Do life's lessons get harder?

I keep coming back to a verse from James which instructs us to count it all joy in the midst of the trials of life. We all go through trials, and the way we deal with them says something about who we are, or about who we are becoming. Secular Psychology talks about acceptance which I am told is “a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest.” Biblical (as opposed to secular) wisdom both agrees and disagrees with the admonition to do this.

We can cause ourselves a great deal of grief when we are unable to accept or come to terms with what is happening around us and in us. And this lack of acceptance can be the very thing that either prolongs the pain or even makes the situation worse. The unwillingness or the inability to forgive, for example, can poison us and our relationships. There are times we need to forgive others for our own sake, and for the sake of those we love and who have to live with us! On the other hand there are times when acceptance without “without attempting to change it or protest” is nothing less than fatalism and capitulation.

The 12 step prayer “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference” brings a more Biblical balance to the concept of acceptance. But the admonition in James is deeper still. However, the ability to go beyond just acceptance and enter into joy, is predicated in a faith in God who “works all things together for good for those who love Him.”

This faith "knows" that God is in control and that He will actively use even the evil things that happen to us to for our good. This knowing does not preclude working to change things, but when appropriate, it allows us to do so from a place of rest. He does not promise, by the way, that we will always understand how He can possibly work this or that for our good, but the knowing of faith, trusts that it is so. With the help He gives, it is then possible to have joy (different from happiness) even in the midst of life's difficulties. All this is available to all who choose to trust in Him. Even so, we have to grow into it, but when we do, even if life's trials do get harder, we will progressively be able to enter into His joy and peace. “Getting there, not yet arrived :)” P