“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize….Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave” (1 Corinthians 9:24, 26-27).
Suffering. Pain. Hardship.
I don’t like them either.
But, if you’re interested in growth, sometimes suffering, pain, and hardship are absolutely necessary to help us grow. So, the Apostle Paul tells us to get our minds straight about suffering, pain, and hardship. Don’t try to avoid them. Grow through them.
John Ortberg writes:
Imagine you have a child and you are handed a script of her entire life laid out before you. Better yet, you are given an eraser and five minutes to edit out whatever you want. You read that she will have a learning disability in grade school. Reading, which comes easily for some kids, will be laborious for yours. In high school your child will make a great circle of friends, then one of them will die of cancer. After high school she will get into the college she wanted to attend, but there she will lose a leg in a car crash. Following that, she will go through a difficult depression. A few years later she will get a great job, then lose that job in an economic downturn. She will get married, but then go through the grief of separation.
With this script of your child’s life before you and five minutes to edit it, what would you erase? That is the question psychologist Jonathan Haidt asked in this hypothetical exercise. Wouldn’t you want to take out all the stuff that would cause them pain?
We live in a generation of “helicopter parents” who constantly swoop into their children’s lives to make sure no one is mistreating them and that they experience one unobstructed success after another in school, sports, and relationships. Whoa! If you could wave a wand and erase every failure, disappointment, and suffering, are you sure it would be a good idea? Would that enable your children to grow into the best version of themselves? Is it possible that in some way people actually need adversity and setbacks – maybe even something like trauma – to reach the fullest level of development and growth?
That’s why God didn’t rescue Daniel from the lion’s den, but in it. That’s why God didn’t rescue Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego from the furnace but in it. Because, there is a growth and a trust that can only be learned through hardship.
So, the next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, instead of praying that God rescues you from that situation, pray for God’s presence and guidance through that difficult situation. And watch what God will do through you.
Praxis: Faith in Action 