“I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. (Acts 20:24)”

“A hero is not fed on sweets, Daily his own heart he eats; Chambers of the great are jails, and head winds right for royal sails.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everyone wants to be an achiever. Noone wants defeat. But there is always a huge price to be paid for every success that we want in life.  After all, life is not bed of roses, it is rather a road full of challenges plus the fact that there are enemies around wanted us to back off with the race.

Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:3)

Most of us are afraid of experiencing moments of sorrows. It’s but natural for us to befriend with people whose world is  full of laughter. We simply do not want to be in a situation of being alone. But you know what? Sorrow, under the power of divine grace, performs various ministries in our lives.  Sorrow reveals unknown depths of the soul, and unknown capacities for suffering and service.  Lighthearted people are always shallow and are never aware of their own inadequacy or lack of depth. Sorrow is God’s tool to plow the depths of the soul, that it may yield richer harvests. If humankind were still in a glorified state, having never fallen, then the strong floods of divine joy would be the force God would use to reveal our soul’s capacities. But in a fallen world, sorrow uncoupled with despair, is the power chosen to reveal us to ourselves. Accordingly, it is sorrow that causes us to take the time to think deeply and seriously.

“It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6)

As I drove back home from my office – dazed because of deadlines seemingly impossible to beat – I caught sight of a boy on a bicycle near the bottom because I was in a steep hill then. The boy was pedaling uphill against the wind and was obviously working tremendously hard.

The land you are to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of th Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. (Deuteronomy 11:11-12)

Everyday lies before us new challenges and we are going forward to take possession of it. Who knows what will find? What new experiences or changes will come our way? What new needs will arise? In spite of the uncertainty before us, we have a cheerful and comforting message written in the holy book from the heavenly father: “The Lord your God cares for us; the eyes of the Lord are continually on it from the beginning of the day to its end.”

When life’s storms – great sorrows, bitter disappointments, defeats – suddenly come upon us, what should we do? Other storms may come slowly, seemingly on the uneven edge of the horizon no larger than a person’s hand. But trouble that seems so insignificant spreads until it covers the sky and overwhelms us.

You know what? God uses storms of life to equip us for service. One can be more effective in the service if he experiences different kinds of storms in life.