A difficulty that is a problem to one person, another person thinks of as just an annoyance. It depends on what else you’re dealing with. That ache in your leg won’t seem like much of a problem if a day comes when you don’t have any legs at all.
The Christian gets the most out of this life that can be gotten. And when the goodness of this temporal world has been experienced and used to the Father’s glory, the Father Himself waits for us in eternity with His arms open wide.
The path of least resistance is what makes rivers crooked, and it makes men and women crooked too. The easy path never goes anywhere but downward, and spiritually, that is not the direction we want to go. Worthwhile destinations take extra effort.
Life isn’t always be easy. When we encounter serious obstacles on our way to heaven, we shouldn’t be surprised. This happens to be a hard world, and godly people aren’t going to get through it painlessly. Jesus certainly didn’t.
Our sorrow for past sins must be godly sorrow rather than the sorrow of the world. And a little defiance of the devil will help us. Our adversary wants us to be consumed and destroyed by our painful memories. He must not be allowed to get his way.
We can’t have the greater blessings without trading in some lesser things for them, and we should be willing to do that. As we grow, we should have a clearer vision of what we would relinquish in order to gain what we don’t yet have.
The crucial question is never “What have I done?” but “What does God have in mind for me in the future?” And more important, “Am I cooperating with what He has in mind for me?” That way of thinking about things can make all the difference.
It’s not wrong to indulge in nostalgia, but we must be careful not to overindulge. “Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For you do not inquire wisely concerning this” (Ecclesiastes 7:10). Life in Christ is about progress.
One of the worst aspects of hell will be the helplessness of the whole situation. Not having wanted to see the truth, we never did see it . . . until it was too late. And at that point, nothing can be done but to agonize over the truth. Forever.
We were created to live within God’ will, but we have rebelled against our King and tried to set up our own kingdom. In this “kingdom of self,” the rule is “Not Thy will but mine be done.” Free to choose, we have often chosen our own will over God’s.
