When was the last time something easy changed your life?
Conversely, challenges have probably changed your life multiple times over. How we react to challenges is the best indicator of our character. But if you’re rarely (or never) challenged, it’s hard to get to know yourself on that level.
I don’t want an easy life. An easy life, by definition, is one devoid of difficulty. If everything is easy, nothing would force me to stretch. I want to be challenged because challenge brings change. I want to keep growing, keep maturing, and keep refining myself. I want to top my most recent feat.
“…we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance…”
– Romans 5:3
Suffering is something most of us actively avoid. But if we never face hardship, we don’t grow. James, the brother of Jesus, said, “suffering produces perseverance.” Steel isn’t forged by laying iron in the sun for 30 minutes and hoping it gets hot enough to become malleable. It is intentionally heated to 3,000 degrees for three and half hours. Talk about suffering.
The same goes for our lives: suffering shows us what we’re capable of. Running a marathon taught me a lot about who I was. Forcing myself to write for 90 days did, too. And although the Redbox movie I watched last night was great, it didn’t have the same impact. A comfortable life isn’t the key to happiness.
Assess where you are. Think about the last time you were challenged and how it changed you. You need nights with a Redbox movie and some time to chill. But you need to fill the other space with things that mold you into the person you want to be. Find the furnace that will heat you to the temperature required and suffer as needed.
