Daily Devotional – 5/24/18 “It may not be for you!”

Your struggle, it may not be for you. When Noah was told to build the ark, he did so amid being laughed at and talked about but it wasn’t for him. When Moses was chosen to lead; he had to deal with attitudes, folk talking to him crazy, consistently trying to keep folk from turning back and dealing with a wilderness he didn’t ask for but it wasn’t for him. When Joseph went through being sold by his brothers, lied on by Potiphar’s wife, thrown in jail and etc.; it was so he could eventually save his family. When Hosea was told to marry Gomer, the harlot, it wasn’t about him. In other words, their struggle wasn’t for them. I know you’re trying to figure out why you have to struggle through some stuff that threatens to take your mind, daily. I know you are trying to make sense of the pain you’ve had to endure, the sickness and strife and now I’m here telling you, it’s not for you. Then who is it for then? It is for those attached to you. You all know my story. I met my husband when I was 18, fresh out of high school and at 21 I was married with a baby. I knew how to take care a house because I saw momma and grandma do it and they taught me well. But the truth is, I didn’t have a clue how to be a wife because I barely knew who I was. So I struggled.

Yet here is the fact of my life … I am glad I struggled, the way I did, in my 20’s and 30’s because it taught me how to be wiser and stronger now. I am glad I struggled, in the beginning of my marriage because now I can help somebody else make it. My struggle gave me the voice to teach my children and others the benefit of a good name and credit score. My struggle helps me to encourage you because I couldn’t have done this in my early years. My struggle then was paying for my sanity now. My struggle then was sowing for my harvest now. My struggle wasn’t for me but it was for those who would, eventually, be attached to me. The person I was then wouldn’t have survived now but the person I am today, is living because of who I was in my struggle. Beloved, your struggle isn’t in vain but because you suffer you can save someone else. And if you happen to need another witness, speak to the ultimate sufferer of all time, Jesus. His struggle wasn’t for Him but it was for us. Who is your struggle for? Maybe it’s your children, who aren’t even born yet. Maybe it’s for that young lady you pass on the street and you haven’t even talked to her yet. Maybe it’s the man doing eight years in jail and you haven’t even crossed paths yet. Maybe it is your sister who appears strong but inwardly weak. Maybe it’s that coworker nobody likes. Your struggle may not be for you but God chose you because He knows you will be the one who survives.