Importance of Struggle and Self-Reflection

It is in the challenges that you learn what you’re really made of and begin to discover who you are, underneath the surface. We all have the potential for real depth; we just need to take the time to do the work and look within ourselves to see what we believe and what makes us tick. Often times it takes significant challenges to get us to the place where we are willing to do the work. It’s easy to despise those challenges and seemingly bad situations that come up in our lives, because struggle is hard and no one likes to struggle. But, struggle is a very important part of true and meaningful development.

If you look at the natural birthing process, a baby has to make it’s way through the birth canal in labor before it can be born. There’s an intense struggle to force its way out into the world. It’s the same for a bird that has to peck its way out of its shell. As that pecking and pushing take place, muscles are exercised and get stronger, so that when that bird makes its way out of the shell, it has a chance to survive and eventually use its wings to fly. Imagine you are watching a bird emerging from its shell. You see it struggle and you decide you want to help and pull away some of the shell for that baby bird. You may think you’re doing it a favor, but you’re actually hurting its chances for survival. This is because those muscles won’t develop well enough to work outside the shell if that bird doesn’t get the chance to do the work and peck/push it’s way out.

Struggle is necessary for every being’s development and the sooner you recognize this, the sooner you can allow that struggle to function as it should in your life, to bring about the right changes in you. As you allow struggle to operate in your life, the way it’s designed to, it will cause you to enter a period of self-reflection. This self-reflection will lead you to a place of asking yourself some important questions. “Who am I, really?” “What am I doing here on earth?” “Do I have a purpose?” “Can I find true fulfillment, or is this all there is to life?” When you reach that place of self-reflection, God will be waiting, expectantly and with love, to answer your questions and show you the truth about who He is, who you are, and who He created you to be.