“Nothing in this world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. No kind of life is worth leading if it is always an easy life.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
Most things in life that are worthwhile are, in one way or another, hard. Loving our neighbor is hard. Loving our spouse is hard. Parenting is hard. Work is hard. Stewarding our finances, personally and for ministry, is hard. Ministry itself is hard. Life is full of difficult endeavors. And yet, all of these hard endeavors are worthwhile.
Oftentimes we find ourselves getting lost in the fact that the most worthwhile things in life are difficult. Our culture celebrates the quick-fix, instant gratification, and low-investment paths. In the wake of culture’s influence, I often find myself focusing on the difficulty of the callings God has placed before me instead of grasping how each endeavor is a good and worthwhile gift that God has given to me.
My husband and I find ourselves in a season raising two children, 2 years old and under. In this season I find myself stretched thin. I am often taxed physically, and am occupied by the busyness of home keeping, working, and other responsibilities. In the midst of all that is vying for my attention, I find myself losing sight of how each of these pieces of my life are, in fact, gifts with enormous blessings from a loving God.
Human beings are like that, we look at the gifts God has given and, if we are not careful, they become burdens. We do not see what He sees:
Countless opportunities for personal growth as we learn to be like Jesus
The reward of our relationships with family, friends, and our spouse
The fruit of obedience to the Lord
The lives changed forever in Christ because of our ministry.
We fail to see how He has blessed us through the difficult parts of life when we see them only as burdens to be endured.
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:17 NIV
God never promised an easy life but what He does promise is something worth chasing. We can grab hold of the goodness of His gifts by giving of ourselves, in word and deed, through giving thanks to God for everything, the easy and the difficult.
This Thanksgiving season, as we draw our attention to gratitude and giving thanks, may we renew our focus on the Lord Jesus, giving Him thanks in all things, and allowing Him to show us the goodness of all our endeavors.
