The Gift of Difficulty

Many of us would not want to express gratitude for our difficulties, hardships or experiences that cause us anguish. On my journey of becoming spiritually healthy I became aware of my initial response to heartache and adverse – blame; I blamed myself, I blamed others and I blamed God.  The blame was birthed out of anger and more often than not, my need to blame validated the helplessness and victimhood mentality I had adopted.  By looking at the situation from this view, I was not taking responsibility for my actions and accepting the role I played in creating the experience. Overtime, I realized that this way of living was exhausting and very costly. 
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A couple of months ago, after making a declaration to no longer worry about having enough money I was tested. While checking my emails I noticed there was an email from my bank about an overdraft.  Now I am very thorough when it comes to managing my money so I was surprised.  After carefully researching I realized that the overdraft was a result of an oversight on my end.  The very next day I received another email from the bank, because I thought there was more money in my account than there actually was I had filled up my tank a few days ago, because there was insufficient funds in my account, the bank paid for the transaction however I was charged another overdraft fee.  My account was severely overdrawn by this time and continued to accrue fees each day it was not brought current.  For the next 7 days daily notifications were emailed to me updating me on the status of my account.   To top things off, on pay day, there was an issue with payroll, this caused a problem with paychecks being deposited resulting in additional bank fees and overdraft charges. 

​Peace.  It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.  It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. 

I chose my response to the situation carefully,  being frantic and disturbed could have cost me peace, so instead of worrying, I chose to express gratitude; this gave me more peace.  I could have been annoyed but instead I thanked the bank for the daily notifications regarding my account status.  I thanked the bank for covering the items because they could have refused to pay them. I thanked God for continuing to provide all my needs despite the status of my account.  I expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be transformed, this experience etched in my heart that there was no need to worry about not having enough money because even in the midst of my experience I still had more than enough.  I blessed God for being all sufficient.  I was grateful for the chance to be abundance and not be defined by my bank account, what a liberating experience. 
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Some may think it’s strange to express gratitude for hardships, however, when you are able to shift your perspective and change the way you view the perceived hardship you will be able to see the value in the experience.  Give thanks for your suffering, setbacks, and mishaps.  Bless the experiences that seem to challenge the truth of your being for it is those very experiences that are sent to strengthen your faith.   When hardships arise, be thankful, affirm the promises of God and speak lovingly to yourself and about your situation.