Sometimes people find themselves in a situation where they get exactly what they “want.”

The problem is not that they are getting what they want. It’s how they are getting what they want.

Maybe it feels something like:

• You wanted more freedom, so you got fired.

Freedom happened, but was wrapped pretty poorly.

• You wanted love, so you went through heartbreak.

Regardless of the reason, that person was not able to love you the way you need to be loved.

• You wanted a fresh start, so you lost “everything.”

Probably not everything, but you lost what was unessential. Many of those things are the things that aren’t what you wanted anyway.

• You wanted to grow, so you faced failure.

Failure is the tuition we pay for success.

• You wanted patience, so you were forced to wait.

Many people ask God for patience and then wonder why they need to wait.

• You wanted to grow your capacity, so you were thrown in over your head.

That’s what it takes to grow your capacity. To stretch beyond what you are currently doing.

• You wanted opportunity, so you were given responsibility.

I once heard Jim Rohn say that “opportunities are disguised like hard work.” Wherever there is hard work to be done, that is your opportunity.

• You wanted peace, so you were surrounded by chaos.

Most of the time, your peace is on the other side of you learning how to bring it and create it within yourself.

When what we want happens in a way that we don’t want, It can feel like we don’t want it because of how poorly the present is wrapped.

However, a part of getting what you’ve never had, is becoming who you have never been. If someone gave a baby a briefcase with $1 million inside, it would not have the maturity to do anything with it.

Sometimes, I ask God for things out of my immaturity. I believe he wants to give me what I’m asking for. But the wrapping paper is the maturing process of “unwrapping” who I have been so that I can be the kind of person who can effectively value and use the gift God is giving me.

God is the only one that is writing your story. What that means is that you’re the only person who can mess it up. Whatever happens that is external to you is not something that denies you, it is something that is meant to help you change into the person you (and God) wants you to be.

“Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom.”

// Jim Rohn