Life Doesn't Get Easier
It seems to me that many people are waiting to get to "Easy Street" in their lives. They envision that someday everything will be easy and all of their cares will be gone. That is what Heaven is all about, but it is not going to happen in this world. I often like to tell people, "Growing older is not for sissy's." Life does not get easier. Each stage of life has more difficult challenges. It is important for us to grow in our strength, so that we can meet the challenges, no matter how difficult they may become. That is God's plan for life on earth.
Jeremiah 12:5 made me think about this a lot this morning. If we have trouble with our present station in life, our present duties and difficulties, how can we meet the bigger challenges that are coming? If we have trouble living for the Lord in good times, how will we do when things get tough? The spiritual reality is that we must build our spiritual muscles. We must grow in wisdom. We must apply ourselves to knowledge, so that when we face the storms of life, and when things get more difficult, we are ready. We are not thrown off course. The Lord has prepared us for the next level. He is the only Source of this strength, and it is only by growing in Him that we can do it.
If we trust Him, God gives us the grace for first grade. If we keep trusting Him, we can progress all the way through graduate school to get a PhD. However, it is one year at a time, one step at a time. God gives us grace for today, not tomorrow. Each day we trust Him, and we see He meets our needs and gives us strength, we are stronger for tomorrow. Then, when the dying day comes, the valley of the shadow of death, He gives us grace for that day, as well. However, it is a process. If we fall behind in our trust, if we fail to grow, the storms of life can crush us. The horses will trample us. We will drown on the floodplain of the Jordan.
God is pulling for us to succeed in life, but He will not force us to trust Him and to grow. We must exercise our will to say yes to Him, to trust Him, and to grow throughout our lives. Then, we will be able to run with the horses and swim through the floodplain of the Jordan all the way to the Promised Land.
Today, I read Jeremiah 11-14.
Jeremiah 12:5 made me think about this a lot this morning. If we have trouble with our present station in life, our present duties and difficulties, how can we meet the bigger challenges that are coming? If we have trouble living for the Lord in good times, how will we do when things get tough? The spiritual reality is that we must build our spiritual muscles. We must grow in wisdom. We must apply ourselves to knowledge, so that when we face the storms of life, and when things get more difficult, we are ready. We are not thrown off course. The Lord has prepared us for the next level. He is the only Source of this strength, and it is only by growing in Him that we can do it.
If we trust Him, God gives us the grace for first grade. If we keep trusting Him, we can progress all the way through graduate school to get a PhD. However, it is one year at a time, one step at a time. God gives us grace for today, not tomorrow. Each day we trust Him, and we see He meets our needs and gives us strength, we are stronger for tomorrow. Then, when the dying day comes, the valley of the shadow of death, He gives us grace for that day, as well. However, it is a process. If we fall behind in our trust, if we fail to grow, the storms of life can crush us. The horses will trample us. We will drown on the floodplain of the Jordan.
God is pulling for us to succeed in life, but He will not force us to trust Him and to grow. We must exercise our will to say yes to Him, to trust Him, and to grow throughout our lives. Then, we will be able to run with the horses and swim through the floodplain of the Jordan all the way to the Promised Land.
Today, I read Jeremiah 11-14.