“The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” -Psalm 9:9-10

On a daily basis, we all encounter struggles and disappointment. Whether it is a friend letting you down or maybe a family member, we all have our individual struggles.

When facing these struggles, we often want to look to a friend for advice or just to get something off our chests. I know I usually go to the same person with my frustrations and struggles. We have best friends who we want to tell everything to because we expect some kind of comfort or wisdom from them. Then when you spill your guts, your bestie either looks at you like you are crazy OR they give you some decent advice. Either way, afterwards you aren’t sure you feel much better. At least, this is how I feel after one of my meltdowns.

Friends are great resources for us to lean on and encourage. But God is so willing to intervene for us in our struggles, whether it be in peace or in guidance for the situation. As Psalm 9:9 says, “the Lord is our stronghold in times of trouble.” In reality, He is the only person who can help us make the right decisions, give us peace and patience to endure the “time of trouble.”

It is just recently that I have learned to run to God FIRST with my struggles. Instead of immediately running to a friend, I go to God and give the struggle to Him and then I simply say, “you are my stronghold, I am holding on for dear life.” This process is hard, because it requires a lot of trust but I can honestly say that by learning to fully rely on God, I have had peace in the struggles and have come out of them with my head above water.

It feels so great to trust in God, and there is something so rewarding about looking back on your struggles and seeing how you relied on Him and seeing where he took you because of your trust in Him. It is a huge moment of growth for sure.

I struggled with trust in God a lot to begin with. Once I started spending time in the Word and in prayer with God, I built a relationship in the meantime. That relationship has helped increase my reliance on God, it has made it much easier to trust in Him.

So I encourage you to start developing the habit of spending time in the Word and in prayer. Begin building that relationship with God if you haven’t already. I hope that through this RefreshStudents blog, you will have a weekly encouragement to continue in your walk with God and you will see great spiritual growth as a result.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” -Ecclesiastes 3:11

~Addison