Struggling Well With Life

I was struck this week as I listened to the prayers offered up in my home, my own included, that so much of our concerns are about ourselves. We pray that our lives, and those we love, go well. We pray that our days go well, but we don’t pray that we would struggle well. I don’t. So I may not be the best candidate for a blog on struggling well. I struggle, but “well” is up for debate on most days. Having the amazing privilege of experiencing China this past month left me in awe of the believers we met there. Their front burner issues are not for personal safety or ease for themselves or for their families, rather that Jesus be known, and preached. To say I am humbled is an understatement - truth is I am slayed by the clarity they have in their relationship to Christ and His gospel.

As a dad I have worked so hard at providing a “smooth” life for our girls. But now with just a few years left of the girls living under our roof, Lord willing, I wonder if I have done too good a job. What I long for is for them to know Jesus. And I know that experiencing the presence of God, and really knowing Jesus is discovered through brokenness. I question that in my attempts to provide and protect if I have robbed them of the bitter/sweet joy of knowing that when the bottom drops out - there is Jesus. Like Bob, in the movie “What about Bob”, I am taking baby steps in my prayer life, asking God to make His presence known in their lives no matter what happens in their day.

Ephesians 1:17-18 “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”