These past couple weeks when I was mysteriously drained of energy, I learned a hard but important lesson: I cannot take anything for granted in this life. If my health can be taken away at any moment, so can anything else.
Where do I put my hope? Why do I lose my gratitude when things are taken from me?
I’ve realized how spoiled I’ve become- expecting that everything will go my way and if it doesn’t, I have every right to complain. I’ve become so used to all the blessings God has given me that when one is withheld, even for a short period of time, I feel hopeless and lost. My foundation is so shaky. While genuine lamenting is okay and even beneficial to our relationship with God, despairing is not.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4 ESV
It is so hard for me to take this view when things get hard. When my body feels like it is betraying me and my relationships feel strained. When I don’t have the motivation to keep going or even get out of bed in the morning. How can there possibly be joy in these times?
And yet, if I can’t find joy in the hard times, I will never be able to fully appreciate the good times. I will take them for granted, instead of seeing them as they are: gifts from a good Father. If I can’t see that I did nothing to deserve these things, and yet He has freely given them and can take them as he chooses, I am missing the point. If I can’t see that even the hard things are gifts as well, I am lacking in maturity.
I am learning to take nothing for granted: good or bad. Maybe what I deem as bad is what He is using for my ultimate good, and maybe what I deem as good might destroy me. Either I trust my own judgment or His- and I have been wrong too many times to trust my own.
Once we learn to accept everything as a gift, we are free. We no longer need our life to be a certain way to be content, just as Paul learned to be content in any circumstance. We can trust that He truly is working things together for our good, even if it hurts in the temporary.
rhythms of grace 