Difficult Times

“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.” by ~ M. Scott Peck The Road Less Traveled

Driving in the winter can be a very wild experience. One day the roads can be good, the next day they can be bad. They can not only go from good to bad in a day they can do it in an instant. Un-expectantly and without warning as we travel down a road something can change in a flash. An icy spot, a running deer, a family of ducks taking an afternoon stroll can in an instant send our car into a tailspin. It’s important that we are prepared the best we can by driving more alertly than hurriedly.

Recently a young girl I know hit two of those things at once. She encountered a deer in the road as well as ice in her path. After walking away from what should have been a fatal accident the officer at the scene told her dad she evidently did everything she was ever taught to correctly handle the situation. It may not have prevented the blood from her wounds but it kept her from being killed.

The best preparation we can do for things like this is to drive as if the whole road was ice and take the necessary precautions ahead of time. In another car accident this snowy season a 16 year old boy who was tired of waiting for those who were driving to slow on the icy mountain road decided he had had enough. Thinking his four-wheel drive was all the precaution he needed to take he proceeded to pass the traffic. Needless to say his actions caused over 5 people to be killed including himself.

The truth that the roads were icy that day was just that, the honest truth. The truth that life is difficult is the honest truth. It’s a great truth that we need to know and accept in our lives so we can take precautions along the way to survive those difficult times. We may not be able to prevent every accident from happening or every difficult situation from doing damage but there is a lot we can do to see that we survive.

Once we’ve accepted the fact that life can be difficult we can walk with ease in the comfort of God’s protective wing. Strolling around paranoid that everything we come up against is going to be complex is not the answer. We need to accept the fact that life is tough but thanks to Jesus we can be tougher. It is with Him that our preparation for those complicated roads in life begins. The time we put into prayer, preparation, and precautions can make the difference in our outcome.

Indeed it’s the truth that 10% of the things that happen to us can’t be prevented but 90% of it can and that is where our responsibility lies. It begins with accepting the fact that life can be tricky but embracing the Lord doesn’t have to be.

Lean on Jesus, you won’t be disappointed. Use those difficult times to draw near to Him, to get acquainted with Him, to discover what a blessing it is to trust in Him. It’s important to remember that life is not a bed of roses that comes without thorns. There will be thorns! There will be thorns!!

However, greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. Praise the Lord we have Jesus to see us through those difficult times.


© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing