Growth

A few of the books I've been reading all agree on one thing: it is during the trials and difficulties that we truly grow.

As much as I would like to believe otherwise, temporary discomfort is unfortunately a necessary ingredient of the Christian life.

As I pondered this today, a co-worker out of the blue said words to the same effect this morning. I suppose it's affirmation.

Very often we know what the right thing to do is - but the problem is that we don't want the discomfort that comes with it. Then we start rationalizing the situation so that we can excuse ourselves from doing the very things that will help us grow.

This reminds me of when I was a kid, sitting at the doctor's office crying, because I don't want what awaits me: a nurse with a long, cold needle containing medicine that will take care of my illness at the time.

All I could think of was the pain that comes with needles - the temporary discomfort it would cause me.

The fact that the shot will ultimately make me healthier did not factor into my thought process. I simply wanted to avoid the temporary discomfort by all means possible. I suppose in the back of my head I vaguely knew that there was no way around the shot - but I didn't care. I just didn't want the pain.

Decades later, the challenge remains the same. Will I be strong and courageous enough to accept the temporary discomfort in my path, knowing that ultimately I will grow in character strength and get closer to who God intended me to be?

It's an inner struggle of epic proportions playing out in the constant battlefield of the human mind.