God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives.
That is the simple summary of the Gospel many of us have heard, Law 1 of the Four Spiritual Laws used for many years now by Campus Crusade.
Does this mean God just wants to bless us by giving us all we want? No.
The "wonderful plan" probably involves difficulties, hardships and trials. Why? Because the blessing God wants most to give us in his unfathomable love for us, is that we be like Christ. Giving us our selfish desires won't make us happy, it will make us bored, or whining for something else.
I was reminded of this principle by a couple of things lately. First, an excellent tweet by Paul David Tripp: "God will not forsake his sovereign plan of grace in order to deliver to you the pleasure and comfort-oriented life that you've dreamed of."
Second, I remembered the words of the song "Blessings" by Laura Story. She summarizes what we pray for, comfort, health, prosperity, then says "You love us far too much to be content with lesser things."
It can be painful to be loved by God, who accepts us right where we are but does not want to leave us there. The road to maturity, to the full glory of who he wants us to be often does lead through trials and sufferings, but let us believe that these are indeed the true blessings.
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