Sometimes We Have to Push Through the Difficulties

Sometimes we have to push through the difficulties.

If we ever want to see a reward in our life, we have to “stick in there.”

And we are so good at quitting.

It’s like the rungs on a ladder. Instead of climbing up one by one, pushing ourselves to grow, and go further and higher, so that we can turn around and look back at how far we’ve come…. We look up at the ladder and say, “that’s too high. That’s too hard. It’s too far.” And we dig up our roots and start over somewhere else. In another situation. With other people.

And all we do, is live a life where we are starting over all of the time. We never grow the muscles we need to endure the tough stuff. We never learn that great reward comes AFTER those trying times.

God knows what our heart and soul needs more than we do. We are so good at seeing what we WANT, that we fail to see what we NEED. And sometimes, we just need to be sifted. We need those times in life that seem to go on for a never-ending stretch.

Because God is doing a mighty work in us, and He really wants to complete it!

We interfere. We take the control away from His hands, and navigate our own path.

I love looking back at my path in life and seeing how those times where I shed so many tears, have brought deeper tears in my heart now….. tears of joy and thankfulness at how far I’ve come and at where I am.

I can see all those times where I longed to rely on human skin to help me through… when God told me, “no. I want you to rely on ME.”

So, sometimes we have to push through those difficulties. We have to hold our breath, and keep swimming. There may be choppy waters and strong waves along the way, but we will make it. And we will be forever marked.

It is those “marks” in our life that mold and shape our character. They help grow us – not just for ourselves, but for others, so that we can help mold and shape them along the way too. So that we can help encourage, minister, and cheer them on as they, too, need to learn to dig deep and hang in there.

I’d rather walk like a giant in life, with thick skin, knowing that I’ve made it through some intense battles, than walk with thin skin who can’t withstand much in life, because my muscles are so weak.

The answers may seem far away at times, but God is always working. He’s working even when we can’t see it. He’s working on US.

Let Him.