Not only do we blame others and ourselves for life’s challenges, we often find ourselves blaming God.  If we are honest, every one of us has blamed God at some point in our lives for the struggles we were facing.

Perhaps you have heard others ask some of the following questions.  Maybe you have asked some yourself.

“If God is so loving then why do kids die from cancer?”

“If God is all powerful why doesn’t he get rid of evil?”

“If God really loves me, why doesn’t he deliver me from my current situation?”

These are all valid questions.  In order to answer them properly we must have a clear understanding of who God is.  As we can learn from scriptures and from developing a close relationship with Him, we know that God is love.  He created us in His image to enjoy this world and everything else he created.  Pure love knows no anger.  No jealously.  No malice or deception.  Pure love is unconditional and has no ill intent.  Although there are many accounts in the bible of God ending evil with justice, God has no intention of harming any of his children.

If we believe that God is love, then we must accept that He is not transpiring against us.  Although we can go through some tough stuff in this life, blaming God will not resolve any of our problems.  When we come to the realization that we are responsible for our problems, we become empowered to change.  When we see that every struggle is here for our growth and we can find the positive, we have all the tools needed to live abundantly.

A good thing to remember is that we are not punished for our anger, we are punished by our anger.  The laws God put in place to protect us are what punish us.  God does not punish us; we do that ourselves.

As mentioned a few times throughout this challenge, we often get stuck in negative cycles of thinking that we don’t even realize is happening and that we just can’t seem to shake.  When this happens, we end up experiencing life through a lens where everything is happening to us. 

When we finally begin to understand that life does not happen to us, but rather for us, a profound inner shift begins to occur.  We get back in the driver’s seat, stop playing the victim card, and our lives begin to propel forward again.  If we don’t accept full responsibility for everything in our lives, we are basically saying that life is unjust and that the world we live in is harsh in nature and is transpiring against us.  We will never experience abundance with this mentality.

Although challenges are never fun when we are going through them, there are always valuable lessons to be learned.  As you begin to look at challenges as opportunities to grow, rather than the world transpiring against you, a major shift begins to happen.  What once seemed like a never-ending series of problems ends up becoming an unlimited opportunity to grow, learn valuable lessons, and become better in every area of your life.

God created us to live abundant lives.  This is very clear in scripture and as we get close to him it becomes even more obvious.  God allows us to go through trials because he loves us, and he knows it is vital to our growth. However, if we are suffering for any prolonged period, it is time to look at what we may be doing to cause it.

Although abundance is our birthright, we are free to choose whether we will receive it.  When we don’t follow the laws that God put into place to protect us, we will not experience this abundance.  This isn’t to harm us, it is to keep us from living selfish and destructive lives.  If we believe in who God is, then we can be certain if we are not living abundant lives, we are the problem.

God laid this universal law into the very fabric of our existence and for good reason.  He knows that without a relationship with him we will be lost and have no direction on this Earth.  This is why putting him first, above everything else is so important.  If we don’t know where to go and what to do, every step we take will likely be in the wrong direction.

He also put a law in place where we reap what we sow.  If we do not live a life of service to others, we are breaking this law and so will not be able to receive the abundance his word promises.  This is why putting others second is so vital to our happiness and well being.

Putting ourselves third doesn’t mean putting our needs way in the back and at some point in the future taking care of them.  We must love ourselves, just as we are, with all of our imperfections before we can truly express love to others.  We are to take care of our bodies with both the proper nutrition and exercise, we should be constantly evolving and learning new things, and we should be enjoying our lives.  Finding balance is key and following the above formula is the first place to start.

When preparing for this meditation, really think deep into what you just read.  Are you playing the victim card?  Have you been blaming God or something externally for your problems?  Do you believe that you are a victim in a harsh world or that you are responsible for your life and how you feel? Do you believe abundance is your birthright and that you are the only thing preventing yourself from attaining it?  Do you believe there is more joy, peace, and love you can be experiencing and that possibly you have only been scratching the surface of what is available to you?

For this meditation we are going to take back the wheel and take responsibility for our lives.  Even if you are not fully on board with everything you just read and you still feel like the world is unfair, we are going to take all of those limiting beliefs and set them aside for the next 15 minutes.

Start out with your normal breathing exercises to slow your breath and brain waves down to help get into a meditative state.  Next, we are just going to repeat the following phrases for a few minutes:

“Abundance is my birthright.”

“I am responsible for how I feel, and I am taking ownership of my life.”

“I am worthy of living an abundant life.”

“I am open to receiving abundance right now.”

As you are saying these, try to feel them deep within your body and accept them with not only your mind but every cell of your body as well.  When our brain, body, and heart all accept something, it becomes ingrained is us as a deeply held belief.  It may take some time to remove old limiting beliefs and replace them with new empowering beliefs, but with practice, it can be done.

Continue to feel what abundance feels like and go as deep as you can to ingrain these new beliefs.  The purpose of this exercise is to open your mind to new beliefs and accept new truths that you are deserving of abundance and that you can obtain it.  It is also to experience abundance right now, during this meditation.

2 Corinthians 9:8 – And God is able to bless you abundantly, that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Mark 12:28-31 – One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”

James 1:17 – Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:2-4 – Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

John 10:10 – The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

• There is no right or wrong way to repeat the affirmations listed above
• You can feel free to focus on one or go through them all
• You can also feel free to make up your own
• Bring a smile to your face and try to keep it there for this entire exercise