It’s Sweet On The Other Side

Looking back at this past year and all my struggles, I see more clearly God in my life. When we walk through the valley, we can’t see anything. It’s not until you come out the other side, that you can look back and see God’s hand on your life. You can see God’s fingerprints all over the place.

Life isn’t easy. It’s no fun to have struggles and problems. But it is so worth it to struggle. Think of an athlete. My husband likes to lift weights. When he was in high school he really got into it. He said he would push himself so hard, he would feel sick after the workout. He said, as you increase the weight you lift, you create tiny tears in your muscles. This opens up the muscles to get bigger and stronger. But that doesn’t sound pleasant, creating tears in your muscles.

A runner must run hard and fast to get faster. They must push themselves and push themselves. Each day they run until their lungs burn, their hearts pound out of their chest and their muscles ache. But everyday that they push themselves, they get better and better. The runner gets faster.

So too, our lives are like training to be athletes. Our faith would be flabby and weak if it weren’t for struggles. Each struggle is like the regimen the athlete pursues to get better and better. We have to experience pain before the gain. Struggles strengthen us. It pushes us harder. As we make it through the struggle, we come out the other end, stronger, our faith, deeper.

That is what God wants for us. He wants us strong. He wants us powerful. But that only happens with struggle. It doesn’t happen any other way. Wouldn’t that be nice if it did. But it doesn’t. Just like an athlete, we only get stronger with the pain. Our lungs have to burn, our muscles need to ache, and our hearts need to beat out of our chests in order for us to become stronger in our Christian walk.

I think of Peter, just before Jesus was crucified. Jesus told him that he would deny Him three times. Not one of Peter’s finest moments. As Peter denied Jesus Christ for the third time, the rooster crowed and Peter remembered Christ’s words to him. The agony, of what he had done went deep into his soul. The pain of realizing he had denied His Savior was probably almost too much to bear.

There was also the pain of seeing his Rabbi, crucified upon the cross, dead. The feeling of hope dying and the shame of what he had done, was a deep scar on Peter’s heart.

Then He rose from the dead! He came back to life! Hope was restored. Then Jesus confronts Peter. In that moment, he doesn’t reprimand him, he commissions him! Peter would now build the church. He was ready now! He had suffered through much, and now he was ready.

So when that pains comes, when the struggles hit you in the face, don’t lose heart. It will make you stronger. It will make you better. The pain is momentary. We are like athletes. We must endure, only to get better in the end.