Trials and Tribulations

“Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”  James 1:4-5

It seems easy, as an adult, to force a child to do a chore they don’t want to do.  Afterall, I’m the parent and I work to pay the bills, so I’m boss.  Even though my children may moan and groan, they do it anyway because “Mom said so”.  As an adult, I simply don’t like someone forcing me to do things I don’t want to.  I can choose to sit and play games on the iPad and dismiss my daily duties because there is not another adult standing over me giving me ultimatums to get my work done.  I know what my choices are and the consequences that go along with them.  If I don’t stop playing games, dinner won’t get cooked and the kids will drive me crazy because they are hungry.  If I don’t take out the trash, the house will stink up.  Sometimes, God becomes that “adult” in our life giving us obstacles to teach us lessons and “force” us to learn to become a better person.  It’s not that God wants us to struggle in our life, but He wants us to look to Him for guidance, and when we trust that God will lead us to where He thinks we should go, God will give us more generously than we can ever imagine.  Our life on earth doesn’t end until we’ve learned all the lessons God wants us to learn.  The most important part of those lessons is having faith that God will see us through all of our trials and tribulations.  You just have to ask for help and have faith.

Thought for the day: God perseveres in our lives because “what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.”

wikimedia commons/Michael "Mike" L. Baird