Difficulties

Each of us faces difficulties from time to time. It’s a natural part of the cycle of life. Many of us become so focused on the problems we face that we lose our joy—it gets buried under layers of worry and fear. But the moment you realize you have nothing to lose is the moment you understand you have nothing to fear. Never let fear decide your future.

Our ability to endure difficult things is directly tied to our vision of the future. Sometimes, the challenges we face are completely out of our control. Other times, they are the consequences of our own decisions. While we cannot change the events or outcomes in life, we can choose the meaning we attach to them and how we respond. As the saying goes, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react.”

Our brains are wired to store information and use past experiences to guide our reactions. That’s why a single bad memory—like a frightening roller coaster ride or a food that made us sick—can create automatic, lasting reactions. But we can retrain our minds. We can learn to see the positive, even in the most challenging situations.

When we replace the question “Why is this happening to me?” with “What is this trying to teach me?” everything shifts.

There’s a story of a farmer and his old mule. One day, the mule fell into a dry well. The farmer, after assessing the situation, decided the mule was too old to save and the well not worth recovering. So, he called his neighbors to help bury the mule by shoveling dirt into the well.

At first, the mule panicked. But as the dirt hit his back, he had an idea. Each time a shovel of dirt landed, he shook it off and stepped up. Blow after blow, the mule kept saying to himself, “Shake it off and step up… shake it off and step up…” And that’s exactly what he did. Eventually, the mule stepped out of the well—battered and tired, but free. What was meant to bury him actually lifted him higher because of how he chose to face it.

Difficulties, trials, problems, and burdens are all part of life—we cannot avoid them. But when we know that God is with us each day, we find the courage to face obstacles without panic, bitterness, or self-pity.

Timing won’t always be in our favor. When life shakes up our comfort, it tests us. In those moments, we must look for the good, even if it’s hidden. Let’s not allow our natural reactions to blind us from what God may be doing in the moment.

Life won’t always give us what we want. But we can still choose kindness, love, and compassion—even when others fall short of our expectations. At the end of the day, we are not called to live up to the world’s standards. We are called to live up to God’s.