"Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart."
          -Psalm 37:4 NKJV

One night, I watched SportsCenter and noticed how the Washington Nationals started 19-31 through their first 50 games. At the beginning of the 2019 season, they had some ups and downs, but they finished the season with a 93-69 regular season record. They were even down in every series in the playoffs. Then, the Nationals made it to the World Series vs. the Houston Astros. After being up 2-0 in the series, they were down 3-2 after five games and then won two straight games to win the World Series.

With their slow start, they could have easily given up but thankfully, there are 162 games in a MLB season. Even though they had a rough beginning, they stuck together and rallied around one another. As a result, they won when it mattered most, in the World Series. You may be facing trial after trial, struggle after struggle and you may be wondering when you are going to catch a break. You may see others being blessed who seem to have everything that they want but you are probably thinking, “What about me?” Know that if God has allowed you to live for another day, you are blessed. If He has blessed you with shelter, food, clothes, you are blessed. If you have a job, you are blessed. If your bills are paid, you are blessed. 

Stop comparing yourself to others. God has created us all with differences and everyone is in different stages in their walk with God. Others who are not saved may have everything that they desire, but they don’t have the most important person in their lives—Jesus Christ. So, it is safe to say that the enemy is allowing them to have what they have to make them think that it is God blessing them with those things so that they can continue to live in sin. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Luke 8:36) You may not have everything that you want but know that God will supply your needs and bless you in His timing. He knows what you need, when you need it, how you need it, and why you need it.

Through your trials and sufferings, God is able to build character, patience, and faith within you so that you can grow to be the man or woman that He has designed you to be. That is also when God can and will show Himself strong in your life so that He will get the glory from your life. As you grow in Him, He can prepare for what He has for you. Think about it this way. If you get what you desire or what He has for you right off the bat without waiting for His timing or without suffering, how would you be able to build character and grow to be like Jesus Christ? Jesus suffered while here on this Earth, so what makes you think that you won’t as a Christian? It is so important for us as Christians to wait on God’s timing and understand that He is perfect and knows best. Since God is perfect and knows what is best, you can be sure to know that He doesn’t make mistakes.

Everything that He does is for a reason. Be content in whatever situation that you are in. Seek God first in your life, pray, and trust that God will do the rest. One day, “the first will be last and the last will be first” (Matthews 20:16).