That Long And Winding Road

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

~James 1:2-4

 

Many years ago, when I was young, the Beatles recorded a song called "The Long And Winding Road" (if you don't know who the Beatles are, stop reading here).  The song describes a journey through many aspects of life and it always leads back to the starting point.  

 

I have had people ask me, through their pain, "Why is life so hard?".  Believe it or not, I am smart enough to know that such a moment is not the time to launch into a sermon on trials and tribulations, but I am also smart enough to know that it is the trials and tribulations we endure that teach us, shape us, help us, and grow us.  Think about this:  If you take a lump of coal, put it under extreme pressure and heat for a long, long, long time...eventually a diamond is formed.

  

Several years ago, I was the one asking the question about why life is so hard.  The answer I got came from a homeless man who happened to be shuffling by when I was mumbling my prayer of heartbreak.  He stopped for a minute, patted me on the back, offered me some of his coffee, and said "God is making you into one the gems for His crown."

 

Later on I had a coach tell me that many people stop going to the gym after their first few tries because soreness sets in and makes it seem as if their limbs are going to fall off.  Face it, most of us don't like pain.  Some like physical pain of working out, and weird as they are, I admire them.  But not too many people like the pain of loss or the pain of feeling helpless or the pain of having to learn life's lessons the hard way.  So we try to avoid situations where such pain would find us.  But remember, God doesn't allow us to hurt just for His own grins and giggles.  God allows us to hurt so we will come to Him for help, healing and comfort; THEN we can be used of God to help others in their times of pain.

 

Life truly is a long and winding road...but the good news is we don't have to walk it alone!