In our struggles there is greatness that comes through knowing God. This week I was looking at facebook posts from my high school graduating class.. It was decades ago for me, and I was surprised by how many of my classmates have passed away. Death is a part of life. We all eventually die. Until we leave this earth we will experience struggles which will hopefully lead to a discovery of greatness. There is much encouragement in discovering our legacy in Christ. We gain a lot from knowing Him. My first example is Moses.
Greatness Begins
Moses grew up in Egypt, in the household of the Pharoah. As Moses came into adulthood, a number of struggles began happening in his life.
- Moses was a killer and had to run for his crime.
- Moses was bilingual. (Egyptian and Hebrew), which caused some speaking difficulties. Lifelong struggles may never subside.
- Occasionally, Moses had issues listening to God.
- There came a point when Moses fled from Egypt with his people. They ran up against a big body of water and the Egyptian army was pursuing them.
In many ways, these situations are only the beginning of Moses’ greatness. It was the point when he started to learn – Whatever situation we are in, when God is in it, we are safe and we will get through it.
This is a great statement to understand. We cannot avoid struggles. Even with a secular perspective, many people are inspired by problems to keep going and strive for a goal. Consider this example from Michael Jordan: “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Struggles happen
Struggles are going to happen. Being inspired to succeed is not the full story. Getting through one bump on the road of life may only seem like a tiny success — but we must recognize it is part of a cumulative experience. Years from now, even if we look back and see only trivial accomplishments – they add up.
We should expand our reverie and seek success at navigating life. After all, when we are ready to die, we will probably reflect on what we did in life. We will yearn for something beyond trivial that expresses a life well lived. If we feel life was all struggle and no success, we may feel defeated. When we make something out of our struggles, we understand greatness.
Truly, if there is no God, success will not matter. Our days will be forgotten in less than a generation. On the other hand, if we place faith in God and trust Him, there is a clear sense that we are never alone, and we have an encourager and friend who will always be able to share our success and cheer us on. When we die, those who have accepted God, and trusted Him, and follow Him — will partake in a greatness that goes beyond death.
17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:17
The Value
Indeed, I was focused on ‘my sufferings’, and yet here Paul refers to sharing in his (Jesus’) sufferings. It is not complicated. Jesus and I share the Holy Spirit. Anything I do or say, or anything Jesus did, is accompanied by the Holy Spirit. I can think of it like having a go-pro camera strapped to my chest. A user watching the video will experience everything that I see. Jesus is very much ‘sharing in my sufferings’, and I get it. I understand His sufferings too. In real life, Jesus is closer than a brother. We experience and share in the task of suffering.
The take-away is simple. Greatness does come out of suffering– the secret is we need to have faith that the greatness is a part of the suffering. When the suffering is over for a Christian, we get an awesome reward.
