2020 was a Bust…Now What?
Did your 2020 not go as planned? I’m going to take a wild guess and say that it didn’t. You faced some type of crisis, disappointment, or pain. Maybe even all three. This year was a rough one for many people. I know for me, some of my deepest valleys came during this year. Some of my deepest pain. Hurt that I don’t want to focus on or be reminded of. You may feel the same way; ready to close the chapter of this year (maybe even burn the pages) and never look back.
While you and I are pretty justified in that thinking, it actually robs us of an opportunity for joy and thankfulness. Because God did a whole lot of good this year. He was working the entire time, many times in ways that we didn’t even notice. Much of God’s work was being done on you. Some well-known few verses, James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
In the valley experiences, the toughest times in your life, you have the opportunity to grow at a tremendous rate as you look to God. When you lean into God, your character is being built. The testing of your faith, the trial, the hardship, the pain produces perseverance. Perseverance, or another word, endurance, is a growing determination in the face of adversity, based on hope. Or a shorter definition is: Perseverance is victory over trial. The pain, the suffering leads to a determination to get through it; to push through the pain until victory. Through perseverance, facing adversity and getting through it, something amazing happens….it matures you in Christ. It produces godly character in you.
God uses your suffering, pain, and hardships to grow you. That is something to be thankful for. What you endured is not a waste. When you are most vulnerable, you are the most teachable. You learn more in your valley experiences than your mountaintops. Based off of 2020, you have the opportunity to continue growing tremendously. As we close out this year, thank God for always working things out for your good and the good of His Kingdom!
