Celebrating Hurdles

Maturity does not come with age. There are even kids who are matured and sensible, on the other side there are adults who are immature and cannot handle their stuff appropriately. Why I am discussing maturity here is because as we grow mature we know how to celebrate our hurdles. Otherwise hurdles are like problems--problems in personal lives, in homes, and in office. Problems in these areas are caused by immaturity more than by anything else. If by just growing up, we would get matured, it would have been really simple. But we have to grow mature in order to become VICTORS instead of VICTIMS, celebrating all our hurdles. Hurdles are to spiritual maturity as the chisel is to sculpture.

"When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade!" is an old proverb. It is easier to smile at that statement than to practice it, but the basic philosophy is sound. Successful people are the ones who can turn defeat into victory and trials into triumph. We can do the same and experience success! Whether we are dealing with trials on the outside or temptations on the inside --

Hurdles, WILL COME and they tend to be unexpected and for the most part they are initially unwelcome. They are unwanted and unwelcome experiences of life that come about when we least expect them. They are common experiences. They can come from the normal flow of life; they can be allowed by God or even sent by God. But we should not respond in anger or disappointment… Because they…HAVE a PURPOSE. All hurdles work together for the good, although all things might not be good. But God will take those tests and trials then use them to shape and strengthen our faith.

Many who rise triumphantly never label what they go through as "bad" and, thus, don't agonize over it. They simply take it as a given situation– like an engineer surveying a swamp through which a road is to be built. From his perspective, the swamp is not a bad thing. It is merely something that has to be addressed in his construction plan.

Trials and tests are not to produce growing faith for God; it is to produce enduring faith in our self.The purpose is to complete us, to make us perfect… this is not about a high unachievable standard, example… if one lacks patience one can bet that some of the trials will require patience. Why? To complete oneself. If one lacks compassion one may find himself in tests that require compassion. Why? To complete oneself. If one is short on wisdom, one shall find himself in situations that require to look to God’s wisdom. Why? To complete oneself.

UNDERSTANDING HURDLES:

To UNDERSTAND how to properly REACT and GROW, we are supposed to use life, to react differently in life and to grow in it. If we moan and groan about hurdles that arise then we are telling the world that God is not wise enough to teach us how to get through the rough spots… but with God’s wisdom we see that hurdles provide us with greater opportunities, hurdles promote our spiritual maturity, hurdles prove our integrity and gives us an opportunity to celebrate. And anything worth a celebration shall not come easy.

Always remember, God did not get us, where we are today, it was always our choice, …so Don’t BLAME God for what we got our self into. This is the problem today; we would not just simply accept responsibility for our actions. It is ok to ask God why something happened… just don’t blame Him for it. The largest portion of the problem here is that we don’t want to accept a moral responsibility. Fortunately God will get us out of the mess we got our self into.

The earthly crown of life is being able to live life and enjoy, to savor it and understand that hurdles are not personal (it is not at all about you). But with God’s perspective and long reaching faith we find that living down here is not all that bad… as a matter of fact, that life is really worth living and celebrating. This is really a cool place; even we can celebrate the trials when we have God’s wisdom. All Joy???

Here is the actual hard part, putting this into practice… making it real in our lives so that we can have a joyful and happy life even in the face of the bad or trying times..

COUNT IT ALL JOY So the first step to turning trials into triumph is to: IMMEDIATELY THANK GOD AND ADOPT A JOYFUL ATTITUDE! And part of that Counting is Counting blessings. When we stop to count all the things that God has done in our life, shall remember in the midst of the test or trial that GOD PROVIDES and HE WILL DO IT AGAIN.

We are to understand that: Trials test our faith and then Faith tested can bring out the best in us! Just as fire purifies gold and just as training makes the athlete stronger with this understanding, we can have joy in trials because we know that: Testing works FOR us, not AGAINST us.

To truly turn trials into triumph, we must let "patience" do its work... Too often; we want to get our trials or difficulties over with quickly. But there are times when the best course is to bear up under the trial patiently. Instead of grumbling and complaining... patiently endure the trial, doing good despite the trial -
We get in such a rush don’t learn from our trials and we repeat mistakes again and again… for when patience has had an opportunity to work, it produces "maturity"!

If we lack wisdom, ask for it from God! He has promised to give it liberally. And he will not browbeat us for making such a request. What exactly is this "wisdom"? We should be careful to distinguish "wisdom" from "knowledge”, Knowledge involves information, facts, etc. Godly Wisdom is the ability or insight to properly use those facts in the most expeditious way or in a way that provides the best ability to overcome the hurdle. AND DON’T DOUBT GOD.