When we are born again, the Holy Spirit brings us into the family of God and we begin the greatest adventure of all time. We may only be a child age-wise or we may be a full-grown adult with children of our own. Nevertheless, God has a plan and a purpose for our life that begins to unfold, but it is dependent upon the unfolding process that He sets out before us. I’m not talking about abilities, talents, or skills or even opportunities that from our standpoint seem to be benefiting or limiting factors. With God there are no limitations except as a result of our own human will. He can gradually or instantly install skills or abilities, empower us to go to certain schools, or place us into situations where doors of opportunity open or close to us. It’s all part of the process.

The Bible declares that “All” things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are the called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). That scripture means many things, but one thing for certain is that God can take even a really rotten event and use it for our ultimate good. We may not immediately see how this event or lesson learned could possibly help us, but when the dust clears, we can understand, gaining insight and knowledge “if”, and here is the big question, “IF” we will search for God with all our heart and ask of Him that we might know the truth.  (Matt 7:7-8). However, we must be serious and diligent. A casual careless approach gets us nothing and can set us up to do it all over again.

So, continue reading and verse 29 puts it in perspective. God either causes or allows challenges in our life to keep us on track to becoming like His Son. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit to keep bringing up those things in us that are a hindrance to our life revealing the character of Jesus that we hold inside. Our responsibility is to respond in obedience to what He is revealing to us and allow Him to bring us in line with God’s perfect will and into a deeper relationship with Jesus.

It’s a journey not a trip, it’s a marathon not a race, it’s a walk with Him where we learn the deeper things of God that are impacting our life… and there are burdens that need to be dealt with along the way.