Much of our modern world keeps us out of touch with reality. We’ve come to expect a life we can predict and control – readily adjusting our circumstances to keep us happy and comfortable. But this is not how real life works. True life is a wild adventure that’s neither easy nor safe.
For many, childhood is an idyllic time of comfort and safety. Our needs are met with very little required of us. And this time is needed to help us learn to trust in a power greater than ourselves, first our parents and then God himself. But our parents would’ve done us a disservice if they kept us in this state and never allowed us to experience the normal struggles and challenges of life. It’s only through meaningful risks and wrestling through difficulties that our strength is forged and we gain the ability to bring more life and goodness into the world.
While our parents might have let us go, it seems much of society is still designed to coddle us. There’s a remedy for essentially any displeasure we might experience – from our boredom and mild discomforts, to our disappointments, failures, and the like. And it’s not that our endless entertainment and technological conveniences are all bad, but they can seduce us into an artificial world and dull our senses to the way reality works.
Reality is wild. There are heartaches and struggles, scars and many setbacks along the way. Of course, none of this is pleasant in the moment. But we discover its goodness as we allow it to refine us.
We become that petulant toddler always demanding life on his terms when we don’t learn to embrace the necessary suffering of maturity. This doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the many luxuries of the modern world. But it shouldn’t surprise us when we have to fight for the good life and it’s not just handed to us on a silver platter.
In the end, despite the promises of our modern world, the good life is neither easy nor safe. Accepting this reality allows you to mature and discover the fullness of life God offers.
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