Hurdles in the Road!!

   This life can be so painful and difficult.  Often, it may seem as if the majority of life is consisted of various trials and hardships.
 
   I look around me at the people I know, whether it be family or close friends, and I see people hurting and suffering from all kinds of difficulties!

   Why are their troubles in life?  Why is it that good people face such turmoil?  Why does it seem like their pain is not going away, but even at times it seems to increase?  Why...why...why?

  I ask myself these questions over and over again sometimes and you know what...I am left with the same answer each time..."Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

  We are to trust in the sovereign Lord.  We are to wait upon Him and be obedient to Him.  We are to continually cast our cares upon Him for He cares for us! We are to continually seek Him and He will fill us up with His truth and peace.

  Yes, I may not always want to "hear" the answers from God's Word which tell us to TRUST and to WAIT upon Him, for often I want to find ways of fixing the problem myself or to bring about a solution RIGHT NOW, but I know that I cannot.  I am not in control.  God is.

   Also, as believers, when we encounter great trials and difficulties, we are, yes, to continually seek the Lord and to cry out to Him, but we are also to LOOK FORWARD to our eternal home and have our eyes upon that.  Often, when we are facing something unpleasant, it is then when we are reminded that this world is not our home.  As Paul says in Romans 8:18,  "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."  It is during the days of distress and pain that we long for that glory in heaven to be revealed to us NOW.

   So, when I face trials and when I see others I love deal with difficulties, it should be a reminder to me that I am to continually depend upon the Lord, to trust, and to wait upon Him even when I do not understand, and also, to long for the day when we will be with our Lord in paradise!  Yet, believers should, ALL of the time, whether during the great times of life or the bad, seek to learn more and more about our Savior, to rest in His promises, and to long for our heavenly home. 

   I believe the reason for trials is then to point us continually to the Lord, for He is our hope, and to also remind us that this world is not ultimately our home.

   Continue this race of faith, dear friends, with strong strides even when a hurdle or two may come along your path!  Cling to the Lord and keep your eyes on the heavenly prize!

~Grow in Grace~ 

2 Peter 3:18