And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.   1 Peter 5:10 ESV

Don’t you love those cheery, optimistic people that say things like “when life gives you lemons, just make lemonade”?  I mean the truth of the matter is that just because you have lemons doesn’t mean you can make lemonade.  You also need water and sugar, a whole lot of sugar.  And there are times when what you have is a bushel of lemons with no sugar in sight.  Tons of sour with no sweet.

The bible doesn’t say anywhere that our lives will be carefree and that we will never have troubles.  And by the way, if you ever think your life is bad, read the first couple chapters of Job.  That’ll give you some perspective.  Job was a good man who loved the Lord, but he endured tremendous suffering and pain.  I spoke yesterday about some of the bible stories that had awesome and happy endings, but we must remember that that they began under tragic circumstances.  Joseph became second in command over all Egypt, but only after being sold into slavery by his own brothers, falsely accused, and imprisoned.  He had a whole bunch of lemons before he got to the lemonade.

You see, I don’t believe that we can always make a pitcher of lemonade just because we have lemons.  But, I do believe our scripture passage.  I truly believe that our suffering is temporary and that God will fully restore us.  I do believe that whatever we are going through should not overwhelm us because God is right there with us.  I do believe that He will never forsake us.  (Deuteronomy 31:6).  And even when the storm rages, I do know that God’s got this (Matthew 6:33-34).

Romans 5:3-4, tells us that we should rejoice in our afflictions or suffering because affliction produces endurance and endurance produces proven character which produces hope.  As my former supervisor used to say, our suffering is good training that builds good character.  The thing about lemons is that they are not useless without the sugar. They are not only good for lemonade, but are good for adding a little zest to seafood, adding a tart flavor to tea, giving water a little zing.  Just like lemons, our suffering is for a reason.  We may not appreciate it at the time, but there is a reason for it.  God is using it to build us up.  Galatians 6:9 tells us not to give up when we are doing good for we will be rewarded in due time.

So, if your life is full of lemons right now, be strong in the Lord.  Trust in Him to work things out for your good and His glory (Romans 8:28).  Know that He has good plans for you and wants what is best for you (Jeremiah 29:11).

One thing about the trouble in our life, is that it either draws us closer to God or the devil uses it as a distraction.  So if you are facing troubled times today, draw closer to God.  His steady hand will bring you safely through this storm.  He will completely restore you.  Spoiler alert on the story of Job; God not only restored what Job had lost, but gave him double.  How awesome is that?

Have a great weekend!