Destiny is in the Difficult

A few years ago I was having a pity party with a friend. I was complaining because I had just been asked to have a difficult conversation with someone. I think my exact words were, “Why do I always get asked to do the difficult things? Why don’t I ever get to do the fun stuff?” Her response was, “What an honor…that God would trust you to handle the difficult things.” Yep, she Jesus juked me! I was somewhat expecting sympathy but instead she gave me the perspective I needed to embrace the call that God had on my life…all of it. Side note, if you don’t have friends that tell you what you need but instead tell you what you want…find new friends. Since that day, I’ve been asked and trusted with far more difficult things than that conversation and I truly count it as an honor, to used by God in any way.

It’s through the difficult things, we grow and God enlarges our capacity and faith in Him. If we choose to embrace the difficult, God will give us insight into and opportunity for things we can only dream about. Difficult things draw out our destiny. It’s not usually on the mountaintops where we press into God (although we should) but it’s in the valley where we cry out for God’s help. It’s when we are stripped away from our comfort zone that our character is refined and our hearts tested and purified.

Joseph saw his destiny long before he walked it out. To get to what he saw in his heart, he had to endure the difficult, the challenging, the humbling…the process. We can’t have God’s promises without being willing to endure the process. My friend, Katie (AKA the Jesus-juker), preached a great message on this a few weeks ago. Do yourself a favor and go listen here.

I heard a pastor once say to be cautious in labeling something good or bad. Good doesn’t always mean easy and bad doesn’t always mean difficult. Sometimes the most difficult things produce the greatest fruit in our lives and similarly, the easy things produce bad fruit, or worse…no fruit.

To gain the fullness of the life God has for us…to experience our destiny, we must be willing to embrace the difficult trusting that if God has called us to it, He will cover us and carry us through it.

Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”