In my last blog we looked at one of the reasons, why we are in a certain place. We are in the place where we are because it is where God has brought us to. That can also mean God takes us into difficult places or situations.
While I believe it is important to pray for others living in the place where we are, there is another reason God has us in that place. ‘God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him,’ Acts 17:27. So sometimes God puts us in those hard places, in order that we will reach out for Him and draw closer to Him and lean on Him.
At times that may mean we are in a place of hardship, where we feel friendless and alone or in a place of sorrow or sickness. Regardless of what those who teach the prosperity gospel claim, Jesus did not always promise everything would go smoothly for Christians. What he promised the disciples and Christians today was trouble, John 16:33. Christianity isn’t for wimps.
However, in the same verse, Jesus also told his disciples and us to ‘take heart’ for He has ‘overcome the world.’ Paul also reminds us that even when adversity and trouble comes, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, Romans 8:35-39.
We are to be encouraged even in the hardships of life because ‘the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world,’ 1 John 4:4. This is reminding us that the Holy Spirit, who lives within all believers, helps us deal with the difficulties and overcome.
Often it is exactly because we have been through difficult times and known God’s comfort in that place or situation, that we are then able to be a help and comfort to others when they experience hard times, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.
So, we are where we are to draw closer to God ourselves but also to comfort and support others in their trials.
Bible verses from the New International Version
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