Shaped In The Struggle!

Pastor Shane • August 13, 2025

Devotion by Pastor Shane - August 13 2025

Scripture :

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” — 2 Corinthians 4:8–10

 

Devotion:

When straits almost surround us, God is teaching us to depend on His peace instead of our circumstances. When we find ourselves perplexed and unsure as to the "why," He invites us to trust His wisdom rather than demanding an answer. When we are persecuted, He reminds us that His presence is ever with us and that His love never is against us. When we are downcast, however, he sets all things in power far beyond a power of the fall.

 

Paul relates this reshaping to "the dying of the Lord Jesus." As Jesus lay suffering, yielded to the will of the Father, so we suffer hardships to lay down self-reliance and accept God's way. In that acceptance, we begin to see the life of Jesus reflected in us: His patience, humility, compassion, and strength.

 

God is not intending to break you; He intends to build you. Every trial you endure is made by Him to shape Christ within you. And when Christ is formed in you, the trial has truly gained its highest purpose.

 

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, for using even my struggles to make me more like Jesus. Help me see my trials as tools in Your loving hands. Teach me to trust You when I do not understand and to let Christ's life be seen in me. Shape me for Your glory, and strengthen me for the road ahead. With all that is in me, in Jesus' name, Amen.

 

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