Growing Pains

"Do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him." Hebrews 12:5

This verse grabbed my attention this morning- it is so easy to get discouraged when things aren't going smoothly in our lives; I would say that's a pretty natural reaction to stress. However, It is surprising the change in outlook that occurs when we begin to view our hardships through God's perspective. Of course this shift in perspectives won't happen overnight and probably won't ever be a complete transformation because if we allow it, God wants to continue to re-shape our outlooks for the rest of our lives- which means He will continue to present us with difficult situations through which we can learn to trust Him. I'm not saying I enjoy those times when I'm being tested, but I have come to recognize that those times are opportunities for me to grow in my faith. I liken it to the instance where the kids are both unhappily screaming in the backseat of the car and you suddenly realize you have been going 90 down the highway just to get home and hasten the end of that horrible, horrible noise. That is a very uncomfortable/painful experience for all involved, and your brain has some sort of chemical reaction that causes the biggest case of lead-foot you have ever experienced without you even realizing it. I think that the more that I grow in my faith the same is true for my spirit; when I am uncomfortable/growing my "spiritual lead foot" kicks in because I know I would rather just buckle down and take a nugget of wisdom from the whole experience rather than slowly suffer through it, complain the whole time, learn nothing, and possibly have to learn that painful lesson again.