Why we shouldn't be miserable because of an upcoming difficult time

God gave us life in abundance. He knows and we also know that there will be problems facing us at times. Even though God is good, sadly we do have problems, due to the fallen nature of this world: specifically arising from a) Satan's actions to oppress us and b) other people's actions who may be acting to our detriment. Another possibility too is c) problems we have created through our own actions.

The aim here isn't to assign blame  - the aim is to point out that no matter what, we will have some problems facing us at many points in our life, maybe even throughout our lives on Earth.

Now, that may seem depressing, but the good news is that we can be happy, even when facing upcoming problems! Here we'll find out how.

Note: by all means ask God for discernment and guidance when facing such problems. He may show you a path, a way to fix this problem. If it's the sort of problem you literally have no control over, then worrying isn't going to help - by all means pray for wisdom and discernment, but don't just sit there and worry.

Moving on with our topic, if you're anything like me, one of the most difficult times to be happy is when something challenging (or difficult or stressful) will be coming up in a week or so. Well, sometimes problems come suddenly out of the blue, but more often, we can see them looming on the horizon before they arrive.  I noticed that when this horizon was about a week away, I had a lot of difficulty trying to enjoy that week or even to concentrate well on my usual responsibilities. I'd be too busy feeling miserable about the upcoming problem to enjoy the time that I currently had.

I realized that with this attitude, I was living my life in a way that was not at all pleasing to God. After all, he did not give me some relatively problem-free days for the sole purpose of being miserable and worrying about the upcoming days that would have problems in them. I was being so ungrateful! Instead of praising God for allowing me to have the days that I did before a difficult time came upon me, I'd worry about the looming problems instead. This way of living is not why God gave us life in abundance.

Do you struggle with this same problem too? It's human to do this, but it still doesn't mean that this is how we should live. Let's move on: here is way to live a happier life even when we see problems coming toward us. I decided to take a very brief look at my "problems" (which FYI were first-world problems, not real actual problems like starvation or bodily harm or anything) without dwelling on them. I then compared these to the biggest upcoming challenge anyone ever had: Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.

Jesus certainly knew that something like this was going to happen to him, and that He would allow it to happen - in fact that it was the whole reason he came to us in a human body. In the Garden of Gethsemane, recall that he prayed that this role of being the sacrificial lamb would not have to fall to him.  However, he also added that he would allow God's will to supersede his wishes. Wow! If anyone ever faced a tough time, it would be Jesus right then. In fact, he probably knew about it a lot earlier in his life than that.

Can you imagine facing what would seem an absolutely crushing difficulty of this level? It would be enough that many people would just curl up into a ball and think there's no hope and nothing to look forward to. And that's exactly what Satan wants us to think! - so we mustn't fall into that trap.

Moving forward, let's take another look at Jesus's life. He carried out His ministry, curing the sick and casting out demons. He also taught the crowds about God. Now, with such an immense burden ahead of him in the form of paying the price on the cross for our sins, none of us would blame Him if he told people "Sorry, I just can't do anything to help you or anyone else right now. I'm too miserable thinking about what's coming up ahead. When you see what happens to me, you'll know what I meant." But actually, he never did anything of the sort! Instead He had positive relationships with Peter, Mark, Martha, Mary, and many more. He had people in his life that were important to him. He didn't just sit around and cry in self-pity; he actually lived life. Specifically, he lived his life (did the ministry that He came here for) - he didn't live the life of others for them. He lived his life and did what He was here to do; healing people, teaching people, having positive relationships with people.

So when we have a more difficult time coming up, or even just an especially busy day, we should not waste the days beforehand worrying and feeling sad. That is not pleasing to God. Instead we should go with Jesus's example, and we should remember that He lived His life each and every day, even though he knew there was a crushingly hard time coming up for Him.

Not only is it more pleasing to God when we live our lives enjoying the normal days without worrying about the upcoming difficult days, it also will also make you a lot happier. I think it is too easy to listen to Satan's lies, such as "You need to worry about x, y, and z!" (especially if x, y and z are things out of your control!) Instead, let Jesus be your model for how to live.

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