"Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds," I have been studying this passage for about a week now and am utterly amazed at the difficulty we face as people of this earth in getting our minds around what, on the surface, looks to be a simple concept. Yup, put on a happy face, buck up buckaroo, don't worry about spilled milk because the sun will come out tomorrow.
In a fairy tale world these words come awfully easy. But easy answers aren't always so easy in the real world. Sometimes the hard answers are what we need to hear. Yeah, buddy: We don't like that!
As a children we usually learn things the "hard way". One friend of mine taught me many lessons while I was in my younger years. Lessons like: don't touch the metal part of the plug when it's still in the wall socket; or don't bite into a lemon like it's an apple; or don't "stand right there" when someone holding a home made bow and arrow tells you to "stand right there". What did I learn from all of this? Well eventually I learned not to do whatever my friend told me to do, that's what. That may sound a little harsh, but for me at the grand old age of five it was a lesson I needed to learn. Was there joy in getting zapped, smacked, and shot? No, not really. Is there joy in the lesson learned? Absolutely.
We are all products of the experiences that have brought us this far. The joy and the sorrow. The parties and the pain. It is easy to find the joy in the pleasant moments of life. The joy in the trial often is not fully known until long after the lesson is over. I encourage you to look back on your troubles. See how far you have come. Find that bright shinning star, that glimmer of hope that carried you through. And use that memory to strengthen yourself when new trials arrive. Each of our past trials give us the strength to endure and persevere when new trials cross our path. Consider it pure joy, my brothers. Every day is a new lesson learned.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
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