Sometimes life just seems unfair. We do what we know we should do and do things the way that we have been taught that were the right way of doing them. But yet life is so much harder than we thought it would be. We thought that because we believe in Jesus that our lives would be spared of all the hardship that others face. We thought that our lives would flow ever so smooth. We thought that because we did everything right and treated people fairly that we would have blessings instead of troubles. We find ourselves asking God why are these things happening to us or what did we do to deserve it.

This world is a messed up place. It is ruled by the enemy and influenced by all his spiritual workers. The bible states that the enemy is the ruler of this world but to take heart because Jesus has overcome the world. I take that statement to mean that since we have Jesus living in us, we can overcome whatever life throws our way. That we can live in this world and not be of this world. Meaning that we can choose to do things differently than the world does them. For example, when someone treats us bad we can choose to treat them kind and not feed into the anger that they have. I know that may not be a good example compared to the some of the horrible things that happen in life but I wanted to give a simple example to express how we have choices in matters concerning the work of the enemy.

When we have bad things happen to us it is hard to understand why they happen to us. We do nothing to deserve the hardships, troubles, or pain that we suffer. We feel like we shouldn’t have to endure such things and that it is so unfair. We can find ourselves thinking that if God is such a good God then why does He allow these things to happen to us. That if he really loved us like the bible claims he does then he would keep us from such things. God does not make such things happen. It is the work of the enemy in every situation. And while God could keep it from happening, He more so wants us to be able to make it threw the situations and come out of it stronger than we were before it happened. He also wants us to be able to relate with others that has or is going threw the same things and be able to help others come out of it stronger than they were before it happened. Everything happens for a reason. And while we can not understand it while it is happening, we can come out of it a much better person than we were before it happened.

At 14 years old I couldn’t understand why I was being raped by a family member. At 9 years old I couldn’t understand why my dad was leaving me. At 16-19 years old I couldn’t understand why every good thing that I tried to do never worked out and I was living the lifestyle that I was living. I could not understand all the sleepless nights, days and days with no food, being used and abused. I couldn’t understand it but it was making me the person that I am today and without it happening I would not be able to have the strength to fight today’s troubles. I would not be able to have compassion towards others. I would not be able to relate to the pain that others have and give them worthy advice. I would not have learned that I can make good come from bad things. I would not have learned that I have the power to endure and come out of it a better person.

I had to learn that I may not ever understand the things that happen to or around me. I may not ever understand why, but I have come to know that everything happens for a reason. There is a reason behind it all. And we can choose to use it for the good of others and for the good of our future. Even if the only thing that we can do is to never do it again, it can be used to the good of ourselves and others.