Struggle Well

Lisa Wallace

LPC, NCC, CCMHC

4/5/2022

Do you struggle well? That is a hard question to answer. In the first place, no one likes to struggle. Struggle usually means there is a conflict, either with yourself or with someone else. Or it means there is some past event that still causes trouble for your present life. The problem is, that life is filled with struggles. We all have issues that cause us pain, past and present. Might I suggest that struggle is both inevitable and useful? Josh Goldberg states in his book “Struggle Well”, “Struggle is useful because it forces you to reflect on what is true about yourself and the world around you. When you accept struggle rather than fight it, you have an unprecedented opportunity to look deep within yourself.” Struggles have valuable lessons to teach us. Romans 5:3-5 can be summarized as, “We also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope.” We are the person we are today because of the choices we have made throughout our past struggles. Jesus never promised us a life without trials. What He did promise was to always be with us guiding, loving, and walking us through every circumstance in life. Seek Jesus when life is difficult because “…weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning”. (Psalm 30:5)