Strengthening

From J.E Tada's More Precious Than Silver

Eph 1.4 ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

God uses suffering to purge sin, strengthen our commitment to Him, force us to depend on grace, bind us together with other believers, produce discernment, foster sensitivity, discipline our minds, spend time wisely, stretch hope, long for truth, teach thankfulness in times of sorrow, increase faith and character. When Christ is revealed in us, it is patience, self-control, kindness and a healthy hatred of sin...
 
thoughts from April 1st:
The most wonderful people I have met are the elderly Christians. We so rarely listen to their stories, their walk, but they shine with a beauty that makes me jealous. They glow with God's love, and give off that love so freely. 
By contrast, there is nothing uglier than an elderly non-believer. Anger and hate seep out from them like a draining wound. No one likes them...and they poison the atmosphere around them.

My life is so different. Yes, I am dealing with a chronic disease, am limited in mobility AND what I can do without making myself flare. Just the other day I did dishes and loads of laundry and had a flare. Having rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia means anything and everything costs much more than it did. And in a way I am relieved to know that the exhaustion I have felt building the last ten years was not in my head after all.
More importantly, my life is different because of the steps made with God. When hard times hit, we do one of two things, or maybe more like four. We hunker down like mini-gods to fight it out ourselves, give up and hide in a hole, rage at God without accepting His grace, and lastly, accepting His grace. 
Sometimes we do all of these, so certain that we can handle everything. After all, aren't we told that by the media and any readings we do? Everything should happen as WE want it. 

I have had a lot of experience in leaning on God. Giving in to His strength, love, and grace is so much easier. Honestly, life is too impossible to survive without a "god"; life hurts too much. We may choose to numb with alcohol, drugs, porn, movies...whatever can addict us and numb us from the pain of life. 
There is a huge difference though. Those things may, as it were, make us "happy" in the passing......but only God can make us happy in the midst of suffering. He alone will give us peace and joy at the hardest of times. Those other "gods" will, if anything, make the hurts of the world that much worse.
So we must lean on the Lord. After all, He took our sins upon Himself, He can most assuredly take our hand in His and help us walk the way to Paradise.