Is it just me?

NO! So often in this life we feel like our struggles are confined to only us. We somehow feel that we are the only one that Satan sees and attacks, or even worse, we are the only one that God is doing tortuously difficult things to. First off, God does not attack His children. Nor do I believe that he would ever desire them to be afflicted. But I have been thinking a lot about sharing in His sufferings lately. Studying the book of Song of Songs has brought forth some interesting insights into the ways that God works and how He has ordered this world. Some of the analogies are so wonderful and beautiful and it blows my mind to think that He uses such elaborate metaphors to speak to the ones He loves. Anyway, so the metaphor that strikes me each time I read it is the reference to myrrh. I know, it sounds kind of simple, but if you think about it, myrrh is a burial spice. It is the oil used to preserve a body. When S.O.S refers to the lips of the bridegroom dripping with myrrh, it is suggesting that our intimacy with Him requires us to share in His sufferings. The guy whose sermons I have been listening to calls it the sufferings of Gethsemane. What is it about sharing in the sufferings of another leads us into deeper intimacy with them? Just tonight I sat in a room with ten other college students, people I work with, and we talked about the ways we have come against attack from the Enemy. People spoke of a constant awareness and shame in their sin. Others spoke of confusion with what exactly was wrong with them or what they could do to change. Others spoke of a spirit of distention within their friend groups and their families. Still others have been experiencing nightmares and horrible eating disorders. Some have been feeling hopeless and convinced that they are in the wrong place. Some were speaking of physical attack on their bodies others on their spirits. One thing became very clear to me as I sat and listened to the schemes of the Enemy being exposed... its not just me. There is something comforting in that. There is something hopeful. There is something wonderful about sharing in the sufferings of Christ. AND, it is important not to forget that Satan is always at work to throw us off of our focus. Even now the Lord is speaking to me of the truths of His love and His grace and of how nothing should be able to distract us from His love because nothing distracts Him from loving us.