Life goes on. From the beginning of the creation, day has followed night, and according to God's promise, it will until Jesus comes. “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22; cf. 2 Peter 3:10). The efforts to manage the coronavirus have had a tremendous effect on our lives, but life goes on.
Life does go on, but not unchanged. Some of the changes we now face amount to inconvenience. But we also face trials that go much deeper. Whether it is the uncertainty of this situation, or some event more personal, we are affected. It may be the death of a loved one, a tragic automobile accident, diagnosis of a dread disease, divorce, loss of a job – the list goes on and on – but life also goes on. It will differ from person to person, but all of us are affected in some way.
Sadly, tragic circumstances will make some bitter. Some will blame God. Some will ask where he was or why he let it happen. Of course, God is where he always has been – providing for us the means to carry on. But those embittered by hardship are blinded to the bounty of God's blessings – blessings that he gives even in the midst of trial.
Thankfully, others are made better by trying circumstances. James counsels us to "count it all joy" when we face trying circumstances. And we should, because when faith is tested, the result can be steadfastness, maturity, and completeness (cf. James 1:2-4). Like an athlete whose muscles are strengthened, whose reflexes are quickened by his workouts, so trials and difficulties can make us stronger. God has created within us a resilience that enables us to endure in the face of difficulty – but we must choose to put that resilience to work. When we do, the result is a stronger and more complete faith.
All of us will face hardship – and yet life goes on. But an even greater tragedy will occur if we allow life to go on without being changed for the better. How tragic it would be if we become bitter rather than better. Let us resolve to face life’s trials in a way that matures and completes our faith. As life goes on.
Thomas Larkin
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