source : Daily Encounter by Dick Innes (http://www.actsweb.org/)
date published : 9 Dec 2008
"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 & complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4)
"The strongest trees grow not beneath the glass of a conservatory or in the sheltered and sunny valleys. The stoutest timber stands on Norwegian rocks, where tempests rage and long, hard winters reign." (Encyclopedia of Sermon Illustrations)
I've never been to Norway nor have I felt the hard, long winters there, but I have lived where winds blow furiously. When planting young trees, it was important not to stake them too tightly. Staking them loosely (when they were little), the winds caused them to develop and deepen a strong root system they needed to stand the powerful winds when they had grown. We had some trees break, but none ever fell. And where they were broken, they grew again, strong and healthy.
Life's like that. If we overprotect our children when they are young, they will not be equipped to withstand the challenges of life when the winds of adversity strike. And, as adults all of us need the storms of life to help us grow and become healthy and strong in character—or we can allow them to make us bitter rather than better—but that choice is ours.
nothing can separate us from the love of God,
sockkim
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