RE Verse reading–Mark 6:45-52, 8:1-21 (day seven)
“He came towards them. . . walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by.” (6:49) It is not God’s purpose to remove all struggle from life. Even for His children. Problems can have positive educational effect. “If I never had a problem, I wouldn’t know that God could solve them”, sang Andre Crouch. “Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines” says the writer of Hebrews. Not every struggle is caused by Christ, but every struggle is useful to Christ as He conforms us to His image. Sometimes He intends to pass us by as we stuggle, knowing that the time is not right to remove it. Our hearts still have something to learn. In the storm and in the stuggles, we come to know Him better, and ourselves. “Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
