Small things add up over time to make a big difference, for good and for bad. Even when struggles or victories seem small, they can add up to impact our lives in big ways. Overwhelm and overload — as well as success and progress — often come at the hand of small events, experiences, and epiphanies that compound until one, small thing tips the scale, and we find ourselves crying in our cars on our way to a season of discouragement and/or depression or laughing with joy in celebration of progress and promotion.
Too often, though, we discount a struggle or victory because it’s small compared to what others are experiencing. Yes, take it as perspective that life could be worse or that you still have progress you can make, but don’t dismiss any small step as inconsequential because of comparison. After all, the Bible says we can take heart – even be encouraged – because others experience life in the same up and down way as we do.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)
We’re not to pursue struggle necessarily, but we are to be determined within it. Determined to move through it with power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). Determined to learn from it and help others who experience life in similar ways. Determined because victory is won in the big picture even if it isn’t always seen or experienced in the small picture.
To help you gain additional perspective on struggle and victory in your life, be sure to study them from a Biblical point of view.
