For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18
For the past several weeks, I have been praying daily for a dear friend of mine. She had shared how the enemy plagues her mind with horrible nightmares each night as she sleeps. I committed to pray for her every night, asking God to protect her mind from these attacks and to allow her peaceful sleep.
Recently, on a few different occasions, I asked her how she was doing. I was happy to hear that the nightmares were becoming fewer and then eventually were no longer happening! This was such wonderful news and answer to prayer!
However…
The other day I learned that her respite from the nightmares had lasted only about a month; they were starting to return. I was saddened and a bit discouraged upon hearing this because I was still praying daily for her. I wasn’t understanding why the Lord had allowed the nightmares to return. So I asked Him.
This is what He impressed on my heart: When we have trials or struggles in this life, we’ve not been left alone; the Lord is always with us- in our very midst. What we do and how we choose to handle our situation goes beyond the here and now. Will we lose hope and give up on God helping us? Or will we turn harder towards Him, allowing this struggle to deepen our faith? These choices far outreach our earthly boundaries and extend to the glories that await us in heaven.
I believe the Father is telling us that if we press into Him and trust Him in and through whatever difficulty we are facing, be it however long, that beautiful act of faith produces a weight of glory reserved for us in heaven.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
Dina
The Green Olive Tree 