My six year old sons greatest fear is not knowing what he will do tomorrow. My 3 year old daughter is afraid of flies (she thinks they sting). The babies biggest fear is when you walk out of the room and leave her all alone. Oh to have our fears and worries be that small in comparison to what we are going through. What happened? Life happened.
Life happened. It happened when my cell phone rang a few Saturday’s ago. At the other end of the call was a friend sharing his struggle through his tears and pain. It came in an email a few weeks ago with the news that a friend was given 6 weeks to live. Or the meeting in the hall at church with a brother sharing news that rocked his world. Or the phone call late Saturday night from another sister to share her fears, concerns and broken heart. These are heavy days and it is increasingly more evident that life happened.
Life happened. We grew up together and so did our worries, pains, struggles and hurts. At times it feels like the burden is so heavy and we are running uphill with no end in sight. By now you are probably thinking…boy, this is encouraging. Well guess what, there is hope. It comes directly from Romans 5:3-5.
“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:3-5 NIV)
You see these sufferings and trials are producing a perseverance to endure. They are producing a character and a hope that we can’t see through the pain. Yet on the other side of this mountain we are climbing is a clearing to see the entire valley. One final note to each of you in the midst of “Life”. You are not alone. Your community of brothers and sisters are right behind you. Your struggles are our struggles and your pain is our pain. Soon, very soon, your joy will be our joy too. We will rejoice because Life Happened.
