Monday, March 9

Monday Morning Manna 

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1

With a sound word from 2 Timothy 2 Sis. Myrtle Brown (Sis. Lorna) encouraged us to Give Thanks Even When We Are Suffering.

Opening Sis. Lorna shared, although during the trails giving thanks seems like an idea so far fetch this is exactly what God requires of us. Sis. Lorna continued to share with us the single thing that has helped her the most during seasons of suffering is thanksgiving. Give thanks when you are hurting…continue to praise God when you are in pain and rely heavily on the power of the Holy Spirit at work within you during these vulnerable times. The more we depend on God the more support we will get during our times of suffering.

When our lives are being turned upside down we very easily go into state of panic, anxiety and fear. We frantically search for answers and solutions to fix the problem, only to realize in the end our praise holds the answer to the breakthrough. Truth is suffering and qualms are a fact of life. There is no use in trying to escape it however, for the follower of Christ is it important that we use these moments to display to the world how good our God is.

Sis. Lorna shared that we often have negative emotions during this seasons that are so strong it impairs our ability to see God in our situation. If we would only use these times not to give in but instead dig in, dig into the Word of God that is. Read His word, discover the truth that lies within then we can use Scriptures as our weapon to fight off the enemy. This is why we ought to give thanks in our situation. We do not thank God for the suffering, no we thank Him in the suffering never wavering in faith just trusting God knowing that He is doing an even greater work on the inside.

So how do we endure? Thankfully Sis. Lorna shared tips on this as well:

• Done forget why you are suffering. Remember the why (pain with a purpose) and the who (God)
• Remember we are prisoners for Christ
• Keep going back to the things you know to be true
• Keep doing what you are called to do (stay the course, don’t give up)
• Remember times in the past when God delivered you (if He did it before, He will do it again!)

Finally, remember you are not alone in your suffering. No matter how difficult things are today, one day all things will be made new. Our Lord Jesus understands this better than we realize, and He knows what we go through when trails come. Let’s choose to give thanks through the trails and suffering, not on our own but, with the Lord. He’s with us every step of the way. He never leaves us alone.