Life is filled with many challenges. In fact, overcoming these difficulties is part of what makes life a satisfying adventure. Things would seem pretty boring and meaningless without a few conflicts to test us and to see what we’re made of. As such, challenges are often best seen as opportunities for growth rather than something to be avoided at all cost.
Of course, we want to live a quiet and peaceable life – free from any unnecessary suffering. It’s stressful and depleting not to have somewhere in the rhythm of our days to have a place to rest and be at ease.
All the same, we close many doors of opportunity when we assume our life should be completely conflict-free. It’s through rising to life’s challenges that we can increase our strength and maximize our impact.
For instance, it’s often only after wrestling through the challenges of an unsatisfying job that we find our way toward our sweet spot. The difficulties expose the desire of our true heart, as well as build in us the grit and skills needed to move in this direction.
Relational challenges also open the door to deeper connection and love. A healthy relationship is not the absence of conflict; rather it’s seeing conflicts as an opportunity for growth. Instead of becoming defensive and rigid, relational difficulties challenge us to see things from a different point of view and perhaps discover a creative solution we wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.
Whatever it looks like, seeing challenges as opportunities requires a shift in our mindset. We simply grow frustrated and bitter when we see challenges as unfair burdens that plague our life. But we make way for more life and goodness when we see them as a chance to grow stronger, wiser, and more courageous.
In the end, the good life is not conflict-free. Accept the challenges of your life as opportunities to grow into all that God has for you.
Photo by Barney Yau on Unsplash
