Hardship Makes Character

From a devotional I receive through email...

"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37).

This is more than victory. This is a triumph so complete that we have not only escaped defeat and destruction, but we have destroyed our enemies and won a spoil so rich and valuable that we can thank God that the battle ever came. How can we be "more than conquerors"? We can get out of the conflict a spiritual discipline that will greatly strengthen our faith and establish our spiritual character. Temptation is necessary to settle and confirm us in the spiritual life. It is like the fire which burns in the colors of mineral painting, or like winds that cause the mighty cedars of the mountain to strike more deeply into the soil. Our spiritual conflicts are among our choicest blessings, and our great adversary is used to train us for his ultimate defeat. The ancient Phrygians had a legend that every time they conquered an enemy the victor absorbed the physical strength of his victim and added so much more to his own strength and valor. So temptation victoriously met doubles our spiritual strength and equipment. It is possible thus not only to defeat our enemy, but to capture him and make him fight in our ranks. The prophet Isaiah speaks of flying on the shoulders of the Philistines (Isa. 11:14). These Philistines were their deadly foes, but the figure suggested that they would be enabled not only to conquer the Philistines, but to use them to carry the victors on their shoulders for further triumphs. Just as the wise sailor can use a head wind to carry him forward by tacking and taking advantage of its impelling force; so it is possible for us in our spiritual life through the victorious grace of God to turn to account the things that seem most unfriendly and unfavorable, and to be able to say continually, "The things that were against me have happened to the furtherance of the Gospel." --Life More Abundantly

A noted scientist observing that "early voyagers fancied that the coral-building animals instinctively built up the great circles of the Atoll Islands to afford themselves protection in the inner parts," has disproved this fancy by showing that the insect builders can only live and thrive fronting the open ocean, and in the highly aerated foam of its resistless billows. So it has been commonly thought that protected ease is the most favorable condition of life, whereas all the noblest and strongest lives prove on the contrary that the endurance of hardship is the making of the men, and the factor that distinguishes between existence and vigorous vitality. Hardship makes character. --Selected

"Now thanks be unto God Who always leads us forth to triumph with the Anointed One, and Who diffuses by us the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place" (2 Cor. 2:14, literal translation).

I find the last part about the coral-building animals to be particularly interesting. It seems that mankind takes the view that we should build up as many barriers around our hearts as we possibly can. It makes sense in a lot of ways. We want to protect ourselves from invaders who would seek to harm us or hurt us. However, we take that so far as to use our walls as an excuse to stay comfortable and unchallenged. I fear that the worst way a man or woman can live is unchallenged. How hard and proud that makes our hearts. The hardship is part of the blessing. If you never taste sorrow, how can you ever truly appreciate joy?

My Resolution...

is to give up...

Wait a minute. That doesn't sound right. Resolutions are supposed to be made to challenge you and stretch you. Who resolves to give up?!

Well, I do. It may sound like I am taking the easy way out, but it's harder than you think. I am giving up the prideful notion that I have any capability in myself to make my life better. People make resolutions every year to better the quality of their lives, and they don't keep them. They don't keep them because they CAN'T. It's not for lack of desire or will-power. Our will-power turns out to be quite futile, and it discourages our desires because we feel hopeless. Why am I going to do that to myself year after year? It makes no sense.

If I truly believe that Christ is sufficient to meet all my needs, then why am I struggling to "better" my life? I have fooled myself into thinking that there is something He is withholding from me. I beg and plead with him for help and strength, as if He is denying me what I need. You don't beg and plead with someone who has already given you what you've asked for. Stanford quotes in the Green Letters, "Much of our begging fails to register in heaven because it fails to spring from right relations with the Father in union with Christ in death and resurrection: in which position one simply appropriates what is already his. 'All things,' says the Apostle Paul, 'are yours. And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's' (1_Corinthians 3:21,23)."

A. W. Tozer writes, "we are forever asking God to do things that He either has already done or cannot do because of our unbelief. We plead for Him to speak when He has already spoken and is at that very moment speaking. We ask Him to come when He is already present and waiting for us to recognize Him. We beg the Holy Spirit to fill us while all the time we are preventing Him by our doubts." I would venture to say that it is not only our doubts that prohibit, but our pride. I am sure this is true for all people, but it seems to me that especially in America we believe we are capable of so much more than we actually are. Everyone can be an all-star, the President, or make the team. We puff ourselves, as well as others, up and it makes us quite ugly people, to be honest. This gives us as children a false hope. Sure, a little boy can TRY to be anything he wants to be, but when he fails we should rejoice because now he can move on to discover what God really has for his life. I think the way we tend to do things leads to the unraveling of depending solely on God through Christ Jesus to direct our lives.

I have come to face the fact that I take life into my own hands when I ask for something that will help ME accomplish the task of making ME a better person. And it doesn't take long before I fail at it. And when I fail, I crawl back to the Lord pleading and wondering why I can't seem to fix things and why I feel so distant from Him.

All that to say, this is why I resolve to give up. I give up my "right" to a better life. I give up my pride to think that I can actually do myself any good. I give up the hopelessness that sets in after I fail. Instead, I embrace the Lord Jesus. I ask that He takes the daunting task of making me a better person. I ask that He do the work for me because I know how weak I really am. Yes, I give up... and I think that's okay.