Hardship

Then Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh, that You would indeed bless me and enlarge my territory, that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that it may not bring me hardship . . ." (1 Chronicles 4:10a-e MEV)

Today's meditation:

• Whether working to enlarge our territory or following the hand of God to the mountaintop or the valley or running from evil or turning to face it, life will have hardship, but I can still pray to God asking him to help me avoid it, to lessen it, or to remove it, leaving the answer to him.

Pray today:

• For the absence of hardship, but in the same breath, for endurance to bear it when it comes.
• For us in the places where hardship occurs, in the classroom, in service projects, in meetings, in ministry, in athletic preparation and competition, in places of brokenness, disappointment, and stress, in places of growth and development.
• For qualities to be in us that we see in our Savior, who endured the hardship of the cross, yet showed us how to love, forgive, encourage, and endure with sturdy resolve.

Pray First! Pray Through!