No matter what you do or do not believe in, we can all agree that life is not all happy days with sunshine and rainbows. Every single person has their own struggles, their own bad hair days, and their own moments where nothing seems to go right. People tend to use God's name in vain on those bad days a lot more often than you hear them using His name in praise on the good days. When things do not go the way we want them to, we are all to quick to antagonize God with questions like:

"Why did you do this?"

"Why did you allow this to happen?"

"What did I do to deserve this?"

"Why me?"

"Why must it be like this?"

These exact questions could be asked to God when we are blessed with something great. Why don't we though?

Even at a young age, children are taught in church that God is good. He is great. God is the creator of everything that exists! When children hear about this and His amazing grace, they often conclude the contrary. This often leads young minds to regard Satan as not just the source of bad things, but rather all the things we do not want to happen in our lives. As these children grow up, their faith forms around the idea that God gives us the good things we want and anything that we get that we don't want is bad. There are worse things than believing in this mentality; however, what should be emphasized in the church is that God is righteousand holy. Everything that He does is good, but what God considers to be right and good for us is not always what we want. Just let that statement fully sink in and process through your mind.

Everything that He does is good, but what God considers to be right and good for us is not always what we want.

With all the love God has for us, He wants for us to be happy. The only thing He desires for us more than happiness is for us to be whole and holy. From the very beginning of our existence, God has given us precisely what we need, not simply whatever we want. On top of that, although God has given us something, that does not mean we should take it for advantage even just the slightest. At times, the gifts God presents us with may be a struggle or we will have to work for them. It can be too easy to push these things to the back of our minds. Being born with the free will we have also comes with a side effect of being unintentionally selfish here and there.

A common example of God giving us what we need, rather than just what we want is in marriage. All over the world people come together to celebrate when two get married. Marriage may be the single most evident thing where people experience the real struggle of God's tough love. Not that people do not want a person to love us and spend the rest of our lives with, but as I am sure anyone who is married can attest to this, marriage is not easy. People hardly realize before they walk down the isle that marriage is more than just someone else comforting you all the time, it is you supporting and loving the other person too. It is a lifetime of compromises. God wants with every bit of His being for us to be whole. That is such a huge part of holy matrimony. He shows us who our other half is. God is smarter than everyone who has walked this Earth put together. Marriage is not easy because God knows we would not appreciate it the same if it was. He wants us to be complete with our soul mate, happiness is just a side effect of it all.

Next time you are struggling with something, do not antagonize our Lord about it. Understand that God might not have given you the easy path to follow because He is using your hard work to mold you into the whole and complete person you are destined to be. My favorite bible verse tells us this.

Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of any kind because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. - James 1:2-4

Even though things might not be going in the direction you want, does not mean they are going in the wrong direction. Every single thing, from the alarm you sleep through to the job you do not get, is supposed to happen. Try using those questions from before and be gracious in using them. When everything seems to be going amazing and more, ask the Lord what it means for you. What have we done to deserve His eternal and everlasting love? Nothing. We do not deserve the good things that happen to us any more than we do the bad ones, so let us not get ahead of ourselves.

No one is to balme when we have our off days. There is no such thing as perfection on Earth. All we can do is be thankful for the blessings we have and gracious of the struggle we work though. What we go through is what make us who we are. It is the definite thing that allows us to grow, and grow to be more like Him.