Expect obstacles

I am a youth leader at my church. Part of my job is to lead the study on Wednesday nights for high school girls.  Tonight God showed me something in a new light. It was information I and many of us know, but now I have a better understanding. Like a switch came on.

We started out by reading Matthew 22:34-40. The jist of these verses talk about the greatest commandment; loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. After that comes the second part, love your neighbor as yourself. Some of the questions that corresponded with this reading were, How does loving God allow us to love other people? How does loving people help us to love God more? My girls decided that when we love God we want to do His will. He gives us the love we need for other people. Also, when we see where other people have come from and the things God has brought them through we are overjoyed and reenforced in our faith. We never cease to be amazed at the things God can do. This allows us to fall in love with Him even more! Now, it was the next question that opened my eyes. What is our part in God's plan? It is like God just painted me His strategy....Our part is partly struggles and difficult times! See its His game plan. We need to struggle and go through rough times in order to change, become better, deepen our faith, trust God fully, see His love, and witness His miracles! I looked at it from a sports perspective because that is what one of my girls talked about. When people play a sport the coach talks to the players and says "we need to run this play, then that play". If that doesn't work, the team presses forward with another play. The whole game is played one play at a time, continuously changing with the oppponents defense. Isn't that what God does? I believe that God lets us go on for a while, and then we will be hit with a tough situation. It is His perfect timing because He knows what we can handle. He also knows that it will make us stronger and benefit us. Once we go through that difficult time we have hopefully grown with God. Then maybe God allows us to live our life pretty good, and then here will come another difficult time. Some times are rougher than others, but they all work to make us better. It is like God is saying "ok the plan for your life is to have some struggles and difficult times. I know it will hurt, but it will help shape you in to who I need you to be. I will be with you that whole way. You will overcome many obstacles. By doing this you will reach many people and it will help you be able to show my love to them." You see we find help and strength not only in God but in the people around us. He puts people in our lives who will benefit us. How could we help others if we have never been through rough times? Would we tell them to suck it up and move on? Would be be too concered with ourselves to even bother thinking about someone else? I bet we would, but that is not what God tells us to do. We need to have compassion, understanding, and love for one another.

So if obstacles continue to appear in our path, why are we continually surprised and asking God, why me? God tells us that when we our faith is tested our endurance has a chance to grow. He tells us to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but to rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces perserverance, perserverance, character, and character, hope. He tells us to not let our hearts be troubled. He tells us we have a hope and a future. He tells us not to fear. He tells us in this world there will be struggles, but take heart for He has overcome the world. He tells us He will never give us more than we can handle. God knows there will be hard times, yes, but He will get us through. He doesn't say He will take them away. He doesn't say, once you have one hard time you will not have another for a certain length of time. He says that the hard times will help shape who you are in Him.

I know it is uncomfortable to plan for difficult times, but if we grasp that they are always going to be there, maybe we shouldn't be surprised anymore. Maybe we can approach difficulty with a Godly attitude and think "Ok God, I must be ready to progress with you in my walk, please help me to learn what You want me to learn., and grow stronger with You." I am not saying you will not cry, be hurt, angry, sad, or anything like that. Trust me, having emotion is very healthy, but you will be stretched and molded into what God needs you to be. The part you have in His perfect plan.