Struggles

I'm struggling right now.  In fact, I think I struggle everyday.

I struggle when the alarm goes off every morning.  Can't I have a few more minutes of rest?

I struggle when I get ready in the mornings.  What am I going to wear today?

I struggle when I drive.  Will that car get off my tail, already?

I struggle when I work.  Do my actions tell my co-workers that I am a child of God?

I struggle with my weight.  Should I really be eating that?

I struggle with my looks.  Nothing looks or feels good today.  I'm so ugly.

I'm in a constant struggle and battle with the devil.  He puts these awful thoughts into my head every second of every day.  It's hard to overcome these struggles.

I deal with the above struggles on a daily basis, but I'm also dealing with some other struggles in my life right now.  A friend of mine is moving away.  Another friend is about to have a very complicated surgery and I worry about him.  I worry about my Dad and if he's going to fall today.  I'm struggling at work, wondering if this is the best job for me in the long run.  I struggle with my singleness.  I struggle with my walk in the Lord.  I struggle.

We all have struggles - and some are worse than others.  But, we also know that struggles are good things, sometimes.  1 Peter 1:6-7 tells us "In all this, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed".  (NIV)

I pray that Christ will be revealed through these struggles, trials and temptations that I go through.  After all, didn't he struggle and suffer the most?  He knows me and wants what is best for me, and provides these struggles for a reason.

Thank you, Lord, for revealing this to me today.  You know my heart and my struggles, and I give them all to you.  You are the ultimate finisher of our faith.  Renew in me a clean heart and mind.  Mold me into the person you want me to be.  Hold my hand as I walk through this valley of struggles, heartache and pain.  Give me a comfort that only you can give.