We all go through things that are uncomfortable, things that we don't like. A coworker is getting on our nerves, a child is difficult to raise, a dream is taking longer than we thought.
It's easy to live frustrated, wondering why it's not changing. But I've learned you can't pray away everything that's uncomfortable. God uses difficulties, delays, inconveniences, to do a work in us.
If the situation is not changing, maybe God is using the situation to change you. He wouldn't have allowed it if he didn't have a purpose for it.
Don't just go through it, upset, bitter, offended, grow through it. That's an opportunity to get stronger, to develop your character, to build your spiritual muscles.
We don't grow so much in the good times; we grow in the difficult times.
Joel Osteen
Joel Osteen is the senior pastor of the Lakewood Church congregation in Houston, Texas, which is one of the largest churches in the United States; according to Forbes and Outreach magazine, with 60,000 members.
