Struggles

What are your hopes for the New Year? I always love the beginning of a New Year. I like to take time to think about my hopes for the year. This time I thought it would be good to try to make life a little less stressed and busy. Since Lydia has been born, life has been filled with appointments and people coming and going and many things to keep up with and remember. Although I'm VERY thankful for all the support, to be honest, I don't find it easy. It doesn't come natural for me. So I looked for what I could cut out. But I soon realized that 90% of the busyness is necessary. I wasn't too happy to realize this!
But then I listened to a short sermon which was a HUGE help to me. Do you ever feel like a sermon was preached just for you? It gave me a new perspective on my situation. I will share it with you, because I'm sure you have your own struggles to deal with too.
The sermon was about the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel. (Genesis 32:24-32)
At first Jacob didn't know who he was fighting. He must have thought it was an enemy. But then he realized He was really fighting God. So then he asked for a blessing. The angel blessed him, but Jacob was left with a limp.
The preacher explained that sometimes our biggest struggles are against God. We don't realize it is God we are fighting, because God doesn't always do things the way we expect. Just like we don't always recognize someone when they are out of uniform.
God wants to change us, but in order for Him to do that, He has to allow trouble. But we fight against it because we don't know that God is doing something through it.
And just as Jacob was left with a limp, so trouble often comes when God blesses us. We would love to cut out all the bad/difficult/trials out of our lives. But blessings and trials go hand in hand. If we could remove all the difficulty/evil from our life, we would have to give up the good too.
So as a summary, in my situation, God has given me a special needs child as well as 2 miscarriages. I fight against the challenges and difficulties, not realizing that God is changing me through them all. I don't realize I am fighting against God, because that is not how I expect Him to work in my life! But I don't need to fight it. I can realize that He will bless me through these challenges. Since this is what He has given me, it is what I am supposed to be doing.
If He didn't want me to be busy with appointments etc., He wouldn't have given me Lydia! (I thought I learned this lesson a long time ago, but I needed to be reminded again.)

What are your struggles? Is there something you can't change that you are fighting against? Be encouraged! Realize that you may be fighting God. If you will trust  and submit to Him, He will bless you through it all.