Gods Plan
Life is challenging, from heartbreaks to failures, to setbacks and detours; all these things can add a depressive taste to our lives. We experience these things and instantly find ourselves discouraged, beaten down, upset, and broken. Although all these things are considered negative, are they that bad? Are the challenges a disservice or a service to us? You see, as I've gotten older and have experienced many "negative" things; I've realized that all these things have had the most impact on my life. Yes, the good moments of my life have left an impact, but I didn't have to change during the good. When the good happened, I just sat back and enjoyed it. There was no need to change, to become better. But when the bad happened, and I became challenged, I buckled down and worked to become something more. To produce the good, a better good than what I’ve previously experienced.
Change is something most of us fear. Change comes with many unknowns and very few if any, knowns. This, in turn, leads to us becoming fearful of that change and becoming stuck where we’re at. We often realize we need to change, but we're in the good, so we say no. When that happens, usually, the good finds a way to turn sour. God didn't just put that feeling in you for no reason; he gave you a chance to do it more easily, on your own terms. But most of the time, we do it the hard way. When the good turns bad, it leads to confusion, anger, resentment, and many other things. We then begin to blame God or others for the bad happening in our lives when the blame should be put onto ourselves. But we don't blame ourselves; what we do is lay down and accept defeat; we take our mediocrity and live with it. We then live at, what I like to call, "50%". We're OK with being OK. Our OK is comfortable for us. But, to be great, even good, you must go through the uncomfortable, through the flames of life.
We don't know God's plan for our lives, yes, some have a more precise direction than others, but at the end of the day, none of us know what will happen 20 years down the road, or even tomorrow. God's plan for your life could be something beyond comprehension, something you could only dream of. But to get there, it might take going through a lot of crap. Feeling alone, challenged, beaten down, and rejected; it also might take a lot of time. We need all that to teach us something so we can fully accomplish the plan that God has laid out for us. But, since we're stubborn, we'll reject the offer for our own comfort. Although God loves us and will wait for you, his plan might not wait for you. You may pass up the most significant thing for you because of your own comfort. Imagine one day you get to heaven, and he begins to tell of a life that isn't yours but is something extraordinary; you then tell him how that isn't you, and He says, "it could've been."
Your life is precious, beyond value; why waste it on comfort? Seek discomfort, seek the fight, go through the crap, and the comfort will come. This comfort will be worth the fight, not the convenience of mediocrity. Every time you get knocked down, get back up. Every time you get rejected, try again. Whenever you feel like giving up, give it one more step, then another, then another, and so on. Achieve failure, for winning is only found beyond that boundary. God qualifies the unqualified; life's storms are detours of teaching and skill-building for a life worthy of God's praise. A life worthy of hearing, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Don't lose faith in God. Trust his process, go through the crap, and walk through the darkest valleys knowing God is with you and understanding the glory on the other side.
I believe in you; more importantly, God believes in you. So search out the uncomfortable, build a spiritual self, a mentality, a physique, a person that is unshakable, undefeatable. You are worth it; you are loved.
Trevor Crowder
