January 30, 2019

Difficulty in life has the potential to break us or to make us a better person. Since every person is on a journey, we are changing constantly. There really is no “idle” stage of our existence. The goal is to gain more wisdom, become more consistent, enjoy a greater sense of usefulness and experience more peace.

Facing life’s heartaches is one of our greatest challenges. Everyone has them, so thinking we can avoid them is foolish. It is important to see their purpose and value and learn to make them our friend. That is not easy, and it requires a personal choice. It does not come naturally.

I enjoy reading stories of men and women whose life adventures took them into difficult situations where they had to consider the possibility of failure. While some, for obvious reasons, have to face that reality, many find the courage to continue and eventually experience the reward of persistence. Often, a spouse or business partner makes the difference. We handle difficulty better with the support of a trusted friend.

Too often, people allow heartache to separate them from needed support rather than draw from it. When a child is ill or taken in death, the parents will decide to let this bring them together in determined unity or they will drift apart and maybe even end their relationship. The difficulty either makes them stronger together or drives a wedge between them.

This kind of option can exist in marriage, business, church, community – perhaps in any relationship. While life has many joy-filled opportunities, it is certain to give us more difficult challenges than we might anticipate. I hope that we will decide to accept whatever appropriate support is offered to become a better person. Everyone wins when we do this.

Pastor Bill Ehmann