Our trials are supposed to turn us toward God, but we whine and complain and wish someone would turn down the fire so we could have our old life back the way it was.

Smooth seas don't produce skillful sailors.' It's the rought waters that train us to e His disciples. He uses the turbulent times I our lives to prepare us for His purposes-if we'll let Him.

On the other side of every hardship is a resurrection.

God is using all of your experiences, both good and bad, to develop your character to match your calling.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2—4)

God is good. He is way more interested in developing our characters to match our calling than in manipulating our circumstances to make us happy.

Sometimes, though, when God calls us to be set apart for another purpose, it's difficult to believe God's goodness in the hurt.

What if we could actually get to the place where we thanked God for letting us face this battle because of the rich treasures we discovered on the battlefield?

Without challenges and changes people tend to grow increasingly distant from God and resistant to His ways.

But this is human life: the war, the deeds, The disappointment, the anxiety, Imagination's struggles, far and nigh, All human; bearing in themselves this good, That they are still the air, the subtle food, To make us feel existence. -Keats, Endymion This is the 'goal' of the soul path — to feel existence; not to overcome life's struggles and anxieties, but to know life first hand, to exist fully in context. (Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul, p.260)

People don't really know whether they are committed to something until they face adversity.

Too many times we're looking for ways to get around deep waters and dangerous fires, rather than through them. Has this ever been your experience?