After a long day at work, I remember feeling heavy pain in my stomach. I was going to blow it off, but after being coerced by a loved one to go to the doctor, I relented and went to Urgent Care. Twelve hours later I found out I had a major issue that would require surgery. Terrified, I started the stint to look for the right doctor to perform my upcoming surgery.

Now, almost a year after this incident happened, I realized had I not felt that pain, I would have never recognized there was an issue. It’s very similar to what Paul writes in Roman 5:3-5.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

We should rejoice in some of the moments that cause us pain. Why? It’s because in those moments we are shaped into the people God wants us to be. Have you ever been through something and afterward you became stronger because of it? It’s because that pain has purpose! We should be more focused on what God longs to teach us, rather than why something is happening to us.

I later learned that if I never felt that pain, the issue could have caused very extensive damage that would have been irreversible. When I think back on it, I rejoice in that initial bout of pain because it actually saved me from something more serious. When God takes us through life’s valleys, there is always something that can be used in them for our benefit.

There is an old saying in churches that reads, “Jesus take the wheel,” which simply means that in life, God should be in the driver’s seat as we submissively follow His direction. I saw a very funny meme online that said, “Jesus take the wheel, but not that wheel.” A driver was missing the front wheel of his car as the rim scraped the pavement.

Sometimes in our lives, we ask for God to be in control, but we want to do it our way. We want to grow in our spiritual lives, but we are not willing to do it the way God wants us to do it.

1 Samuel 8:6-9 – But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

With the Israelites in the Old Testament, God wanted to be their King, so He appointed priests to rule over them. However, the children of Israel wanted a king so they could be like everyone else. They wanted to do it their own way.

How many times did we want to do it our own way? We date the wrong person because we want to be married like everyone else. We don’t go into ministry because we want to be like everyone else. We plan expensive trips and events to post online to be like everyone else. However, God wants to do things His way. He will let you do it your own way, but God’s way will eliminate unnecessary pain and hardship from you. You can’t want God to “take the wheel” and get frustrated in your circumstance when He doesn’t take the wheel you want.

In life, there are always going to be things we want. There will always be things we would like God to do our way. However, there is a blessing in following how God wants us to navigate through life. It is hard, but do not get caught up in what everyone else is doing; understand what God is trying to do in you. There is so much blessing in being in God’s perfect will. Trust Him that all things will work for your good.

Working in a stressful environment like corporate always causes major sugar cravings. I remember one day oddly, I really wanted chocolate. This is very unusual for me because I don’t typically eat chocolate, and it’s not really my favorite guilty pleasure.

After a meeting, my friend and I headed to the snack stash to indulge in a popular chocolate bar. As we walked to the drawer, what had previously been filled up with chocolate bars, was now completely gone!

How many times in life have we gone to familiar places to find something we needed to fulfill a desire? We go to relationships to find unconditional love or jobs to find fulfillment, and when we seek them out, we come up empty and unable to satiate the true desires of our hearts.

One thing I noticed about Psalms 37:4 which reads, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart,” is that when you find your pleasure in God, He ends up changing your desires. When you delight in Him, His desires become your desires.

Because I couldn’t find the chocolate, I went to someone on my floor who always knew where the chocolate was. I quickly lamented to him about how all the chocolate was gone. I knew he knew where the chocolate was because I often saw him go to the stash and get candy. I saw him do it so much that I started too. Every time I would see the chocolate he liked, I saved one for him and put it on his desk.

Delighting in the Lord requires sacrifice. A part of us needs to give Him our time and our devotion so that we can understand His ways. Just like I knew the ways of someone I worked with, when you spend enough time with God, you will start to understand how He operates. When you understand what gives Him joy, you can give Him what He desires.

Just as I gave my co-worker chocolate because I understood that was something he appreciated, we should look to God’s word to see the things He loves. God loves our faith; He loves our worship and praise. When we spend time with Him, we start to recognize what brings God joy, and we can offer it to Him.

Before I had a chance to ask, my coworker invited me to take some chocolate from his stash because I always left chocolate on his desk. When I went to take it, he ended up giving me a handful of the EXACT chocolate I was looking for.

God says in His word in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” This is even more relevant when it comes to giving to God! When you give to God, He will bless you far beyond what you thought you even could ask for. Before you even open your mouth, He will give you the desires of your heart because He knows our hearts. Seek to understand God, give to Him and watch the blessings flow down from heaven and out of you!