Helen Keller Once Said, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
She was right. It takes trials and suffering to build character. In Hebrews we learn that Christ had to learn obedience by the things that he suffered even though he was the Son of God. Jesus tells us “he that over cometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.”
Overcoming is essential. Picture a high hurdler trying to win a race with no hurdles. He needs the hurdles to jump over in order to become a champion. We need to overcome, says Jesus, and there has to be something to overcome. It sounds simple, but we know in actual fact it is not.
Problems tend to growl at us like cowardly dogs. If we face and challenge them, they back away. If we run from them, they run after us, snapping at our heels. We need to face our trials, and we need to challenge our hurdles. When we face the worst that can happen in any situation and learn to deal with it, we grow. When circumstances are at their worst, we can find our best when we rise to meet the challenge.
Someone once said that we are like a tea bag – not much good unless put in hot water. No one likes trouble, and no one enjoys being disciplined; yet the writer to the Hebrews explains to us just how necessary it is for our spiritual growth: “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.'”
The lesson is to endure hardship as discipline; God is treating us as sons.
The message continues, “For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.”
Paul had to learn this lesson. He had a problem which he called a “thorn in his flesh,” and he asked the Lord three times to remove. Here is how he explains what he learned: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness ‘ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties For when I am weak, then I am strong “
We do not know what we can accomplish until we accept our discipline as a hurdle to be jumped, with Paul we must realize that when we are weak then are we strong
Helen Keller became blind and deaf at the age of nineteen months, and for the first few years of her life she had terrible temper tantrums expressing her frustration over her physical disabilities Thanks to her mentor, Ann Sullivan, she became an inspiration to others She achieved greatness in spite of her physical limitations She was well qualified to explain the source of character development “Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved “
Paul’s wisdom came from divine inspiration as he endured his thorn in the flesh Let us join with Paul by deciding to delight in our weaknesses and consider them but hurdles to surmount in our journey to the Kingdom.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One