It is a misconception that things get easy for you when you are a Christian. The premise is that when you become a follower of Christ, problems disappear and struggles evaporate. However, the truth is completely opposite of that. This is not meant as a discouragement, but as a battle cry! When you seek God and press into him, you will begin to level up. Leveling up does not equal gaining more advantage, accolades, and rights. Rather, leveling up means that the battles to be faced will be more challenging because as you level up, you are pressing into the Presence of God and growing more intimate with Him.
I remember playing Super Mario Bros on our Nintendo system when I was growing up. At the end of every level, you had to battle a bad guy. As you continued through the levels, the bad guys were trickier and harder to beat. It is the same when doing battle in life as you level up. I can remember calling out for my Dad when things got hard or I lost a life when doing battle against one of those brutes. My Dad would take over the controls and defeat the enemy; how fortunate we are that our Heavenly Father does the same thing when we are in the midst of a difficult battle. We must simply cry out and release the control to Him, then watch as He defeats the enemy.
Not everything you encounter in this life will be good. Our prayer needs to be that when we encounter difficulty, struggle, adversity, brokenness, loss, doubt, and other difficult circumstances, that we know that everything is for good and can be used for good. This is repeated throughout the Bible in many passages; two of my favorites on this topic are Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28.
You intended to harm me,
but God intended it for good
to accomplish what is now being done,
the saving of many lives.
Genesis 50:20
And we know that
in all things
God works for the good
of those who love him,
who[a] have been called
according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Sometimes we will lose battles, but that does not mean we are defeated. It means that we are to learn something through that experience and rise up to do battle again. When we release it to God, everything we encounter is used by God FOR our good. We have all been harmed by others, whether intentionally or unintentionally. In the pain following that harm, we have two options; we can become angry and bitter or we can release it to God and see how He uses it for our good. It doesn't mean it will be easy or pleasant always, but it does mean that He will walk it out with us until we see the good in it. Why? It is simple; it is because He is faithful!
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