Life has a lot of lessons to teach us if we are willing to learn them. Sometimes though, we have to pass through trials or hardships in our lives that we just cannot figure out. Wondering, "What is the point of this trial that I am facing?" It seems to me that there are some things that we are supposed to endure and bear and may never know why, or if any good came from those experiences until a later date. In order not to be broken or embittered by the hardships, we need to find a way to submit our own wills to the Lord's and trust that he won't ask us to pass through anything that we cannot bear. If harmed emotionally or otherwise in the process we need to trust that we will find healing and become more whole and better for it. Sometimes God has to knock down a lot of walls in our cottage in order to make it a castle.
Trying to submit our will to the will of the Lord can be a challenging thing. We are taught to go for what "we" want our whole lives to be self-serving and to achieve and succeed. But when we submit to the will of the Lord we are giving up our own wants for ourselves to the Lord's wants and desires for our progress.
Submit? I know, I have a hard time with that word as well. It has a kind of enslavement feeling to it doesn't it? I am a particularly stubborn and resistant person sometimes. I am writing about this thinking, "Yeah, wouldn't it be nice if I took my own advice about submitting my will to the Lord in the difficult circumstances that I find myself in?" I am trying to do better. When we are going through things in our lives and try to resist the difficulty or take control of it, it seems that the intensity of the challenge just increases. However, when we let go and allow ourselves to go through the feelings or situation it seems like things go much more smoothly. We do need to take action sometimes and work at things, but we also need to be trusting of God and the universe and the lessons they have to teach us. Sometimes we need to sit still and wait for the storm to pass, or listen and wait for the answer to come.
A lot of the pain and hardship in my life has come from thinking that I am in charge and that I can fix whatever is broken. Well, that is just not true! Many a mess have I made in trying to fix what is not mine to fix, or to control what is not mine to control. I am responsible for me and my choices, and others are responsible for theirs. It is not my job to fix or save everyone, it is my job to fix and save myself and help my family, and if I have anything left, I can help elsewhere. I am not sure I ever really knew what was "my" responsibility growing up because I felt "responsible for everyone" and their happiness, and continued into adulthood thinking the same. We need to be aware of where our true responsibility lies and make sure those things are taken care of first and foremost. If there are other ways in which we can help then by all means we can do that. But are so many mistakes to be made and there is much potential for regret if we do not figure out what we "are" responsible for.
When I think of life and how random it can be, unpredictable, sometimes unfair, and with good intentions you expect a certain outcome from a certain action later surprised to find a reaction at the end of it that you couldn't have prepared yourself for. This I believe is where prayer comes in. It is important to make the decisions in our lives a matter of prayer. To bring it up with the Lord and find out if that decision will bring you peace. We tend to go about our lives thinking that we know what we need and where we need to go. Sometimes we put all of our trust in ourselves and our own ability to handle things. But every single one of us will find ourselves at a point where we need to be added upon or helped by the Lord, or by the people around us because our own strength sometimes just isn't sufficient enough for the problems at hand.
It is important to embrace our challenges and to learn from them. To trust that as we are doing our best and turning to God in prayer, that we will make better decisions in our lives. That we will travel though our trials more gracefully and with greater ability to endure the things that we are called upon to endure. Sometimes our trials are brought on by our own mistakes and misjudgments, and sometimes they are brought on by no fault of our own. But even in mistakes, the Lord can use those experiences for our benefit if we will learn the lessons attached to those mistakes.
So my challenge to myself and everyone who reads this is... To have faith in God and his plan for you. Trust that there are reasons for the trials in your life that you are facing. Even if you cannot think of a single reason why this challenge is yours, trust that God has given it to you as a gift. A way to fix things in your own nature so that you are better prepared for higher things, and better prepared for the perfection of Heaven. God has a much bigger plan for you than you have for yourself and if you will let him work on you and make you better through prayer, his teachings(scripture), and experience, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that "we" will not be disappointed.
