Don’t Let Your Struggle Become Your Identity -2

Many times people allow a problem to become their identity, their life. It defines everything they think, say and do. All their being is centred around it.
 
Associating our struggle with our identity can cause many problems in life.
1. It can make a person very depressed
2. A person can lose hope totally to the point of no return
 
I humbly urge you not to become a victim of your situation.
 
Today, the Lord wants to give you victory in your struggle. He wants to give you double honour in the place of your shame. He wants you to trust Him and cooperate with Him as He leads you to victory over that problem one step at a time. Allow me to share with you some steps to your victory parade.
 
1. Don’t try to use your problem as a means of getting attention or sympathy, or pity.

2. Stop talking about your problem to everyone or just anyone. Ask the Lord to surround you with the right people with whom you can share
 
3. Stop posting what you are feeling like or going through on social media
 
4. Ask people to pray about your situation, and yes, you too must pray. There are some people who send their prayer requests to everyone on earth, but they themselves never pray.
 
5. Renew your mind according to Romans 12:2

Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes. (Romans 12:2 TPT)
 
In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about one of his struggles that won’t go away. He calls it his ‘thorn in the flesh.’
 
Therefore, in order to keep me from being conceited, I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest in me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
 
No one knows what Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh’ was. Some think it was a physical ailment. Others think it was a moral issue. I actually like it that the Bible doesn’t say what it is because now each of us can relate. Our struggles are different, but the truth is that we all struggle with something.

But, Paul didn’t let his struggle become his identity. He didn’t let his struggle define who he was. He didn’t let his struggle stop him from doing the work that God had called him to do. And neither should you too!

The Power of God rests upon me. His grace is sufficient for me. My struggles, my pain will not define me – God does. In Jesus’ name. Amen.