Modern life comes with many creature comforts and conveniences to enjoy. But, like that proverbial frog in the hot water, we too can quickly become so accustomed to the water around us that we fail to realize just how dependent on these comforts we’ve become. It can then catch us by surprise when life presents us with certain difficulties. While it’s tempting to assume something is wrong and that our life and relationships shouldn’t be this hard, often the only problem is our inability to tolerate the normal difficulties of life.
For instance, some students seem surprised that learning is a difficult journey, as if merely showing up to class is enough to graduate. They might blame their professors for not giving them a fair chance, or quit school altogether, rather than leaning into the challenge. This same approach might be applied to their work – failing to understand why promotions are not just readily given to them.
Likewise, we might also bring these assumptions into our relationships. For example, this is the expectation of happily ever after starting on our wedding day. And normal marital struggles are then falsely assumed to be a fatal flaw for our union. But nothing is wrong with our marriage. We must simply mature and develop the tolerance to deal with difficult things. And certainly parenthood will require the same.
To be sure, there’s wisdom in counting the cost of life’s major decisions. But it’s immature, and often selfish, to avoid a journey simply because it’s difficult.
We’ve been called to bring more life and goodness into the world, and our difficulties are part of the refining fire God uses to shape us into the men who can do just this. And we rob ourselves of our impact when we shy away from hard things.
In the end, difficulties are not a sign something is wrong. In fact, this is often your path of growth. Learn to tolerate difficult things to maximize your impact and be a blessing to all.
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