Hardships Bring Joy
November 10, 2015
James 1:2-3 “2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
I love having grandchildren. Last week Virginia and I kept three month old Lucy for two nights by ourselves. Then my daughter with 4 week old twins came in so we could give her some help enabling her to get a little much needed rest. When they all left Virginia and I were exhausted. She said, “I forgot how hard this is.” It was hard. When they are as little as our grandbabies are, basically they just eat, sleep, cry, and you know the other thing they do. It was hard, but we wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. What a joy! What a blessing! Some of the best things in life are hard, but they are worth it. Sometimes it is hard to build a great marriage, but it is worth the effort. Sometimes it is hard to do the work to forgive, but to forgive is the pathway to peace with God and self and others. It is hard to let go of the past, but that is how we claim the blessing of God’s new future. Sometimes it is hard to hang on to faith when life is falling apart around you, but it is when we hang on in tough times we discover the good that God can bring out of all things. Remember today that it’s the hard things that bring some of life’s greatest blessings to our life.
I love having grandchildren. Last week Virginia and I kept three month old Lucy for two nights by ourselves. Then my daughter with 4 week old twins came in so we could give her some help enabling her to get a little much needed rest. When they all left Virginia and I were exhausted. She said, “I forgot how hard this is.” It was hard. When they are as little as our grandbabies are, basically they just eat, sleep, cry, and you know the other thing they do. It was hard, but we wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. What a joy! What a blessing! Some of the best things in life are hard, but they are worth it. Sometimes it is hard to build a great marriage, but it is worth the effort. Sometimes it is hard to do the work to forgive, but to forgive is the pathway to peace with God and self and others. It is hard to let go of the past, but that is how we claim the blessing of God’s new future. Sometimes it is hard to hang on to faith when life is falling apart around you, but it is when we hang on in tough times we discover the good that God can bring out of all things. Remember today that it’s the hard things that bring some of life’s greatest blessings to our life.