To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
—Revelation 2:7 

Have you ever wondered why a compassionate God doesn’t quickly remove all our problems, or why He let Adam and Eve fall in the first place? After all, the difficulties we experience are a result of the fall. If God cares so much, why didn’t He prevent Adam and Eve from sinning? If He knew they were going to disobey Him, why didn’t He take a different course? Beloved one, it may be hard to hear, but God uses evil so that we can be strengthened and made complete by overcoming it.

We actually grow by overcoming difficult things in our lives; this is part of God’s plan. With each victory, we are transformed into who God wants us to be. “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.”¹ Every obstacle becomes a stepping stone that leads us to our ultimate place in Him, which is being conformed to the image of Christ!

We cannot confuse our temporary reality, which involves discomfort, struggle, and pain, with the ultimate reality that God loves us and has a perfect plan for our lives. Our present challenges are the starting point from which we cultivate a deeper sense of who God is. All our obstacles are God’s gift to us. They create the opportunity to overcome and be made complete in Him.

Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider, Entering His Presence (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2023), Used by permission.