Don't Resent the Guardians

A while back, I was listening to the ambient music of a game titled The Talos Principle. The Talos Principle, as a principle of philosophy, is unfamiliar to me. I may try to research it later. As a game, The Talos Principle is a puzzle game in which you  have to navigate mazes, use items to open doors, and evade floating mines that hurt you if you get too close to them. Meanwhile, you occasionally hear the voice of a being who calls himself Elohim who has taken it upon himself to guide you through this series of puzzles. This Elohim character is obviously playing the role of God in this game, and though he cannot speak for the real God, he does say many things that the real God would say, including this one snippet that I thought was especially blogworthy:

"The guardians of this land may harm you, but do not resent them, for they are my servants, and they challenge you only so that your faith might be strengthened."

I wonder how true this is of the challenges we face in real life. I don't think strengthening our faith is the only reason they exist, though that may depend on what it means to "strengthen one's faith." Still, regardless of what purpose(s) our challenges serve, if any, I believe that there's wisdom in choosing not to resent them.

For one thing, resenting our challenges won't do us any good. Just as getting angry or frustrated in the game won't help you solve its puzzles, getting upset at the challenges we face in real life won't make them go away either. Our resentment would serve no purpose and would just be a waste of energy.

In fact, overcoming our obstacles, both in puzzle games and in real life, will be much easier if we don't resent them. Resentment clouds our judgement and saps our energy, but if we have a positive attitude instead, we can face our challenges with courage and optimism, which will help us discover and implement solutions to the problems. While a good attitude alone won't make our troubles go away any more than a bad attitude will, having the right attitude can make a big difference.

I am personally inclined to believe that most, if not all of our struggles were given to us to help us. Sometimes, obstacles help us by steering us away from things that would hurt us, and sometimes, obstacles help us by giving us challenges to overcome. Overcoming such challenges is how we can grow in spiritual strength and ultimately become like God. We need those challenges to help us strengthen our spiritual muscles, just as the game needed those puzzles to help it test and sharpen the players' minds.

While there may be other reasons for our challenges, other than strengthening our faith, I consider opposition in mortality a necessary thing, and though I'm not always glad we have it, I am glad we have a God who's wise enough to give us exactly what we need to help us become more like He is, even if what we need is obstacles to overcome and challenges to solve. God knows what He's doing, so I'll try not to resent the obstacles He sends us to help us become like Him.