Joy in the Storm

Trouble never ends. As humans we think that we can end problems just by fixing our current problems and then everything will be better. If we are single, we think that our life will be perfect if we were married. If we are busy, we think life would be better if we only had more time. But the problem is that just as soon as one problem leaves, a new one takes its place. We finish one homework assignment, another is waiting for us to do. 

However, God wants it to be that way. We could not learn if that were not the case. This life is short, and there is a lot to learn. I learned this week how important it is to be meekly accept the difficulties in life, and embrace the messiness, because this is beauty in difficulties and trials that we will miss if we are always waiting for them to be over. Instead of constantly being discontented because life is not the way I wanted it to be, I want to embrace its craziness and dance in the storm. Each difficult and beautiful moment is to be embraced and loved in its own way because it is life. 

One example of how I have fallen prey to this type of thinking has been my attitude since coming home. When I first got home I had very little to do before I was going back to school. I had a lot of time, and I would get frustrated because I felt like I was not accomplishing anything. I thought that everything would be great when I got back to school and got a job because I would have so much to do and accomplish. But, I forgot that being busy and at school has its own difficulties, and that I would still have problems. Its kind of like how if you were stuck in Antarctica and freezing, you would probably be more than happy to trade with someone who was stuck in the Sahara desert where it is hot, but as soon as you were there you would immediately wish to be back in Antarctica. There are problems with both, and it is better to deal the the current problems with acceptance rather than wish for the other problems.

God says in Moses 6:55 that we are supposed to: "taste the bitter, that [we] may know to prize the good." We are supposed to struggle in order to learn. When Adam and Eve fell, they chose to experience suffering so that they could learn and progress. I may struggle, but there is joy to be found in that struggle. 

Image credit: Calming The Storm by Tigran Ghulyan