This morning as I was sitting at my favorite coffee shop and reading the Good Word, I found myself journaling away on a verse I found in Ecclesiastes 1. Here's a glimpse of my journal entry...
"With much wisdom comes much sorrow. The more knowledge, the more grief. - Ecc. 1
Man, that statement is SO true. As more trials come so more wisdom follows. It seems that suffering breeds understanding and knowledge. It's unattainable any other way. Thus in the trials, the suffering, the pain - character and integrity are formed. I've seen the results of those refusing to walk the difficult, slippery, pain stakingly narrow path and it's a lukewarm Christianity that makes my stomach churn. I can only imagine what it does to the Father's heart when His dear sweet children refuse to fight the good fight and would rather surrender to the visible world than the supernatural promises. Complacency and laziness are the fruits of the "booksmart" Christians of today. Experiential knowledge, the kind where one endures "tears for food" and a stripping of "all we once held dear", is a thing of the past in American society. And here I sit, wondering how people can be such fair weather lovers of Christ? It's in the pain, the confusion, the deep wounds of the heart that the honesty and love of the Lord are produced. It's in the suffering that the indelible bond and relationship with the Father comes. For He is our shelter in the storm. And friends, I guarantee you that there will be storms in your life! But if you just run from the problems or stuff them and never face them, how will you ever grow and be used by Him for His ultimate good and pleasing will?"
