What happens when you’re doing all the right things, and yet nothing is going right? Jessica Newsome dives into that difficult subject by sharing the story of Paul and Silas who were thrown into prison, even though they were following God and sharing the gospel (Acts 16).

“We may deal with years of struggling over a situation and a thing. Maybe it’s drugs; maybe it’s lust; maybe it’s low self-esteem. Maybe it’s cutting; maybe it’s suicidal thoughts … But the thing is, God did not say, ‘OK, if you worship, a couple hours later, the chains are going to be loosed and you’re going to be good to go.’ God does not say that verbatim. …

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“There have been things in my life to where, when I served God and I followed God and I worshipped God, I would see breakthrough. There are other situations in my life where I wasn’t even really following God, I was twisting the Bible, and He gave me breakthrough in the situation. Why? Because He just loved me. OK? So it’s not about how good you are. It’s not about being such a perfect Christian.”

Newsome goes on to warn about the comparison trap, which just leads to misery, she says on the “Victory > Struggle” podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network. Just because one person is receiving a lot of good things in life and you’re not doesn’t mean God loves you any less or you’re necessarily doing something wrong. It’s all about trusting in Him and spending time worshipping Him, no matter our circumstances.

“Sometimes it’s just being still with Him, meditating on His Word and just being quiet and just worshipping Him. On the inside, speaking to Him … And that is our worship; not all worship is the same. … So whatever your struggle is, whatever your chains are, praise Him.”

(Excerpt from Charisma News. Article by Kendra Semmen.)