“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing” James 1:2-4.

“Doesn’t God want me to be happy?” After a difficult journey through the last decade, I’ve concluded that the answer is “No.” Sorry, don’t mean to be a downer, but God has different goals than we do.

We wish for everything to work out well, like a Disney Fairy Tale. We have been led to believe silly ideas like “Dreams really do come true” and “There’s someone for everyone.” But remember, these are not inalienable rights guaranteed to all humankind.

God’s desire is for us to know, love, and trust him. Unfortunately, if life was easy and we sailed through it smiling, we would forget about God in our self sufficiency. God actually blesses us with times of suffering so that we might accomplish the greater purpose of learning to rest in his arms. There we can know peace and joy regardless of life’s hardships.

For a long time, I kept waiting for life to get better. Instead, I’d get hit with another crisis—but one from which I would learn a valuable spiritual lesson. I finally understood that without my knowledge or consent, God had signed me up for the Personal Growth Plan. Guess what? God has you on the plan, too.

God is more concerned with our character than he is with our happiness. Life’s crises and disappointments are actually opportunities for growth.