life is hard

You know, I have discovered life is extremely hard.  Okay, I didn't just realize this but with the last couple of weeks, with having life still staring me down but having God to look upon for comfort and strength, life couldn't be better.  There are so many things that happened in the last few days that could classify as having a really crappy life.  But, I really feel that if I had nothing and still had God, I would have everything in the world and so much more.  This feeling that God has given me has been a blessing beyond anything that I could have asked for.  My family is going through a rough time right now but I still feel at peace that everything is going to be okay because God is in control.  I can understand the pain and frustration that people that I am close to are going through, but I know in my heart and soul that as bad as life may be right now, God is only preparing us for something so much bigger than ourselves.  The hardships that we endure in this life are only preparing us for something that God has in store.  We are incapable of seeing the whole picture, though we may dream about it sometimes.  God asked Job to rid of all of his possessions and at the end all Job had was God to lean on.  God blessed Job in so many more wonderful ways than Job would have thought possible.  Would you be able to give everything up that you either have or have ever wanted because God asked you to?  Would you be able to trust that He has something so much better for you that you just cannot see it yet?  Imagine what that may be.  You may believe that you have everything you have ever wanted right now.  A great job.  A great family.  Great friends.  What if all of that disappeared?  Would you still be able to say that you have a life worth living?  I whole-heartedly believe that God allows us to go through such turmoil and despair (nothing we can't handle) in order for us to reach out for Him and allow Him to take the reigns.  Sometimes we need that rock bottom in order to know who God truly is.  I have been there and back so many times I cannot keep track.  But, I do know that God is in control and I trust Him with ever fiber of my being that everything is going to work out the way it's supposed to.  It may not work out the way that we had hoped but would you rather have what you think is the best thing for you or would you rather have what God has set aside for you which is something so much better our brains cannot even begin to imagine its greatness?  I vote for option B.  I may have thought that I was supposed to graduate at the end of Decemeber and be done with school.  Instead, I now have to go an extra semester.  Trust me, I was not happy about this decision.  But, looking back if I had just stuck with graduating in Decemeber and left school after this, I may not have had the opportunity to do what God has called me to do.  I may not have tried to seek for God the way that I have the last few weeks and learned more about Him and myself.  I definitely may not have the faith in God that I do right now.  I thank God that I am made to be here an extra semester because I cannot wait to see what plans He has in store for me.  I am excited to see what comes of this next year.  Now, life may be hard but God is sooooo good.  He will follow through with what He knows we need.  He will make our paths straight and He will provide.  I know this.  I believe it and it will happen.