The whole reason why I started Hope in Struggle was for me to be able to share the ups and downs of my life with each and every one of you. I wanted to show you all that God works through our struggles. He teaches through our pain or frustrations.

He gives us the best lessons through the things that go wrong, not the things that go right.

Our struggles can help keep things in perspective as well as help us see God’s plan for us. You can see what he wants us to learn by what he puts in our path.

You might be wondering why you should be grateful for some of the hardships in your life.

• Why should you be grateful for losing your job?
• Why should you be grateful for having a sick husband, a broken down car, or an abusive partner?
• Who could possibly be grateful for having to run their bank account negative just to feed their family and keep the lights on?

I am not saying you have to be happy these things have happened to you. My point is, it’s all about perspective. If you look at those things at face value, they are not good. But with a little deep diving into things that surround them, you may be surprised.

Perhaps once you lost your job, you started your own business that you would have never had time for otherwise. It’s always possible that through a loved one's illness you find a patience you didn’t know you had. Or maybe your relationship with that person will grow deeper than you could have ever expected. There are lessons in everything if you just look for them. Dismissing them as nothing but bad situations meant to punish you is missing the point completely.

One of my favorite scriptures says that if we seek God with all our whole heart we will find Him. You need to approach everything with love and understanding. Having patience and kindness with yourself and your situation can take you much further than complaining and placing blame. God didn’t put us here for our lives to be pure bliss. We aren't meant to float through life feeling nothing but happiness and joy. We are here to struggle and to learn. The key is learning to struggle well and to understand the tough stuff and to become the best person we can possibly be in this life by HIS strength and love.

All famous biblical characters had some serious struggles in their lives. Each one of them had hardships they personally had to overcome. Look at Job, Moses, Mary, and so on. They all had fairly horrible lives if you look at them, yet God shined his light through those struggles. He showed how important it is to persevere and overcome those obstacles in your path. They aren’t put there to stop you. They are put there to elevate you to your next level and help you step up and be the person God intended. He doesn’t want you to hate, judge, or discriminate. He wants you to learn and grow.

Now go live your life and your truth in the best way possible with love.

~Mindy

P.S. I recently did a short "car talk" podcast all about this! Be sure to take a listen here! (and while you're at it be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an epsiode or leave a review if it's encouraged you in any way!)