Trials to Transformation

Most of us are eagerly pursuing happiness and joy in our lives. We are all searching for meaningful things in life-fulfillment and what might be called "the good life." Most would probably say, "I am basically a good person, loving and caring, and for the most part neither greedy nor selfish." So why then does it appear that so many of us strive for, but, seem never to fully achieve real and lasting happiness, with the emphasis on lasting? You might say, "My life is good. Sure, there are some things I'd change, but for the most part I'm happy." You may also say, "Things happen, good and bad, but we are on the journey and we will get there one day." Although these are the attitudes of a positive mind-and positive thinking, we must ask our true self this question: "How much closer to true happiness am I today than when I first set out on the journey?"

We all experience times when things go our way and fall into place and we begin to make plans for the future. We might even go so far as to pat ourselves on the back and say, "This is what I made. This is what I accomplished." But then life happens. Something blocks our path and knocks us to the ground and shakes the very foundation of our hopes and dreams. We put our faith and hope in something or someone only to have it come crashing down around us one day, leaving us discouraged and heartbroken.

We have little or no choice but to deal with the consequences, brush ourselves off, and thrust ourselves into another life. We press forward in our own strength and carry into the next experience what is more commonly referred to as our "baggage." While pushing on, weary and exhausted, carrying that heavy trunk with dignified purpose, we sometimes notice that our spirit does not seem in full communion with our actions and thoughts-as though something is missing. We sense a longing for something that we cannot quite put our hands on.

This destructive cycle occurs because our fragile existence is held together by the things we hear and see. Which is why just one small thing can happen and everything-our hopes, our life as we knew ii seems to quickly come apart. Why? It can be attributed to many factors and a history of circumstances, some from our past, some from today, and some involving our perceptions of the future. Whatever the cause, we are left to manage a multitude of emotions.

Those trying times generally arise when we are dealing with a trial in our lives. Maybe you are going through some kind of trial in your life today, perhaps one that you do not completely understand, and are asking questions such as "Why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this? God, why have you allowed this to happen in my life? No matter how hard you try, you just can't come up with a reasonable answer. When we get in that place, needless to say, we want out of the trial, out of the uncomfortable situation. We want all the pain, hurt, and hopelessness to end-to simply pass and go away . . . now. The trial might be something that makes little sense, something that had come with no warning. It might be something to do with our health, our marriage, our job, our children, or our finances. Whatever it is, we just want an answer.

Despite our understanding or intellect, we just can't figure out why, how it happened, and when it will pass. We may even question our faith, asking God, "If You are who You say You are, why don"t You answer my prayers?"

We just want it to end.

But let's pause a moment and ask ourselves: Is it the will of God that the trials just end? We might say, Why sure it is! After all, God is a good and merciful God. After reading this book, though, you may realize that God has something far, far more important from His perspective than simply getting us out of the difficulty and hardship as quickly as it came upon us.