So if you’re over twenty, you might not be up to speed on some very important vernacular.

Today, in a humorous spirit of irony, young students lament the minor irritations of life by uttering the phrase, “the struggle!”

To the uninitiated, those words make no sense at all—especially within the context of doing one’s homework or bending over to retrieve a fallen pencil—however, to the informed, they demand a specific response. Sympathetic listeners respond to “the struggle” by saying, “the struggle is real.”

It took me a long time to understand, but thanks to Amber’s coaching, I finally get it. The struggle indeed is real.

And it really is. The irony of those who complain about trivia draws obvious attention to the truly severe struggles undergone by people everywhere in our world today (including people like you).

All humans struggle, but according to the New Testament, we shouldn’t have to struggle alone. In Romans 15:30 the Apostle Paul said, “…join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.”

The word “struggle” means, “to make strenuous or violent efforts in the face of difficulties or opposition; to proceed with difficulty or with great effort.”

Who are you making strenuous efforts alongside? Who’s struggling for you?

I have enough struggles of my own to keep me comfortably self-centered for a very long time. However, I routinely find that when I struggle for someone else my struggles mysteriously lessen along the way.

Let’s struggle together!