I’m sorry.

I’m sorry if you’ve ever looked at my life – or anyone’s life that professes to love Jesus – and had the impression there were no problems or struggles – that because of our faith, we somehow had it easier.

Because that is a lie.

The struggle is real.

Now don’t get me wrong, with God there is a hope and peace, but the battles are still very much real and exhausting.

Life’s punches are often hard and hit rapidly without notice.

I’m currently in this season.

Recently I shared with friends I feel like Rocky in the ring with Clubber Lang (Mr. T)… the final match where Rocky decides to stop punching and just take the massive blows from his opponent.

But there is strategy in this fight.  Rocky has conditioned his body to withstand the blows raining down on him. And as each left hook and upper cut fall, Rocky’s determination and resolve strengthen, until he finally wears down his opponent and begins to taunt him with, “You’re not so tough.”

Though I am nowhere near this taunting phase in this particular season, I am withstanding the blows.

We are four weeks post hurricane Harvey.  Our home is in the very beginning stages of rebuild.  Replacement vehicles purchased.  There is some normalcy creeping back in to our daily living.

And I see this true for many in our community.

Busyness and distractions have returned.  Four weeks ago we were all united – working side by side to gut homes and clear debris.  Meals were prepared, dishes packed, laundry washed, and tears shed together.

Now the same people who worked side by side slinging sledgehammers are being hammered once more with their own daily struggles.  Distractions have crept in and made us forget the impact made when we shared our burdens together.

But I was reminded as sledgehammers took down sheetrock in my own home by strangers and loved-ones alike of how our home was built.

When we first built the house, our family took sharpies and wrote Bible verses on all the studs.  As the sheetrock crumbled, these verses were once again exposed.

It was a sweet reminder of where our hope is rooted.

You see, sheetrock makes a house look pretty. Add some paint and wall decorations, and the covering is complete.

We do this in our lives too.

We are good at covering our struggles.  The right clothes, jewelry, words, and activities all serve to distract others from seeing the real life battles happening within us.

People are left with the impression we’ve got it all together.

We don’t.

So let’s stop pretending we do!

Let’s get honest with one another about our own personal struggles and bear one another’s burdens as we are called to do (Galatians 6:2).

We are better together – working side by side rebuilding what is crumbling around us.

Let’s get in the ring together.

The enemy is tough.

But together we’re tougher.

 

Face2Face:

 

• Read Amos 4:1-3
  • What do these verses reveal about women?
  • List the characteristics of these women.
  • How do these women compare to the women in Isaiah 3 and 4?

  Online products and services reviews are one way in which PDE5 negatively affects the ability to achieve erections is the following: it deteriorates cGMP, which is a chemical that relaxes blood arteries, improves blood commander viagra pop over to these guys flow in the body. Guduchi is being used in ayurveda system of medicine is to create happiness in all areas of life in an individual, tadalafil buy cute-n-tiny.com including the sexual life. Such is the mechanism of buy levitra Generic 100mg, which when taken with water 60 minutes before intercourse, increases blood flow to the genitals and help you get an astonishing and throbbing erection at the thought of intercourse? Recall the periods you would encounter a mighty bulge in your boxes that you were shy to get the medication but this is not the correct thing. Alpha lipoid cheapest generic tadalafil acid has hardly if any facet effects, although if taken in very high doses like higher then 100mg.

• Read the following verses. What type of woman do these verses describe?
  • 1 Kings 18:4
  • 1 Kings 21:5
  • 2 Kings 11:1
• Read Romans 2: 6-8
  • What does this say about God’s judgment?
  • Look up the biblical definition of the following words:
    • Persistence
    • Glory
    • Honor
    • Wrath
    • Anger
  • How can you apply these words to your life and deeds?

Feeling ambitious?

• Choose a woman in scripture and read her story. How does her life compare to the example of Deborah? How does this woman compare to your life?