Why Is Life So Difficult?

[ironmonk]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Apr 21 2004, 07:46 PM'] Well? [/quote]
Because people want what they want... instead of what God wants.


All worries come from not accepting whatever befalls us... or feeling the need to maintain control when in reality we have control of nothing.

Life is not difficult for those who want what God wants. Those who have let go of their desires, and leave it all up to God.

When we drift from God, suffering brings us back.

God Bless,
ironmonk

Edited April 22, 2004 by ironmonk

[CatholicAndFanatical]

I am one of those that have no clue on what God wants, and try to figure it out, only to get no where quick.

I feel ya Bro. Adam. I dont know why all the mystery, all the trials and hardship. Sometimes I just wish God would appear and tell me what im suppose to be doing in this life. But it doesnt happen, im so not worthy of that anyway.

But keep in mind that even the Saints had this problem. St. Faustina went through dark spots in her life where she felt like God abandoned her, and Mother Teresa as well felt this black cloud in her life.

Its all apart of the purification process bro, according to St Faustina's diary this is something that people close to God go through.

Keep your chin up. God knows best.

Edited April 22, 2004 by CatholicAndFanatical

[the lumberjack]

I'm prayin for you Bro.

[myduwigd]

[quote]Life is not difficult for those who want what God wants. Those who have let go of their desires, and leave it all up to God[/quote].
I dont think this is very true. Jesus and Mary went through some very difficult times. Jesus even asks that His cup be lifted. But, I do think that you can be happy through/with this pain, especially if you are where God wants you!
I feel your pain Brother, when my friends suffer I suffer with them, so I may not have much to complain about, but I suffer through getting myself to pray for them and reacting to the their emotions and crying to God for their pain.

[mom25angels]

without growing pains...............you don't grow. Having faith and trying to answer His call, these are the times when you are growing the most. The pain, in my own experience, usually comes from holding on to oneself, not letting go.
Just recently I was complaining to God alot. I was really just looking at the things I wanted and not what I needed. I shared with my spiritual director that I had been yelling at God. He told me to think about Jesus on the cross and His cry to the Father...Why have you abandoned Me?
Well needless to say that was a real jolt to me. How unworthy are my complaints that I should use these words of Christ. I came home and it was like I had been blind, now I could see the beautifull gifts God had given me....His Church, my family and my home.

[ironmonk]

[quote name='myduwigd' date='Apr 22 2004, 11:42 PM'] .
I dont think this is very true. Jesus and Mary went through some very difficult times. Jesus even asks that His cup be lifted. But, I do think that you can be happy through/with this pain, especially if you are where God wants you!
I feel your pain Brother, when my friends suffer I suffer with them, so I may not have much to complain about, but I suffer through getting myself to pray for them and reacting to the their emotions and crying to God for their pain. [/quote]
Jesus and Mary are a different story. We don't have the weight of the world on our shoulders like Christ. Mary went through a horrible suffering having to watch Christ die.


St. Matt 6:25-32


If we let go of our desires, and not worry, life is not difficult. We might have to work or suffer, but life is not difficult.

As I said, suffering brings us closer to God.

It hurts to suffer, but it is not difficult to suffer.

Most of our suffering comes from not getting what we want.

At a few times in my life, I wanted more than anything to be with a girlfriend, then when I wasn't life was very difficult, because of my wanting something of this world and not getting it.

If we let go of our wants on this world, then the devil has no handle to us... no way to tempt us if all we want is Christ.

The only attack the devil has is through what we want.


All depends on what you view "difficult" to be.

Go with the flow, even if it's into suffering, and life is easy... not difficult.


God Bless,
ironmonk

[Norseman82]

[quote name='willguy' date='Apr 21 2004, 06:45 PM'] maybe life is easy, but we make it hard... [/quote]
Ditto. I believe the vast majority of problems are a result of us not obeying God.

[Mrs. Bro. Adam]

[quote name='Sojourner' date='Apr 22 2004, 08:21 AM']Lowry, Mark Lowry. I'm not sure if he's the comedian in question, but he's who you're thinking of, PB.[/quote]
Yes...Mark Lowry said that.

He's not stupid, and has lost a lot of weight. Don't judge. This man has overcome a lot in his life, he's got ADHD, and had odds stacked against him. Thank God for his beautiful mercy!!!

[url="http://www.marklowry.com/about/aboutmark.htm"]a quick overview[/url]

FYI- He's not just a comedian, in fact, he's know more for being a part of the [url="http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=B2psyxd0bjola"]Gaither Vocal Band[/url].

[Dave]

In the words of singer/rapper Vitamin C ...

Life --
It ain't easy.
It's so tough.
It ain't easy.

Whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do?

Put a smile on your face!
Make the world a better place!
Put a smile on your face!
Whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do?

Edited April 23, 2004 by Dave

[Brother Adam]

Also known for her "graduation song". I don't listen to her music because most of it is very sexually immoral.

[myduwigd]

[quote]Jesus and Mary are a different story. We don't have the weight of the world on our shoulders like Christ. Mary went through a horrible suffering having to watch Christ die. [/quote]

[quote]If we let go of our desires, and not worry, life is not difficult. We might have to work or suffer, but life is not difficult.[/quote]

ok, i agree that your life can be difficult from not doing what GOd wants, but I belief that it is very difficult still when you are doing what God wants. For instance, God wants us to take up our crosses and follow Him, crosses are difficult to carry. the Bible also does say that we are to partake in Christs suffering, "if i have been afflicted, you must expect to be afflicted". I belief that in a way, not nearly as close to what CHrist does, we take the wieght of th eworld on our shoulders by praying for them, doing Gods difficult work for them. PLus, isn't Christ supposed to be the perfect example of what we should be like, therefore if HIs life was difficult and He was perfect, how much more can we expect our lifes to also be difficult even when we do what God wants?

I dont think that this verse in Matthew is saying that life wont be difficult, just that God will provide our needs. And that we do not need to worry or anxious.

[quote]But keep in mind that even the Saints had this problem. St. Faustina went through dark spots in her life where she felt like God abandoned her, and Mother Teresa as well felt this black cloud in her life.[/quote]

What do you think of this hardship/difficulty of the saints? their lifes were dificult even while they were doing God's will (ie, JOb)

And, I guess that I may not be sure as to your definition of difficult
GOd BLess

Edited April 23, 2004 by myduwigd

[God Conquers]

Whatever you do, don't ask this guy:

[img]http://www.bybee.com/image/sisy.jpg[/img]

[ironmonk]

[quote name='myduwigd' date='Apr 23 2004, 06:21 PM']


ok, i agree that your life can be difficult from not doing what GOd wants, but I belief that it is very difficult still when you are doing what God wants. For instance, God wants us to take up our crosses and follow Him, crosses are difficult to carry. the Bible also does say that we are to partake in Christs suffering, "if i have been afflicted, you must expect to be afflicted". I belief that in a way, not nearly as close to what CHrist does, we take the wieght of th eworld on our shoulders by praying for them, doing Gods difficult work for them. PLus, isn't Christ supposed to be the perfect example of what we should be like, therefore if HIs life was difficult and He was perfect, how much more can we expect our lifes to also be difficult even when we do what God wants?

I dont think that this verse in Matthew is saying that life wont be difficult, just that God will provide our needs. And that we do not need to worry or anxious.



What do you think of this hardship/difficulty of the saints? their lifes were dificult even while they were doing God's will (ie, JOb)

And, I guess that I may not be sure as to your definition of difficult
GOd BLess [/quote]
My definition of difficult is something that we fight doing instead of embrace doing.

No matter how much pain I am in, no matter what horrible things befall me, it won't be difficult if I think of it correctly with the correct point of view.....

It will pass, everything passes. If it kills me, the better off I'll be if I make it to Heaven.

God will not give me what I can't handle. I trust in God and accept whatever befalls me. God does provide.

If I know something is going to hurt, I know the pain will not last forever and I'll get through it... I want whatever befalls me... I know all things are for the best, and like joy, pain will pass.

I want whatever happens to happen... that makes life easy and not difficult. I am not upset if I end up on the street, or if I end up in a mansion.

I know that there is more than one way to succeed. I go where God leads me. Life is no longer difficult for me... it used to be when I worried. It was difficult until I let go of what I want and started to accept whatever happened to me. The good and the bad. Bad things happen so that good things can.

Things are only difficult if we let them be difficult.

If I were to try to push that bolder above up a hill, I would try, I would fail, then I would move on in life, not dwelling on my failure but learning from it. If I couldn't do it, then it passed and I do something else... I do not want anything but to do the will of God.... if the will of God would have been for me to move the bolder then I would have been able to move it. Obviously it wasn't, so I'm not going to worry about it, I'm going to move on... when in my journey I fail again and have serious pain... I know that it is God's will, and for the best, that makes it easy... I know that the bad will pass.

The time we have on earth is nothing compared to eternity... everything on earth is secondary to God. When it comes down to it, the only thing that matters is God. Seeking first the kingdom. This does not mean that people don't matter as some may think it does... but people are a key point, we are to treat people the way God wants us to, if they reject God, it's not our fault, we pray for them and hope for them, but we cannot control them, we have to let go and let God. We cannot worry about tomorrow. We must have faith that God will move their heart if it be His will. We try our best, if something doesn't come out the way we want - some people see that as difficult... if we accept whatever happens and let go of our wants, then we only focus on God; life is not difficult.


Every misery in the world comes from wanting.
The death of a loved one = misery comes from wanting them to be alive when it was God's will that they were taken.
Loss of a girlfriend = misery comes from wanting to be with that person.
Getting cancer = misery comes from wanting to live longer in this world
When we want others to act a certain way or do something or not to do something and we are hurt - it's because of our want that caused the pain and makes it difficult. etc....

If we do not want anything but God and accept whatever befalls us, then life is easy.

Even when the bad happens we must accept it. We must be patient and wait on the Lord.


To make life easy we must detach ourselves from the bondage of this world and the wordly things within it, and focus our gaze on the Lord our God. We must have faith in Him and know that He will protect us. If we suffer, we know that He is with us and will not leave us. If we die, then we can be with Him.

If we die and go to Heaven, we can help our loved ones even better from Heaven. I know that if I died today that if I went to Heaven I would pray for my family and friends, to the end of abortion, for the faith of the deacons, priests, bishops until all were in Heaven with me.

Life is not difficult if we accept whatever befalls us with open arms. Many times this is hard to do... but if we do it, life is not difficult.

Christ knew that He was going to suffer greatly, I'm sure He could see it.

If I was going to go through something terrible, I would shrug it off... I knew it was going to happen, it was going to hurt, and then it would be over. I know I say this now, but I have never had to go through anything that bad that I expected. Now when I knew I had to do things and that it would hurt to do them, I bit the bullet and hit it head on, knowing that it would pass.

Life is only difficult if we let it be. Everything we can touch can be taken away. If we accept when it is taken away, and know that it will pass, look to the Lord, look to the day when we get to be with our Lord... this little time we spend here rather bad or good time, will seem like nothing when we are in Heaven.

No one has ever imagined how great it will be when we get to Heaven.

I've imagined some pretty great things... and to know it'll will be better than that... keeping my mind on that makes this life easy... even when it's hard.

Outlook is everything. There will be sad times, happy times, horrible times... but we must accept them and we will not find it difficult.


I hope that rambling session helped a little...

God Bless,
ironmonk

[Paladin D]

Life is simple... what are you talkin about?


(Is living in denial)

[willguy]

Life can be difficult ieven when we try to follow God for two reasons:

1. We fight against what God wants (IOW we make it difficult).
2. Other people who do not want what God wants make it difficult for us. For example, people pursuing the priesthood or religious life often find conflict from friends, parents, etc.