Imagine what it would be like with no problems, no difficulties, and no troubles. You’re probably thinking of how peaceful and easy your life would be, but others, the rest of us, would see a weak person with nothing to offer, nothing of substance, and nothing of interest.
The things we hold most valuable in people are born out of adversity, not ease. Imagine watching a movie that only detailed how easy everyone had it, with nothing to overcome, nothing to triumph over, and nothing to strive for. You would be bored stiff, because if nothing every bad happened to the good guys, if they didn’t have to struggle, if they didn’t have to overcome anything, you would not be interested.
Imagine a novel where there were no antagonists-bad guys-and no problems for anyone. What would be the point of reading it? What would the book offer you? Nothing.
The same is true for you. What makes you worth knowing is the strength, experience, and hope you gained from all those problems and difficulties you have overcome. Our problems define us, because they show our strengths, our weaknesses, our achievements, our experiences. Thus, these experiences are what we bring to the table in a relationship.
It’s interesting how people seek out, for help, others who have faced similar experiences and trials. When a man loses his wife, he finds more comfort in someone else who has lost his or her spouse. They understand him. They can bring something to the table that no one else can.
So many of you have gone through horrific circumstances and situations. As a pastor, I ache for you and the burden that you carry. If I am aware of it, I will pray for you. But know this: these same horrific experiences have given you great depth to your character. They have added flavor, interest, and intrigue to your personality. They have made you the unique person you are, and they have made you a person worth knowing.
God Understands Your Problems
God understands this. Many times, people run to God in the hopes that God will sprinkle some spoofal dust on them and-shazam! Take away all the problems. However, God won’t. God knows that going through the problem is what will add interesting dimensions and needed strength to your life.
Proverbs 24:10 – If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
Instead, God wants this reaction from you:
James 1:2-4 – My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
That perfection, or completeness, only comes through those trials. It is the difficulties that you go through that make you valuable to others, to God, and to yourself.
The stories we most enjoy from the Bible are those of individuals who went through great trials and those who suffered greatly. Not because we enjoy seeing others suffer, but because we admire their strength, their courage, their character, and their determination. It is qualities like that that we find intriguing and interesting in others.
The strongest marriages I know are from those that have suffered through great difficulties. Therefore, the strongest relationships I have are born out of struggles. This includes my relationship with Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 4:1 – For as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
Got problems? Suffering? Then you’re in good company. Your problems are the Divine Ingredient that makes you worth knowing.
