If it’s one thing that God is still teaching me, it’s patience. Everytime I think I’ve mastered the lesson, God takes me to the next class. I don’t know if He’ll ever put that lesson aside and pronounce me graduated, but I do rest in the fact that the University of Heaven has the greatest Dean of all time.

With that being said, I’m enduring a difficult period in my life right now. Being laid off from the best job I had is no small giant to slay. With my degree, my intelligence, my skill set, my hunger for growth, and my age, I thought I would never be jobless. At least that’s what my recruiter told me. With all that I have going for me, God had to remind me of a fact that every believer has to face: it’s not about me. My degree is not about me, nor is my skillset, my intelligence, or my experience. Every gift that I have was imparted in me for the Glory of God. Greater gifts means greater glories. The same goes with my struggles. My struggles are not about me; greater struggles are called to greater emphasize His Story.

Could you imagine the weight of job loss at the peak of your career? No one at my old job saw it coming. “You shouldn’t have been laid off!” “You were kicking butt!” “You were in line for the promotion!” They were partially right. God doesn’t fire; He only promotes. I believe in Christ Jesus for this not to be a lay off, but a promotion. Even still, it does not pacify the struggle of the economy. The job board grows weaker and weaker by the day. Where I live is not the best place to work in Information Technology, and at least 4 companies have had dramatic downsizings. How can you keep from losing your mind? Simply use the Power.

While in jail, Paul wrote to a young pastor named Timothy these words:

If you are operating in a spirit of fear, throw it away. It didn’t come from God. God never gave us a weak, limp-wristed, crazy, confused spirit. Instead, God gifted us with a Spirit of power, of love, and good judgement, self-control, and intelligent discernment.


I am stronger than my struggles. I can out wrestle them. The same Power that raised from Christ from the dead has been planted in me. God is not a God of powers; God is Power. The same Power that saves is the Power that heals. The Power that let Him walk on water is the Power that raises me above my struggles.

I am stronger than my struggles. I can out love them. God gave me an Agape love, an unconditional love. Through my struggles, I am reminded that God loves me unconditionally. He is not amazed at my accomplishments, for He knows that my victories are only possible through Him. He urges me to forget the past, whether they be victory or sorrow; there is still much to more Christ to gain through instruction and struggles (Philippians 3:13, 14). His unconditional love for me shows that He loves me for me, and I should love Him for Him, not for what He does.

I am stronger than my struggles. I can outsmart them. I can’t go crazy. I lost my mind years ago. I lost my mind at the cost of gaining Christ’s mind (Philippians 2:5-7). Even at the agony of holding our sins on His shoulder, being hung like a Holy Poster on Calvary, not once did Christ sound like a raving lunatic. He came to forgive, and He did it even with blood burning His eyes and His breaths drawing short (Luke 23:24). Struggles did not prevent the purpose of Christ; they emphasized them.

And so, it is with this struggle that my purpose is defined all over again. I am to show a dying world the Power of a Living God. Since being laid off, I am more financially sound now with a part time job than I was with a full time and a part time job combined. I have grown to know Him more as Jehovah Jireh in between blessings than I was when I was gainfully employed. I can beat this. I will beat this. I have already beaten this in Christ Jesus’ Name.

And you’re going to beat your struggles, too. In Jesus’ Name. It’s done.

2 Timothy 1:7