Search
-
November 4, 2020How are you holding up? It seems each day brings new challenges, new battles and an endless onslaught of “stuff.” Will it ever end?! Add an epic ice storm to the list for 2020. I spent an entire weekend cleaning downed trees out of my yard, along with the rest of my neighbors and I’m sure many of you.
I had to travel this past week and found myself in a flurry of issues. I got stranded in Chicago after missing a connection, then the next day learned that my reservation no longer existed because I missed my connection and the flight was terminated. Then, it snowed in Chicago and my new flight was delayed. I finally made it to Pittsburgh, almost 24 hours later than planned.
Wouldn’t you know it, my car rental was canceled because I was late. I was assigned a car, but it was being cleaned and serviced from a previous rental. I dumbly asked why they couldn’t rent me one of the 50 cars I could see in the lot, only to be shamed into submission by the agent.
“Those” cars were not in my “rental class” and could not be rented to me. My trip home was no different. The return flight was mysteriously cancelled, and I was re-routed to Denver, where the plane had mechanical issues and was delayed for hours. At least the Denver airport brought back nice memories of living there for more than 20 years. Multiple times during those three days I was asking, “What is going on?! Can anything go right on this trip?”
Hardship, difficulty, temptation – these are all part of the journey for us, and God actually uses all these trials to help us grow and mold us into people after his own heart. Still, I observe in myself a defiant resistance to difficulties. I want peace, order, tranquility, but typically from more of a worldly perspective. I want things to go well for me, I want to have little to no difficulty in my day-to-day experience, I want things to go my way. It almost hurts to say that out loud, but if I’m really honest, I have to admit it’s true.
These desires are natural, even human, but they fly in the face of Scripture: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (I Peter 4:12). “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance” (Romans 5:3).
I could go on and on – there are dozens of passages just like this. The fact is, you cannot find ANY scripture that says, or even implies, that when you decide to follow Jesus everything is going to work out well for you.
The truth actually is just the opposite. “My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials” (Sirach 2:1). Scripture is filled with exhortations about enduring hardship and trial and using those as a means for not only growth but the eternal reward promised to us. This column has focused on similar themes over the past year (the May 10, 2020, issue in particular). I also have found in my own life that surges of growth and progress usually result on the other side of such trials. So, if your 2020 has been as challenging as mine, be sure to take some time as the end of the year nears to measure how much you have grown!
Another important principle to mention is that struggle and trial prepare us for the overall spiritual battle. The reality is that we are not going to get to heaven without trial and difficulty, and our fundamental battle is the one with sin and our own disordered passions, desires and attachments. In some mysterious way, joyfully embracing all the inconveniences and difficulties of my travel this past week can actually help me in that more primary battle.
First, it helps condition me for struggle and challenge, which ultimately can help me develop greater resistance and perseverance, building up endurance for temptations and other things the enemy throws at me. Second, when that endurance in me gets built up, I actually develop greater personal character. I become more and more who God created me to be through things that test and challenge me – kind of like the old sports adage, “no pain, no gain.”
Finally, with greater character comes a deep, abiding hope. With every difficulty we endure, we are filled with greater courage for the next one; with every victory over our circumstances, we find ourselves with greater hope that we can endure whatever will come at us next.
This is exactly what Saint Paul was talking about in his letter to the Romans: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:2-5).