What I am starting to understand is that character and growth cannot happen without suffering. It is a lot like lifting weights. When you lift weights you are literally tearing your muscles. As the body repairs them they become stronger and larger. This doesn't happen unless they are stressed and pushed in ways that normal everyday life doesn't require.
Recently, I picked up the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. Luttrell is a Navy Seal, and the book is his account of a tragic battle in the mountains of Afghanistan. He spends the first half of the book talking about his experience in the Navy's BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) Training. This is a 3 month course that involves a 48 hour exercise called "hell week." As I read about the literal hell these men go through I couldn't help but wonder,"is it really necessary?" Why do these men have to go through such a brutal experience? The answer was simple to Marcus Luttrell, "if you can take Hell Week and beat it, you can do any damn thing in the world."
I am starting to understand that God uses difficulty to build us and prepare us just like BUD/S training prepares the Navy Seals to go into the toughest battles in the world. Without being faced with hardship I doubt many of us would naturally seek out growth. Even if we did it would not be to the level that hardship creates.
Hardship is evidence of God's constant commitment to father and train us. Train us for the things he has already planned for us. Train us for the battle that comes from living in a world ravaged by sin. Train us to have the courage to move into life situations that loom over us like a 20,000 ft. peak.
This is why the author of Hebrews commands us to rejoice when we experience God's discipline (chapter 12). Hardship and suffering is not proof of an absent or neglectful God. Rather it is preparation that proves we are truly loved.
