Author: Greg Tharpe

The storm came and devastated their home and all of their belongings. Her husband was battling cancer. Both of their sons were killed in drive by shootings. She survived two heart attacks and was out of work due to the downsizing of the company. They both were denied Social Security disability pensions. However, after all of the things they went through, they still had joy. The news televised their story and a wealthy billionaire was inspired by their perseverance and joy and gave them a million dollars for exemplifying their faith in God to the world.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.    [ James 1:2-3]

We are going to experience many challenges in life and, believe it or not, the ones we experience are unavoidable and necessary, they are here to help us and not to hurt us. If these challenges were not necessary for our evolution, God would not have allowed them to happen in our life. There is a purpose and a reason for them. What we see as a challenge is simply a manifestation of our perception of reality and necessary for our transformation. It is what we need for our soul to evolve and expand beyond the limitations of this human dimension we call life.

Life is designed to give us all of the opportunities we need to have joy. Although, in the midst of the challenges or storms, we may get caught up and feel the emotions of frustration, worry, fear, anger, sadness or disappointment instead. The more you put your attention on the negative thoughts of the challenge or problem, the worse it gets because your attention is the energy or power that it thrives off. What you put your attention on expands.

No one is immune to challenges; everyone will have to grow through them. You see that I used the word “grow” through them, rather than “go” through them. The difference between going through them and growing through them is when you go through them you don’t get the message and you continue to stay locked in the turmoil. You continue the same thought patterns time and time again that attract experiences which cause the negative emotion to reappears. However, when you grow through them, you get the message or opportunity that the challenge brings you and you change your perspective or thought pattern and immediately receive peace.

Emotional negativity is often the byproduct for all challenges. It is not brought about by the challenge itself, but by our perspective of the challenge. When it is not perceived as an opportunity to grow in understanding or to draw closer to God, it brings about emotional negativity. When we face a challenge and we are in turmoil, our ego mind has intervened. Therefore, we do not see the opportunity or get the message that is being given to us. All challenges emotional, physical or financial provide an underlying message and opportunity for growth and understanding that is relative to peace and joy.

We are all on our own spiritual path; however, we are not going to be able to avoid life’s challenges in the process. They are built-in opportunities to test your faith in God. However, most of the time we do not see them as opportunities and get caught up in the drama. We don’t realize that subconsciously that we created the challenge and we gave it power and authority by getting caught up in the negativity that our mind is creating around it.

For example, when a loved one passes away, we look at it as that person is dead and is gone away where we can’t see them or be with them. Looking at it from this perspective is not in alignment with truth; therefore it causes great sadness in one’s life. However, when we change the story to the positive perspective, whereas we are thankful and appreciative to God for having the person in your life, we then we focus on the great times had together and the lessons learned from them. Then the sadness goes away and you experience joy.

We are here on this planet for healing and when our interpretation of our experience is negative we project more of the negativity in our life. Therefore, in order to grow and expand and become one with God, we must learn to interpret the true meaning of the challenge as an opportunity to see the positive for our growth and evolution. When you can shift your perspective of challenges to being appreciative and grateful that God allowed you to experience the challenge for a good reason, it heals your soul.

Therefore, the purpose of the challenge is to test your faith and trust that God loves you and is working on your behalf. He would never allow anything bad to happen to you even though it may appear to be based on a human perception of reality. In other words, literally it may appear that something bad happened, however the spiritual message and lesson is exactly what you need to evolve beyond the drama of life. Challenges are a test of your faith and turn into your testament when you weather the storm they bring.

From this day on, be ever conscious of your challenges or problems and change your perception of them to opportunities to evolve and expand. Expect opportunities when they come. Look for the positive message and count it as joy. When you do this, it will remove your resistance to the truth and shift you more in the flow of the Holy Spirit or your power to assist you to easily and effortless to create Heaven or joy in your life.