In life we have choices. Some choices are simple and some not so simple, but in the end the choices that we make affect us in some way, good or bad. Sometimes choices we make end us up in a dark season of life. Let’s face it, it happens to us all. When we get into these dark season of life we can feel like nothing can go right, nothing good can come of this. This is the enemy taking control. The good new is that there is good news, and it’s Jesus.

From the outside people see followers of Jesus as people without problems. They see us as individuals with perfect relationships with others, effortless happiness, and very chiche Instagram posts. Yes, we're all guilty of that last one. But the truth is, we are in dark places just like the rest. We know Jesus has a plan, yet it’s so hard to live life having someone else direct us. We wonder often why suffering and pain can be in our plan. I’m here to tell you that the dark times are the times to be thankful for.

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put is to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5

There is usually a reason for the dark times we have in our lives. Think back to when you were a child and you misbehaved and your parents took something away from you that you really wanted. This wasn’t to hurt you or to be cruel but to draw you back to them and for you to see your wrong doing. This is what Jesus is doing by placing us in harder times. Sometimes we get so lost in something we lose sight of Jesus. We forget that a relationship is a two way street and to grow with someone you need to be invested and to spend time with them. When we fall away and get lost in him he takes away the thing that is distracting us, only for us to realize that he needs to be number one.

Once we learn this we can get back into choosing Jesus everyday. There is a peace in knowing that as we follow Jesus and have our eyes set on him that we will have that effortless happiness that we want. With this being said, it doesn’t mean that dark times won’t come because they will. But we can be comforted by the Lord knowing that we need to push into him harder than we were. With every hard time we grow stronger with Jesus, and to me that is a beautiful thing.p