Faith

The Lord does not delay his promise 2 Peter 3:9

Life has so many ups, downs, turns, fast downhill declines, long uphill inclines and times where it seems like things are not changing and you are caught in the same old same old. Growing up, I always heard that life was like a roller coaster. I’ve been doing this “adult life” for about 10 months now, and I can tell you it’s true. I’ve had so many ups, from moving out of my parents, being able to afford my student loans, meeting wonderful friends, starting my professional career, buying a car and so on. I feel sometimes like I have my adult life together, but then I’m not always happy with the way my job is going or how certain relationships have ended. There has been a lot of great changes, but the changes also cause some uneasy feelings and tension. I’ve never really known what I’ve wanted to do with my life…I always feel like I must have the next 40 years of my career figured out right now. But honestly, I’m not sure what I want to do a year from now! Life changes so much in a short time. Lately I’ve felt like nothing has been changing. I’m on the straight and unchanging part of the roller coaster ride. Nothing seems to be changing, I feel stuck and am not sure where I will be going next. So, during the time of no changes and feeling like you have no direction, what do you do? What do I do? Many times, I ask myself what I should be doing right now. I’ve prayed for answers, I’ve asked for signs, I look for new things every day, but I still am where I was a month ago. I still feel lost and uncertain with my future, I know things right now are temporary but many times I forget this. God wants us to come to him, during the trials and hard. It can be so hard to continue praying for things or about situations that haven’t changed in a long time. There are certain prayers I’ve been saying for 6+ years and still don’t have the answers, but there are prayers I say for a few weeks that are answered right away. It can be very discouraging at times, but God’s timing is not our timing. God is working during the hopeless times of life, he is preparing us for the next uphill climb, for the future downhills, turns and joyful times. He wants us to be hopeful during the trials and downhills, we need to pray and ask him to help us. Too often I get caught up in life’s struggles, I focus on what I don’t have right now, and wonder why I don’t have the things I want or think I should have by now.

On Friday, I turn 24. There are so many things I thought I’d do by 24 that I haven’t done, but there are also so many things I have done before 24 that I didn’t think I would. God has blessed me the past 24 years and I am so grateful. Yet, I still find things to be unhappy about. I’ve been so focused lately on what I don’t have, that the things I do have, seem like nothing. I get so worked up that I don’t have certain things in my life right now and seem to give those things an expiration date. I give myself expiration dates on things that I have my whole life to do, such as fall in love, find the perfect job, have a family and have the perfect house. I look at my current situation as permanent, not temporary. Life here on Earth is temporary, we hear this all the time at church and in the bible, so why don’t I fully trust God? The one who knows all and knows exactly when things will happen in my life when I need them to. I need to start seeing the hard times and struggles in life as temporary. All the struggles I have been facing this year are not permanent, I have plenty of time to find where God wants me in this world and plenty of time to travel and do all of the things I want to. God has wonderful plans for all of us, he can change our life at any second without us knowing. Right now, during the times of struggle, he is preparing us for our times of joy and happiness. He is always preparing us for the next thing in life, with or without us knowing. My goal for the next month is to see the struggles I face as temporary and a way to learn. I want to be happy and trust God with everything. I challenge you to do this as well, always remember God has your back!

God is with us Matthew 1:23