Common Sense Commentary: Faith turns Millstones into Milestones, Negative into Positive.
Every life has victories and defeats, peaks and valleys, good times and bad. The difference in people is not "who had hard times and who didn't". Everyone has had and will continue to have good and bad times. The difference in people is how each one "takes" what happens to them. You've heard it said that, "Hard times make some bitter and some better". It all depends on the faith and attitude of the person. Hard times bring the best out of some and the worst out of others. An eagle thrives on meat that would kill a sparrow.
We have all seen two different people enter into the same kind of difficulty and one comes out devastated, the other rejoicing. Some people turn God's "Milestones" into "Millstones" and others turn life's "Millstones" into "Milestones" which lead the way to better things. A Millstone consumes your strength and time and drags you down to the dirt. But see it as a Milestone and it becomes another forward step to your goals and success. I know people who seem always to snatch victory out of defeat. Others I know, seem only to snatch defeat out of victory. The difference is "Faith" and the victorious attitude which grows out of that Faith. "Tribulation worketh patience (perseverance)." Rom.5:3. Trials hurt. Perseverance gets us through them.
One man looked through prison bars and saw miles of mud and junkyard cars. Another man looked through those same bars and saw the Milky Way and Beautiful Stars.
When we know the truth about God, grace, love and life, hard times can strengthen and sweeten the character ... if we believe it. When we see hard times as an unfortunate accident, or an injustice against us, we recoil with resistance or resentment and feel betrayed by providence or God. This attitude only complicates and compounds our troubles and difficulties. Lives without faith are filled with doubt and unbelieve , and feel continually trampled by inconvenience and difficulty.
God's Word says, "....this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith". 1Jn.5:4 .
Faith in what ? Faith in God and His Word, which says, "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His PURPOSE." "All things" means "All things" and that includes hard times. But don't leave out this part of that verse, "to them that love God". Also, the verse restricts it to, "according to His purpose" not necessarily OUR PURPOSES. Rom.8:28.
Trust God's purpose in hard times; and rest in His will for your life. It is self evident that He knows better than we what is best for us and what it will take to break our resistance and guide us into his perfect will and our own good. We must learn to allow the storms to purge and smooth our lives as the storm and ocean waves purge and smooth the seashore. God is at work in every life. Some know it and some do not. Be thankful He is there and loves us. Grow gracefully through the storms of life. Remember, it is for OUR GOOD that God does what He does and allows "tribulation" to work its perfect work in us, and make us more "Christlike" ....which is "His Purpose". Our "Christlikeness" is the single most important purpose of the New Testament.
Pass It ON. RB
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