What can we do to strengthen our relationship and connection with Jesus Christ?
Any carpenter worth his salt will tell you that every joint is subject to stress. Shear stress, for instance, is the tendency for two boards to slide across each other. Tensional stress tugs the boards in opposite directions. But compressional stress, which presses boards together, can be ultra useful to a carpenter. A good carpenter will harness the power of compressional stress to strengthen a loose joint.
Stress is unavoidable in our lives. One need not look very far to see the stressors that are prevalent in todays world. Our jobs, our kids, our marriages, our outside relationships, all these things can be some of the most intense stressors in our lives. Being a Christian doesn't exempt us from problems or stress, but we have a choice as how to handle each situation. Sometimes we allow problems to drive a wedge between our Lord and us. Feelings of doubt will always undermine trust. Impatience will always breed anger, and the space between us and the Lord will continue to widen.
I once read about a man that quit going to church after his wife died. Her sickness was a long and hard battle that she lost even though he had prayed frantically for her and when she died he buried his faith along with her. The pain drove a wedge between him and his relationship with Christ. But another man that I have read about never darkened the door of a church while his wife was alive but after she died, he crossed the gorge that he had made, and his grief drew him towards Christ. Grief has a way of building one persons faith and it can shatter another's.
Being alone can lead someone to despair or it can lead them to trust in the Lord all the more. Hardship in a persons life can cause us to push back on the pull of Christ or it can propel us into His waiting arms. I have found when God's face is hidden from me, it is easy to think that there is no God or that He simply doesn't care, but if I am truthful with myself then this is the time in my life when I need to learn to believe in spite of God being hidden. God has the power to transform even the most painful things we can go through for our benefit and for the benefit of others. That is, if we will persevere in loving Him in spite of the storms that come up in our life.
I have discovered that even when God can't be understood, He can still be trusted. There is strength that can be built through stress, just allow God to use the compressional stress to strengthen us and draw us closer to Him.
Any carpenter worth his salt will tell you that every joint is subject to stress. Shear stress, for instance, is the tendency for two boards to slide across each other. Tensional stress tugs the boards in opposite directions. But compressional stress, which presses boards together, can be ultra useful to a carpenter. A good carpenter will harness the power of compressional stress to strengthen a loose joint.
Stress is unavoidable in our lives. One need not look very far to see the stressors that are prevalent in todays world. Our jobs, our kids, our marriages, our outside relationships, all these things can be some of the most intense stressors in our lives. Being a Christian doesn't exempt us from problems or stress, but we have a choice as how to handle each situation. Sometimes we allow problems to drive a wedge between our Lord and us. Feelings of doubt will always undermine trust. Impatience will always breed anger, and the space between us and the Lord will continue to widen.
I once read about a man that quit going to church after his wife died. Her sickness was a long and hard battle that she lost even though he had prayed frantically for her and when she died he buried his faith along with her. The pain drove a wedge between him and his relationship with Christ. But another man that I have read about never darkened the door of a church while his wife was alive but after she died, he crossed the gorge that he had made, and his grief drew him towards Christ. Grief has a way of building one persons faith and it can shatter another's.
Being alone can lead someone to despair or it can lead them to trust in the Lord all the more. Hardship in a persons life can cause us to push back on the pull of Christ or it can propel us into His waiting arms. I have found when God's face is hidden from me, it is easy to think that there is no God or that He simply doesn't care, but if I am truthful with myself then this is the time in my life when I need to learn to believe in spite of God being hidden. God has the power to transform even the most painful things we can go through for our benefit and for the benefit of others. That is, if we will persevere in loving Him in spite of the storms that come up in our life.
I have discovered that even when God can't be understood, He can still be trusted. There is strength that can be built through stress, just allow God to use the compressional stress to strengthen us and draw us closer to Him.
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