Name: Kayla Durden
Category: Undergraduate
Dr. Parker’s Quote: Inspirational Advice for Daily Living
People are not often changed for the better by having life easy.
Vote for this essay
Forward to a friend
Essay:
Everyone is shaped through the events they encounter throughout their lives. People can be shaped through encouraging events, but more than often people are shaped by the challenging events in their lives. Whether it is financial trouble, uncertainty, an illness, an addiction, or worry over a love one, people regularly grow stronger and more aware of who they are through the tough times in their lives.
Many people think that once one becomes a Christian then their life will be easy and all their troubles and hardships will just disappear. The Bible says something quite different, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4) Those that have to work hard and that endure struggles will come at the other side stronger, wiser, and whole. God allows troubles and hardships for this purpose. We must consider the times of hardship, the times when we feel like we have absolutely nothing left, times of learning and growing. In these times, God is stretching and molding the person into who He wants them to be in Him.
It took me a long time to figure this out. Not until this year did I truly realize what James was saying in this passage. Last year was a very tough year for me and I went through one of the biggest struggles of my life. On top of that, I had decided to go to college five hours away from home when I had previously refused to go any more than an hour and a half away. So this year when I arrived at college, I was more scared than I have ever been. I was very self-conscious and shy, two of my greatest flaws, and I was nervous that I was going to be the only Christian. Well, it turned out I was nearly the only Christian, but I started to realize that I was strong enough. Then it became more and more evident that God had strengthened me through my struggle the previous year and He is again stretching and molding me. I am way less self-conscious because I know I am who I want to be in Christ, and He has also given me the ability to speak up about my faith, something I have always been too shy to do.
Sometimes it is hard to come to grips with the fact that a loving, gracious God would let His children go through troubles, but He uses these to test us, strengthen us, mold us, and stretch us. Dr. Parker’s profound statement reminds us that it is when life gets tough that we are changed for the better. Are you allowing God to change you?
