Are we continuing in the right direction?

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. (Thomas A. Edison)

Do you give up easily? Or are you one of those tenacious individuals that will never say die? I used to be in the 'never say die' camp, but as I have grown a little older (and hopefully a little wiser), I am probably somewhere in the middle now. I don't give up too easily, but I don't beat a dead horse, either!

My friends, do not be surprised at the terrible trouble which now comes to test you. Do not think that something strange is happening to you. So those who suffer as God wants should trust their souls to the faithful Creator as they continue to do what is right. (I Peter 4:12, 19)

Testing comes - count on it. You can give up easily, walking away totally defeated; finish a bit of the test, then walk away; or hold on for dear life until you convince yourself you know the reason for the test, all the while missing the real reason. It amazes me that God's children think testing is supposed to never happen once they say 'yes' to Jesus - like it is some strange force at work. The 'strange force' you think is at work is really the enemy of your soul, hoping you will cave sometime soon. Worse yet, that 'strange force' could be your own stubborn pride or envy. Ever see someone just doing something because they were trying to 'outdo' someone else? They keep hitting roadblock after roadblock but fail to see that it is God's roadblock they are bumping into repeatedly. Their stubborn pride makes it impossible for them to admit they need to just stop. Sadly, that was me for a long, long time.

In the end of all that head-butting with God I learned the important lesson of recognizing a roadblock as a warning I wasn't to continue to pursue that path any longer. How about you? Have you been coming up against roadblocks in your path and attributing them to 'not having the right plan' and 'needing to return to the drawing board' instead of stopping to listen? The hardest thing to admit sometimes is that the force opposing us is US. Trials and testing come - we can be sure of this. Roadblocks will not always be of our own doing, but when we stop at each roadblock to evaluate WHO put it there (God, the devil, or our own self), we might just find there are some we need to plow through, while turning completely around at others. When put there by Satan, we might find God tells us to move it aside and trod on. When we erect it or he puts it squarely there, it is time to listen closely to 'why' it is there, 'how' we deal with it, and 'what' we are to do if we ever encounter it again. Just sayin!