn was. Paul’s ‘thorn’ was something hard in his life that God chose not to take away.
Paul responded by relying on God’s strength and seeing his own personal strength as being insufficient.
What is Your Thorn?
What have you prayed for over and over that you are still dealing with in your life?
- Your health?
- Your marriage?
- Your children?
- Your finances?
- Your vehicle?
- Something else?
Maybe it is a habit you can’t break.
Maybe it is something about your home or family that is hard to live with.
God Often Does Not Remove Your ‘Hard’
When God does not remove what is hard and impossible in your life, it is often because He wants you to respond by relying on Him.
Jesus wants to show Himself strong in your life. (2 Chronicles 16:9)
He wants to abide in you. (John 15:4)
He wants to give you His strength. (Psalm 46:1-3)
How To Respond by Relying on His Sufficient Grace
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
If God always took away the hardships of life, we would not see Jesus working in our situation.
We tend to want a life of ease but an easy life just isn’t reality.
Press into Jesus and rely on His grace.
Know He is sufficient for you.
It is when you are totally weak that you will experience His strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)
Then you are strong.
Only then.
Let me know how this week’s readings spoke to your heart. What is God doing in your life? What struggles are you dealing with so I can pray for you?
Honestly, i feel God has forsaken me. I typically never pray for me, always about others, then when finally i see something that could help not just myself but my family too, i pray He would help me succeed. What ended up happening? I didn’t get the position, and im stuck in a horrible place. God is supposed to be so great, and He is, for others, but he’s never been there for me. Whenever i have prayed for help for me (which is rare because i try not to be selfish), He ignores me. So i feel God just puts extra hard things in my path, while pulling out a magnifying glass and aiming it at my back. The only reason I’m alive is that neither God nor the devil want me, and they never will. Why should i believe in a God that only seeks my destruction?
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my post. Even though you are not feeling it right at the moment, you are loved by an almighty personal God. He died on the cross for you because He cares so deeply for you. Dying on the cross is such excruciating pain and it is more than I will ever go through on earth. It says in the Bible that God will never forsake you. He is the never-forsaking God even when life is so hard that we feel that He doesn’t care and isn’t there. You said that God does not want you but He does! The evil one wants you thinking that neither God or the devil want you. That just isn’t true. I promise you. Do you subscribe to my newsletter? Through my newsletter, there are Scripture Memory Cards that I would love for you to have. They would be so helpful for you. You can subscribe on the sidebar or at the bottom of every post. Also the slider at the top links to the page where you can sign up for my newsletter. That is a way that I can encourage you. You can also reply to the email and I will answer you. I hope you find God in a very personal way. He wants to uplift you and hold you tight, if you’ll allow Him.
I try to remind myself: His time, His way! He always has perfect timing and knows what’s best for me. It’s hard sometimes as I cannot see from His perspective… I have to keep reminding myself 🙂 Thank you for this post!
Dawn, thank you so much for such a thoughtful and honest comment. Yes, it is so hard not to see from God’s perspective. In Psalms, David encouraged himself in the Lord and that you remind yourself to trust when you can’t see from God’s point of view made me think of that.
I am so glad that Jesus died on the cross for me It’s letting me know that I can go thru anything that this life may bring even though my flesh may not want to. No one else would have did that for us . Thank you Lordi am ever sooooooo!!!!!!! Grateful.😇
Thank you so much for sharing. It is a hard thing to go through difficult times but such a comfort to know that Jesus is there. Praying for you, Carolyn.