Self-less Endurance

Self-less Endurance

What if the world did not revolve around you? What if the world was not your pearl? What if everything you went through to get where you are was not even about you?

Yes! You did go through it. Yes, you endured pain and suffering. Yes, it hurt. Yes, it was all real. But what if you went through it all…and it had nothing to do with you specifically?

This week, I am here to declare that this is the case! The stuff you have gone through…the hurt, pain, failures, resistance, blessings, joys, and sorrows are not about you. Rather, it is about how you can use these experiences to help others and show what God can and has done for you!

John 9:1-3 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

  1. Stop looking for someone to blame.
    Does it HAVE TO be someone’s fault? Does blaming someone make it easier for you to bear the moment? Is it really necessary to blame SOMEBODY? The answer to each of these is NO! Experiencing trials are inevitable, so it most certainly does not mean someone is at fault!

The disciples were quick to place blame. And as soon as they were prepared to do so, Jesus told them that it was not about blame, it was about the works that He (Jesus) had to perform. The blind man did not ask, beg, or plead for Jesus’ deliverance. He simply endured what he had to until Jesus showed up to perform His work!

You have lived through some situations that were not fair. The odds were stacked against you, and it was a tough pill to swallow. But, you do not have to place blame on anyone or anything because it may not be anyone’s fault.

Jesus explained that nobody did anything wrong in the blind man’s case, so there was no blame to pass out. Jesus shows us that He NEEDED this man to go through blindness, so all the people who knew he was blind would see the works of God that enabled this man to overcome blindness! Stop blaming people for stuff that God intends to use!

He is going to bring you out…He wants the attention directed on the works of God, though! Jesus cannot have you diverting attention away from God’s work in bringing you out in order to worry over who is at fault for your place in a situation! Stop giving attention to others by projecting blame…Let God work!

  1. Not every struggle is the result of sin.
    Does the fact that someone is struggling automatically mean it is because of sin? Is the ONLY REASON people go through trials and tribulations because they have sinned and therefore deserve it? The answer is an emphatic NO! JUST BECAUSE I am dealing with an issue does NOT mean I have sinned!

Job was perfect, and upright…and he went through the worst! He suffered the death of his children, loss of all his resources, sickness that enveloped his body, wife turning against him, and the chatter of friends trying to find fault, proclaiming sin to be the only reason Job was experiencing these tragedies. But Job had NOT sinned!

The disciples were quick to assume that sin was the culprit in the man’s blindness. “Who did sin…?” Jesus replied that no one had sinned. Although it was not about who did wrong, God made an example of the blind man. Again, every problem you face or have faced is not a result of sin.

Sometimes God is using you because He KNOWS you will not give up! He knew that no matter what Satan threw at Job, he would NOT curse God and God trusted Job in spite of what the enemy threw at him. God TRUSTS YOU! He trusts you with suffering!

Acts 5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

God considers you worthy enough to suffer; He intends to use your testimony!

Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony…

What you go through now will help someone one, two, three…ten, even twenty, years from now! What you previously went through can help someone who is facing something similar today! Tell him or her how you made it out! Be transparent: you went through and came out because of the work of God in you! Jesus healed the man of his blindness, and people tried very HARD to discredit the man’s deliverance. Yet, the blindness was real, and his deliverance was real too! And it was the work of God.

Be encouraged! God wants you to endure to the end so you can help someone else!

Originally posted on November 20, 2018 @ 12:10 PM

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