The Blessing of Wrestling

What is "wrestling"? No, it is not just turning on the television to watch a couple of beefed up men in their underwear act out a fight. I am talking about the everyday struggles we face in family and relationships. It is about internal struggles we deal within our own hearts.

Today, I am considering this very thing. The blessing of wrestling. No matter who we are or what our lot in life may be, we all face these struggles. As parents we face many of them as we guide our children through the different stages of life they have to encounter. And the way we deal with this it is all about perspective.

We have currently been having some struggles with one of our children. I have wavered between frustration, aggravation, hope and anticipation! And all of these are good. I find that the struggles force me to look at my own heart first. God uses our family members as mirrors for ourselves. He is changing us into His likeness and one of the main tools He uses are those who are closest to us. Family! Oh the joys and the pains!

It amazes me how easy it is to get caught up in the mindsets of the world....thinking that our goals in life should be to work as hard as we can to make life easier. However, I am learning as time passes, that hardship is truly the blessing, not the easy life.

Another thought I have had is that if I stay on my knees for my children, I can trust Him with them. I cannot provide everything for my children. I am not supposed to provide everything for them. Now this does not get me off the hook, but it does take a lot of the pressure off of me in thinking that it is all up to me to determine the outcome of my children's lives.

Another thing I am learning is that I am not to judge my children for the way they are now. They may be struggling through some things. But I have to remind myself to keep looking through the lenses of the Father. He sees the full picture. He is not finished with their lives. They are a work in progress just as I am. We are all growing up into Christ in God's plan and design for our individual lives.

It is interesting how those on the outside may be quick to notice a negative trait in your child. I have been guilty of doing this very thing in other people's children. But I was wrong. If I noticed a negative trait, I should have seen it with a different perspective. For example, a strong willed child is a leader yet to be revealed. A quiet and reserved child may be a great listener and a merciful person.

I must learn to see others through destiny rather than a critical spirit.Why can't we all look learn to look for destiny in others rather than the flaws? I long for the day when encouragement overcomes critical opinions. I hope some of it can start with me. There is not enough encouragement in the world. Maybe that is why so many kids grow up feeling rejected, thinking they are losers.

So today, I choose to look through the eyes of Hope. It will make a difference in the way I perceive every struggle of life. Bring on the wrestling match! For I know that Hope wins in the end!

No tree grows strong without the wind of the storm.
No flower blooms without the rain from the cloud.
No crop is fruitful without the drenching downfalls.
And no person is lovely without the weather of hardship and struggle.
Welcome the rain.
Embrace the pain of unsettling winds.
For there is always beauty
Formed in the end..