Often we have to win the small battles before we’re ready to win the war. If we keep focusing on the “big” sin that we can’t seem to shake, we’ll keep losing on the small stuff too. Instead of trying to conquer our biggest sin struggle right away, it’s sometimes better for us to focus on simpler victories first — because once we begin to win with God’s help, it triggers a snowball effect.

There’s a story in Scripture about a man who was born blind. God ultimately used his difficult circumstances to be glorified by revealing Himself through Jesus’ restoration of the man’s sight. God can use the struggles that you and I face for His purpose, too — and in response, we have to be willing to take a stand and proclaim His goodness in all things.

Suffering can take us down one of two roads as followers of Jesus: it can build our character, or it can drive us back to our old ways of sinning. 1 Peter 4:1 says, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.” When we fix our eyes on Him and base our hope in His promises, God gifts us the strength to persevere through our pain and endure our struggles.

One of the most difficult parts about following Christ is this hard truth: most of the time, things don’t change overnight. Our lives don’t suddenly become problem-free. Even after making the decision to follow Him, we’ll still face struggles day in and day out. The difference is that when we keep ourselves focused on Christ, He gives us peace, joy, and strength to overcome those battles in a way we couldn’t manage on our own.