How often do we pray away things that God intends to be our greatest blessings in life? 

Most of us spend so much time praying away the difficult and challenging things of life, when in fact, sometimes it is those very things that God intends to use as spiritual catalysts to propel us to where God wants us to be, to fulfill His perfect plan for our lives.

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4)

Does that mean that we are to be happy about the difficulties and challenges of life? Not necessarily. But we are told in the Bible, to “rejoice in the Lord always” by the Apostle Paul, who gave that mandate to his fellow believers from a jail cell. (Philippians 4:4)

No one is “happy” about difficult things in life when they happen, but as followers of Christ, we can always rejoice in the fact that when the difficulties and challenges come, and they will, that He is with us and will never leave us. (Deuteronomy 31:6) 

We have a Helper and a Teacher Who is willing to guide us through those challenges and teach us what we need to learn from them. And if we let Him, to our great surprise, we might just find ourselves rejoicing “in the Lord,” right smack dab in the middle of the difficulty.

If our true heart’s desire is to be made more like Christ, then no matter what comes in this life, our chief goal will be for God to use it to accomplish His perfect work in and through us, that we may be “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

I do not know about you, but I would rather be in difficulty with my Jesus, than in ease without Him!

Are you praying away your blessings? 

 

Lisa Hannan lives in Valdosta with her husband, attorney Miles Hannan, who has been practicing law in Valdosta for more than 30 years. She has a B.S. in psychology from Valdosta State University. You can find her at www.lisahannan.org.