Let's be honest.

Sometimes, life challenges you. Really, really challenges you. In your mind you've imagined the way you want things to be, the goals you want to reach, and the things you need to do. You've kept an open mindset about what happens, and tell yourself over and over again that everything happens for a reason. But despite your efforts, nothing is playing out how you imagined, you aren't reaching your goals- or worse, you're stagnant in your journey- and the list of things you need to do keeps getting more and more extensive.

Cue the confusion, frustration, and doubt.

It seems as if there's one enormous road block sitting in between you and who you want to become and the goals you're trying to achieve. You've faced challenges before, but not the kind that stop you in your tracks, kick you to the ground, and leave you feeling ten feet further away from where you started.

You're trying to get your finances in order and pay debt. You're trying to get certain grades. You're trying to transform your body. You're trying to become a better person. You're trying to get into college. You're trying to figure out college. You're trying to get a job. You're trying to get involved. You're trying to escape loneliness and be a friend. You're trying to follow your dreams. You're trying.

You want it so bad. You've worked so hard to come so far, but now the end seems out of reach. You're lost. You're having to learn to cope with your failure and its lingering in your head, and put on a front as if you're not struggling to get through each day. You want to give up and abandon the mission you've envisioned for so long.

Listen to me: don't.

You've probably encountered one or a few of the situations I mentioned, and have come to a stage in life where you've done nothing but persist and put in effort, yet practically feel like you're walking backwards in your journey because something is stopping you. Challenges make us vulnerable to the notion of giving up and abandoning what we've worked so hard for.

Think about why you started. Think about how good it will feel to succeed. Think about how good it will feel to not only have achieved your goal, but to have defeated the challenges instead of becoming their victim. Think about how much more endurance you have than your challenges do. Think about everything you will have learned in the end. Think about everyone who believes in you. Think about- and know- that nothing worth having comes easy.

Go to sleep with your dream in mind. Wake up to a new day filled with new opportunities. Begin with the end in mind. All of your challenges have a purpose, and it's your job to tell them who's boss.

God has a plan for you. He created you with a specific purpose in mind. It may not be what you had imagined in your head, or the same goals you wished to reach. Trust in the plan, and open your soul to Him and let Him light the path He created for you. Don't give up, and don't back down. "Rejection is God's way of saying wrong direction." And keep in mind...

"For this God is our God for ever and ever, he will be our guide even to the end." -Psalm 48:14

"With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall." -Psalm 18:29

"A man's mind plan his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure." -Proverbs 16:9

"You can make plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail." -Proverbs 19:21