"I feel purposeless."

This is something that I've been really struggling with for the past year or so, and lately it has really been on my heart, and after praying about this a lot I think I finally have enough of a grip on it to write about it.

Ever heard, "Faith in God includes faith in His timing?" Probably. By itself, it doesn't really help anything. Most people already know that you're supposed to be patient in God and understand He does things on his own time, not yours, but restating that does nothing. It doesn't help that the fact that maybe your life feels like it has stayed the same for days, months, or even years.

Something that might change the way you look at it is, "God never says no. He only says yes, soon, or I have something even better in mind." We have a loving God who has these amazing plans for us, and the most stressful thing in the world is wondering if you've missed your shot, if you had one chance and you blew it and didn't even know it, if you completely looked over the opportunity that was supposed to change your life or if you already met the person you were supposed to be with and kept on walking. So when you get your heart set on something, you start to really depend on it, and you are for sure that that is God's plan, and there's no other way, and you won't be able to go on without whatever it is. But it may or may not be His plan. And if it's not? Don't expect it to be easy. So many people expect their lives to become perfect when they come to God, but that's not exactly the way it works--nothing gets easier, you just become stronger. When you truly love something or someone and it doesn't work out, it's going to be hard. This is so important: when it gets hard, keep your faith, because when it gets hard, you're desperate, and it's tempting to stray away from Him to get that thing you wanted. Even if it's not right for you. You're going to hate it, and it will hurt, but He has such an amazing purpose for you that give it a month, or several, or even a couple years, or however long it takes for you to fully devote yourself to Him, you'll find yourself in a one hundred percent better place and realize how far off you were. And you'll be thankful, and you'll trust Him more than ever.

This ties in with, "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" Simple. You don't learn when life is running smooth. The worst thing you can do is get in the mindset that when everything is going your way, you don't need God--that you've got it under control and can do it on your own. But, you do learn from the hard times. You realize that dreams come and go, and jobs come and go, and saddest of all, people come and go, but it doesn't break you. You start to lean on Him, and He really will lift you up, and once you can give your life to Him everything else has a way of falling into place.

I've had such a hard time learning to trust His timing. I would push things and become so down on myself when they didn't work out. I'm still so young, but already I can count a larger number of experiences than I wish I had, and every single one of them has either a) worked out later and turned out infinite times better than it would have because of the time I had to grow or b) ended up out of my life but led me to something so much happier and worth having. We all forget to have faith in His timing. Impatience is a part of being human. But it's not a part of a relationship with God, and it gets in the way of a true Christian life, and the faster you can learn this, the better. I wish I could learn it sooner. It seems like you have it all figured out, until yet another thing comes along and makes you forget all about His plan for you, and you're back where you started. But I think that's normal, and I think that's just something we have to overcome as followers of Jesus Christ. And I know we can do it.

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

"For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him." Ecclesiastes 8:6

"The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:25-26

"But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”" Luke 18.27