How can we understand God's will?

The concept of God is difficult for us to understand. He is not limited by many of the constraints that we humans are on Earth. There's no beginning or end for him - he has always existed and will always exist. He is not affected by the physical wear that our human bodies and many other material things are. It's sometimes difficult for humans to wrap their minds around it.

Another thing about God that many of us don't understand is his plan for all of us. When something bad happens to a good person, or things don't go the way we expect them to, we struggle to make sense of it. Sometimes, something that makes perfect sense and that we think should happen doesn't happen, or something happens that makes absolutely no sense. I'm someone who likes to think logically, so for me it's especially tough to figure this out. Faith is not always my strong suit.

Without publicly getting into too much detail, there are a few things that have happened recently that really disappointed me. I don't want to make it sound like my life is miserable; I do have plenty to be happy about, such as a loving wife and family, good health, and a decent enough job that I can pay my bills. But there are other things about which I'm frustrated, not just because they didn't go the way that I want them to, but also because they didn't make sense.

I'm 31 years old. Around when I graduated from high school, I had this vision in my mind about how my life would turn out. I thought that by 31, certainly I would have everything about my life figured out and wouldn't have to worry about making tough decisions or trying to improve my life anymore. But that hasn't been the case, and I'm sure many of you have experienced similar feelings in your life. Many of my prayers have been answered, including finding my wife, which I did three years ago. But as I get older, I'm finding that I have more questions about where my life is going than I did 10-15 years ago.

What I'm finding is that life is a journey. I keep thinking that someday, I'm going to find that final destination that I've been heading towards for many years. But maybe there is no final destination. Maybe I'm supposed to keep getting up every day and just live my life and see what happens next. My whole life I've struggled to look ahead and wonder what was coming next, and too often I've failed to enjoy what's right in front of me.

When my wife and I were dating and seriously thinking about marriage a few years ago, I couldn't wait until we could get married and start our new life together. There were times when I thought that dating was the hard part, especially since we lived an hour away from each other. But I look back fondly on those days now. I learned so much about myself and recognize that I went through some necessary growth.

Maybe that's what I'm doing right now. It's easier said than done. I've had some days lately when I've been very discouraged, but I don't have any choice except to get up tomorrow and keep going. I don't know where this path is leading me, but I have to keep reminding myself that God is in charge. He has a plan that doesn't make perfect sense to me right now, but I'm only looking at this through the lens of one particular moment in time. I need to trust that God's plan is what's best for me and that several years from now, I will look back on these days as an important time in my life.

Brian R. Johnston is the author of the book The Art of Being a Baseball Fan, available now on Amazon. Click here to visit him on Facebook.