Blessings out of Challenges

I was musing this morning that many of God's most wonderful blessings in our lives have come through the hardest challenges.  No sane person would choose a difficult path if a simpler one was available.  And God certainly does not ask us to do hard things just because they are hard.  But how often do we find the richness of Christ's grace and kindness and love through the challenges in life.  That is when we grab a hold of His hand and allow Him to lead us where He will.  Those are the times that we often experience Him the most profoundly and when we are the least demanding about having our own way.  Those are also the times when He produces the most fruit in our lives as we are more willing to let Him shape us into the people He knows we can be.  Today, let us remember the  words of James 1:2-3:  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.