Suffering Builds Character

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When the zombie apocalypse comes Michiganders will be fine.  While the world goes into panic mode and civilization ends, we'll continue to produce cars, cereal, and muffin mix as though nothing changed. This is not because of our active para-military organizations, well armed gangsters, or our fondness for roughing it. No, it takes more than weapons and knowledge to weather a zombie apocalypse; it takes grit, something we've developed in large supply. We've learned how to push forward when we feel there's no reason to hope. Economic trials and countless bitter winters have ingrained this virtue in our bones so that in the bleakest of circumstances we will not give up. We have been conditioned to suspect that we may lose everything at a moment's notice, to hope we won't, and go on with life anyway.

Paul writes about being content regardless of his circumstances (Philippians 4:12), and to some extent I think you have to face serious hardships in order to learn this attitude. James and Paul both promises us that suffering produces character, perseverance, and hope (Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-4). These verses do not always feel encouraging.  They feel like something Calvin's dad would say, but they're true. I know remarkable men and women of character, hope, and perseverance, and I've no doubt in my mind that it was their struggles that tempered them into the remarkable people that they are.

If you've read The Return of The King you remember how awesome the scourging of the Shire was. The Scourging of the Shire was a book-only adventure in which the hobbits returned to the Shire to find it overrun and enslaved. Merry and Pippin lead a revolt so swift and sudden that it barely occupied an afternoon. They wrecked their enemies in an instant, because after what they've been through there was nothing in the world that could have plausibly stood against them. This is what our hardships do to us, they build our character and turn us into warrior hobbits.

Challenge:

2 Corinthians 1 says that our suffering enables us to comfort others when they have trouble. Take a moment to consider that this is true for you and your own hardships. What trials are you facing today? How will God use those trials to produce character and hope? Know that God sees you in the midst of your hardship and is working it out for your benefit and his glory (Romans 8:28). Praise God for life's difficulties today; God loves you enough to turn you into a hero.

Life is Hard, Especially For Jane Eyre

I started reading Jane Eyre this week. I am really enjoying it, and this is a relief as it is a book I feel obligated to read. Especially since I have pretended to have read it in the past. I think we all pretend to have read more books than they're actually read; I hope. At least I will pretend this is true; I cannot be the only one who feels overwhelmed by the vast universe of books I haven't read. Back to the point: I am really enjoying Jane Eyre, not just the book but the character too. Jane is magnificent.

Jane Eyre is brave, bold, and smart. I wish I was more like her. I hope I am a little, but not too much, like her. Where I am reading she has just had a rather pointed dissent from Christianity. Jane feels, reasonably, that it is unjust for her friend Helen to submit patiently to undeserved reprimands and punishments. This is a common feeling; injustice is hard to stomach. I have felt this way, and every human, especially children, feel this way from some or all of the time. We want the world to be fair and it is not. There is not a neat and easy truism that makes this problem go away. There are comforting truths; explore them. Today I will not give answers away. Some truths do not feel precious, or even trustworthy, unless you've wrestled with them yourselves.

Read Luke 13, in which Jesus explains that bad things do not just happen to bad people, and in which he heals the sick, and laments the difficulty of salvation.

Read Job, in which a lot of bad things happen to a pretty good man who feels rather put upon by it all, but in the end God has a thing or two to say as well.

Read John 16, in which Jesus promises that in this world we will have trouble, but that he has overcome the world.

Read Hebrews 12, in which the author submits a perspective of hardship that is rather comforting if you've been blessed to have kind and loving parents.

Read 2 Corinthians 1, in which Paul reflects that his hardships have equipped him to comfort and serve his neighbors.

Read Jane Eyre.

Live. Ask. Struggle.

Challenge:

We are not given an easy answer for why God doesn't prevent bad things from happening. He does not promise to, which is at least a testament to his honesty. Bad things do happen; wrestle with it. Read the Bible. Ask the Lord. Let me know any insights or conclusions you come to, that's what the comment section is for. Good reading, and God speed.