Living everyday is not always easy; in fact sometimes it's downright difficult. You may be experiencing some sort of adversity in your life today; you may not be exactly where you want to be physically, emotionally, intellectually, or even spiritually. Someone close to you may be hard to get along with. Or maybe you have other obstacles in your path. Regardless of what's going on in your life, even if it is hard right now, don't use that as an excuse to live in discouragement and despair. We have to understand the tough times of life cause us to grow; that's when our faith is really stretched. That's when God is doing a work in us. It may be uncomfortable. We may not like it, but if we can keep the right attitude, God has promised He'll use that difficulty for our good. He'll use if for our advantage. If God were to remove the adversity in our life, we wouldn't be prepared for what He has in store for us next. I know from experiences that it can be hard to understand, we think, God, why am I still in this situation? God, why did this happen? God why am I still having these difficulties? Or God, why do I have to work around these people that don't understand? That's the wrong approach. Our attitude should be, God I may not understand this, but I know You're in complete control of my life, and You have me here for a reason. This situation may not be good, but I know You will work it for my good. I know I'm growing, and I going to come out of this someway somehow stronger, happier, healthier, and better off than I was before. You have me exactly where You want me to be, so I'm going to stay filled with faith. I'm going to stay full of joy and keep pressing forward, knowing that You will use these difficulties to my advantage. -- Our faith is similar to a muscle. It grows stronger through resistance.It is exercised when it's being stretched, when it's being pushed. That's why God doesn't usually deliver us from our adversity's overnight. He doesn't remove us from every uncomfortable situation in a split second. But it's those times, He uses to build our "spiritual muscles." I know there are some people that live in despair and disappointments all because there circumstances are not exactly what they desire them to be, or unless everything is not going their way, everybody is not treating them right, and they are immune from experiencing discomfort. People like that are probably never going to be happy! Besides, that's a very shallow way to live. If you lose your joy every time something negative happens to you, then the enemy will continue to attack. He'll make sure you'll always have somebody in your life who irritates you, or some situation that's going to keep your sour. But don't make the mistake and give the enemy a foot-hold to stand on. Psalm 37:23 says"If God is directing our steps, we can be confident that He is aware of our circumstances." You may be saying: Nothing is going my way, why am I not being healed, why did this happen to me. I remember when I went back to work, everyone was on edge, they shyed away, they stared, and I understood and expected that. Now, here was my chance to shine, and to show everyone that God was the one that got me through the rough days, God was the one that allowed me to come back, and have a life after a traumatic trauma. I thought, wow! Here was a chance to give God the glory and to show all these people that when God allows me to walk again, they will have no choice but to believe in the power of God! That alone gives me the courage and strength to go on. So, if we don't learn to be happy where we are now, how can we be happy in the next step God has for us. You may be dealing with difficult circumstances and may have a thousand reason why you could be unhappy, but don't slip into that trap. Choose to enjoy each day that God gives you in spite of your circumstances. Everyday you live with a negative attitude, dominated by your discouragements, is a day you've wasted. And what a shame to waste what God has given us! The adversities are simply a test of our faith. Perhaps God wants to see how we will treat other people when we are not being treated well. He may want to see how we are going to respond if we don't get the promotion we were hoping for. What kind of attitude are we going to have if our prayers aren't answered as quickly as we would like? In the tough times, our characters develops. Something happens on the inside; God is causing us to grow. If He delivered us instantaneously from every problem, we would never need faith. Besides, we would never develop into the persons He really wants us to be. Romans 8:28 says"God causes all things to work together for good for them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." You may be in a difficult situation today. You may be in a hard place in your marriage or on the job; maybe you are in a hard place in your finances. Granted guys, there are and will always be times when we can't understand what we're going through or why, but we must never forget and always believe that In God's perfect right timing. He's going to bring some kind of good out of it. "God will not allow difficulty to come into our life unless He had a purpose for it."
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