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.
In our suffering God is at work to give us something much better than what we want. He’s not content to dispense temporary relief, when eternal change is what we really need. In the zeal of redeeming love, he uses hard tools to product soft but sturdy hearts, and that’s a very good thing.
James tells us to consider it pure joy when we face trials because we know that the end result will produce maturity and completeness within us. Eternal readiness. But make no mistake about it, suffering is hard.
Suffering can improve us
Tripp notes that suffering will strip us bare of everything we believed theologically and force us to rethink what we know about God and his promises. Suffering in any capacity is truly a long, difficult spiritual battle. But, and this is a life-altering “but,” we can emerge on the other side of our travails more sturdily fitted to serve God and others as we are transformed from the inside out.
Which of us wouldn’t desire a, “soft but sturdy heart?” to serve others better? Which of wouldn’t long for comfort from another whose heart was also, “soft but sturdy?”
Life’s hardships don’t have to define us
One of Tripp’s contemporaries, David Powlison, fellow speaker, author, and biblical counselor, is suffering from pancreatic cancer and recently said these words, “My life is not a medical drama. Rather, my life is hidden in Christ.” Powlison continued to state that he will not allow himself to look beyond today and worry about what may occur tomorrow.
Indeed, Powlison reminds his readers and listeners that to do so is to sin. I’m in awe of his conviction and afraid that if I were facing the grim diagnosis Powlison faces, that I would not be strong enough to handle that disease in similar peace-driven style.
None of us is strong enough
And that is exactly the problem. I’m not strong enough. Tripp isn’t strong enough. Powlison isn’t strong enough. No one is strong enough.
Only when we allow God to strip away all that we cling to instead of him for our comfort and strength will we experience the peace that passes all understanding. Only when we allow him to search the deepest recesses of our hearts and minds and clean house will we inspect and then cast out the “false idols” that have been hindering us.
We can emerge from suffering with “soft but sturdy hearts”
True enough, none of us wants to suffer. But suffering will come to all of us in one form or another. It behooves us to learn what it means to suffer well before we are faced with some of the most difficult battles of our lives. I pray we all emerge from our seasons of suffering with, “Soft but sturdy hearts.”
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