Face your troubles- they're there for a reason! This idea really came alive to me after listening to The Hedge of Thorns today. We tend to think of trials as bad things-but they’re really for our good. God is not only teaching us a lesson, He is protecting us from something. How many times have I been upset that God has not allowed me to go somewhere or do something I wanted to do. I cannot even imagine what God was protecting me from; I will probably never know.
Most of our trials aren’t glorious. Someone isn’t going to pat me on the back for facing another day of math with a good attitude. Those are the circumstances that really count though. Some big trials like losing your job or getting martyred for the faith are hard, make no mistake, yet it is the daily difficulties that teach us to place our hope in God.
A lot of that difficulty includes battling down our flesh. It’s like Paul said in Romans six, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do practice; but what I hate, that I do…but now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” Sometimes it’s much harder to deal with self than anything else.
I’m talking to myself more than anyone else. It’s those little troubles that are so hard to deal with-loving others, facing your work with a joyful attitude, etc. Go…and face your trials for the Lord!
(By the way-you can get The Hedge of Thorns from Lamplighter in either book or audio format. If you ever have or ever will deal with difficulties, I highly recommend it!)
