I was listening to a pastor on the radio coming into work this morning and his sermon was on learning to suffer well. It's the kind of stuff that I really enjoy because it's true, it's real, and it isn't all "love Jesus and suddenly everything is perfect". It isn't, in fact, once you make the decision to have that personal relationship with Jesus, life will get harder.
Anyway, his point was that life is full of suffering. No matter how much we try to keep it from happening, it will happen. Money issues, death issues, job issues, kid issues, etc, etc. There are many things that will cause suffering.
So we must learn to suffer well. We must understand that what we are going through can either kill us or help us thrive. We must learn to appreciate that we only grow through adversity or we can become bitter.
Nothing in this life worth having comes without hard work and adversity. If it is easily obtained, I would probably reevaluate if it were really good for you. You must suffer to persevere to become stronger. I don't care if it is basketball, with your children, or co-workers, we must suffer. I pray that we learn how to suffer well because it is inevitable.
Now the decision is yours. How will you handle suffering? Me...I will do better sometimes and do poorly others. Hopefully then, I will have people who will help pull me up and dust me off.
