Difficulty Breeds Endurance
“Our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.”
Well hello friends and fellow readers I’m back, and I’m so excited to share another nugget with you.
I get a little edgy when I travel. I seem to have a fear of all that could happen. Oh, I’m not saying that I don’t like to go places and do things, it’s just the in between that worries me. I know! Just doesn’t make a lot of sense does it? For sometimes the getting there is the most scenic. “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.”
There are times along our journey that things may happen. It may be car trouble, a flat tire, or bumper to bumper traffic, but we just keep trudging along as we can until we reach our destination.
I wonder what it was like for the Israelites on their journey to the promised land. Can you just imagine traveling 40 years in the wilderness on a seven day journey, because you didn’t trust, you didn’t believe? You murmured and complained. You sounded like a child on a car trip asking every few minutes, “Are we there yet!” Your parents probably thought to themselves, “I’ll be glad when we get there!” God was probably wondering what do I have to do to assure these people.
Now when we know that we are going on a trip, we usually exude a sense of happiness and delight. We make all the necessary preparations for the journey. We make sure that we have checked everything out.
James tells us in James 1:2-4 to, “Consider it great joy, my brothers, when you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do it’s complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
Just as we know that we might experience a little trouble on our journey to wherever, there is a surety that as we move through life there will be rough patches. Our remedy to that is to keep the faith. Will we always be happy? Of course not. But we can make the most of the experiences. Look for the positive in them. Look for great learning experiences; opportunities to grow. Look for the joy.
You know, the Israelites looked more at what was happening in the wilderness, so they lost their focus. They didn’t remember the bondage that they were under in Egypt. They just considered how hard it was in the wilderness, and they lost sight of the promised land. God never left them, but He did give them consequences for their lack of trust; for their disobedience. They would never enter the promised land.
God has promised us a home over there. A home free from sickness, death, and trouble, where we can be at rest with Him for evermore. Just as on that trip to wherever I am going I can’t be fearful. I have to trust. I must believe that whatever my destination is God is protecting me. There are angels awaiting us and around us, destruction was sure to be, but I thank God for the angels that protect and shield us alone this life journey. Children are impatient by nature, but we must develop patience and endurance for the race.
We’ll talk again later, but until then you’re wished much love, joy, peace and blessings. ~Barbara G
“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.”
— William Barclay