When things get hard, are you so busy putting your head down and your nose to the grindstone that you miss the beauty in the struggle?
“The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and Godlike. It teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
Taken at face value, it can be hard to see the beauty in struggle. Especially when the struggle is ours.
The first things we see are the hardships, the inconveniences, the pain, and the fear. We look at what our struggle is costing us, what we are putting into it—our time, our strength, our patience.
Sometimes, we can look at what’s on the other side of the struggle. The reward, which is beautiful in its own right. Like a laboring mother who knows that her gorgeous baby is on the other end of her pain, we look to the horizon for our reward.
Maybe it’s to be cancer-free and healthy again. Maybe it’s a loving, connected marriage. Or maybe it’s an adult child who still comes to dinner because you all survived the turbulent teen years with love and grace.
Looking for the beauty in struggle
Often in an effort to get through hard times, we put our heads down and push through. We don’t look up or to the side, and we don’t look to the end. Just one foot in front of the other.
But when we keep our heads down, we miss the beauty in the struggle—the beauty of our strength, the beauty of our perseverance, and the beauty of our Creator who walks beside us.
The beauty of who we become when we are forged in fire.
If you are going through a difficult time right now, take a moment to see how your struggle is shaping you. Have you shown more patience, strength, or grace than you thought yourself capable of?
Did you become more sensitive to others who are going through something similar, whereas before you only gave it a passing thought?
Have you seen God’s power and provision when your own were at their weakest?
There is beauty in all struggle. Just stop for a moment, lift your head, and look for it. I promise you, it’s there.
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