John Piper once said,

“God seldom calls us for an easier life, but always calls us to know more of Him, & drink more deeply of His sustaining grace.”

Warfare is exhausting, and we are always in a battle. Whether we know it or not, whether we believe it or not, or whether we choose to see the reality of it or not, we are always in a battle.

There is a spiritual war always raging around us. We have an enemy who hates God and hates us, and who never stops working against God’s plan for our lives.

His attack can take shape in many forms.

• At times, it can feel as if we are up against a wall or surrounded by walls that are seemingly caving in.

• At times, it can feel as if we are left for dead in a dry place, a desert, or in the middle of a drought, desperate and thirsty.

• At times, it can feel as if we are lost, wandering in a wilderness of sorts, because we have seemingly lost our way.

  
  
  
  

However, what if the seasons we feel dry and in a drought are really an invitation to Living Water? What if the times we feel lost in a wilderness are really an invitation to trust God’s voice and guidance?

What if, rather than our perspective being that of seeing the problems, we fix our posture to speak praise?

Praise Him anyway! Let that be how you fight your battle.

Praise Him in the drought.

Praise Him in the desert.

Praise Him in the wilderness.

Praise Him when the wind and waves are too much.

Praise Him when the walls are closing in.

Praise Him in the storm.

Praise Him when facing the giant.

Praise Him for the fact that, when life isn’t easy, God is inviting us into more intimacy.

Praise Him for the fact that, when you feel like you’re at the bottom, God’s grace sees you and is sufficient for you, even there!

Our God can and will use every detail of our every day, good or bad, for our sanctification. It’s strange to believe that our pain and suffering could be used for anything good, but, as we are promised in Romans 8, we can rest assured that He can. When we lift our eyes to Him, our perspective will change. When we lift our eyes to Him, we focus more on our position than our condition. When we lift our eyes to Him, we are declaring our dependency and trust.

His grace is sufficient, so praise Him.

God didn’t create us for or call us to an easy life; He created us for eternal and abundant life. Jesus didn’t die on a cross so that we wouldn’t sin, be sick, or suffer; Jesus died on a cross to redeem all sin, sickness, and suffering. When we suffer, we walk through the school of sanctification. Our suffering bears the fruit of His anointing.

A.W. Tozer had great things to say about suffering, such as:

“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.”

I’ve also heard it said like this:

“God will use greatly those He crushes mightily”.

And while this may sound a bit hard to comprehend, God will allow our suffering and our hardship for our good.

Something else Tozer said was this:

“If we understand that everything happening to us is to make us more Christlike, it will solve a great deal of anxiety in our life.”

Maybe today, rather than focusing on the storm or situation, focus on God, in His goodness, bringing you into a deeper level of sanctification.

• Could this adversity be an invitation into a new anointing?

• Could this attack against you be a distraction from your assignment?