Thought Adjuster:  “Dear child, you were reflecting about the life of Jesus and the intense challenges He encountered through the short span of His earthly life.  Why do you think it was so? 

“As you go through your own life challenges and experience times when things seem to be stripped of hope and filled with anxieties, you can put everything in perspective by turning your attention to the life of your Master, Jesus.  Jesus was personally walking the path that His children are called upon to walk. 

“He lost his beloved father at a very young age and, being the older child, became the support of his mother and his siblings – their father figure.  He had to deal with tremendous financial challenges in order to make this family sustainable so that He could move on to His public ministry.  Being a very enlightened being surrounded by many spiritually ignorant beings, He had to put up emotionally with being misunderstood, to the point where His beautiful character was defamed.  He was homeless and relied on His Heavenly Father to meet His needs and the needs of his followers. He was incarcerated and had to suffer through the process of judicial error and human bias and prejudices.  He was tortured… etc.  Put yourself in His shoes.  How would you have felt in His stead?  Would you have been filled with the same anxieties that overwhelm you at times?  Would you have felt surrounded by a hopeless and crushing darkness? 

“Whenever you go through your own challenges, look at them from a different perspective:  the perspective of their higher, wished for outcome.  What is their silver lining?  Which good could be extracted from these challenging times?  Do you see how many blessings came out of Jesus’ life for the highest good of all?  What was His attitude through His own life challenges?

“He had an undying faith in the guidance of His heavenly Father and believed at all times in an outcome to the glory of His Father.  This is how you need to train your heart and your mind to look at your own difficulties.  They are setting the bar higher for your spiritual growth.  They are challenging you to think more deeply and to become more resourceful and more trusting that All is well. 

“Jesus moved through the darkness of this world into the Light that is always shining above the layers of darkness. By starting at the lowest level and shining His light from that place, he truly cut a way open through the darkness so that His trail could be followed by others, starting from the same place.

“Whenever you move through your own difficulties, remember that you too, due to the uniqueness of your being and its own propensities, are cutting a trail for others to follow.  You are helping design a road map that you can share along the way with others who find themselves in similar predicaments.

“Doesn’t that shift the way you can look at your life?  Doesn’t it render precious those challenging times as they can become an offering from your heart to others?  Don’t you think that the Father is looking down to His struggling children with immense fatherly pride when He witnesses the courageous fight they are putting up in faith?  Aren’t you proud of the courage demonstrated by your siblings?  Don’t they inspire you to keep going so that you can become the bearer of the good news that it is all worthwhile and that this too shall pass; soon enough, you will be able to contemplate these now past events with a heart of gratitude as you will realize that they propelled you in your spiritual growth and expanded your soul.  God’s challenges are filled with His promises, the promises He always keeps.  God is truly a God of His Word.”