Suffering Produces Hope

December 14, 2023

Advent 2023

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Since we are in a season of discipleship, I want to share a little about influential people in my life who were unknowingly discipling me.

I struggled with alcoholism for 8 years. I started going to a secular treatment program and people in that program helped me to gain my faith in the Lord again. You see, I couldn’t fathom not drinking for a week, let alone even one day! But these people were sober for years they suggested to me that what I was lacking was faith: did I have faith that what they were saying was true? Did I have faith that they were really sober?

Even before my faith in the Lord was restored, these people were showing me grace by faith, and in a way, they were boasting in the hope of the glory of God. They didn’t realize it, but they were discipling me.

Just because I am sober now doesn’t mean my life is amazing, but because I have a relationship with the Lord today and my faith is in Him I know that, no matter what suffering I’m going through, I have support. I can bring my suffering to Him through prayer, and to other brothers and sisters in Christ to overcome those temptations. Through this support, I can persevere—even if I make a mistake, I can pause, keep pressing forward, and keep going. The more I maintain my daily prayer and Bible reading, I continue to grow my character. I have hope again, because someone showed me what that looked like.

Each day, I wake up thanking God for another day and asking Him for direction. Whenever I sin, I can remember the hope I have through the glory of God. We have the Holy Spirit in us! The more I listen to Him, the more hope I will have. It hasn’t always been easy for me to keep growing and have faith that God is with me in everything, but I know that when I do, my mind stops running and I can live in the moment.

For reflection:

How important is it to you to have others around you that you can look to for support, encouragement and conviction as you grow in your relationship with Christ and go through the stages of suffering, perseverance, etc.?
Who are those people in your life today?

Nativity Building: