The design of life...

... is not for it to be easy.

Life is difficult, no doubt. We... Well, I... Have spent the better half of my life embroiled in one frustration or another.

And that's the way it should be.

God designed this life. He's the engineer of blessings and trials. And trials are beautiful.

"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance"

What makes the difference is how you face trials.

One would often choose to be defeated by a circumstance. To lament and to complain. One would choose to see a trial, not as a trial, but as an obstacle to an otherwise comfortable life.

But if we all desire a comfortable life, what is the point of life? How do we grow? What do we learn?

Instead, we should be joyful when negative circumstances come. We must identify them as trials. God's way of testing us, and building us up.

I dread army. It's no lie. It's a loss of freedom. It's me being forced into an environment of spiritual drought. I have to face authority which i dislike. There's powerful force in there, and it oppresses me constantly.

I know I must grow out of this. To simply take this time and treasure it. To meet each challenge head on. To grow.

I'm lonely. I desire the comfort from another human being. But when I look at myself I realize how inadequate I am. How much more trials I need. Of course, we must never stop growing. The quest for growth must never end.

To surrender all, to relinquish control to God. To realize the weakness of oneself and to recognize the strength of God. How great would that day be when I can truly let go and let God take the reins of my life.

What we need is God.

What we need is each other.

Full-Stop.