As Low As Dirt: Handling Hard Times

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Each of us in our lifetimes endures countless disappointments and failures.  We face hard times, and just when we think that life could be no more difficult, we are knocked down yet again. There have been many times in my life thus far, when I have been low enough to taste the dirt on the ground, and furthermore, low enough to feel as useless as the dust I tasted. As if feeling that low is not enough, when I attempt to rise from the ground, another hardship lands me back on my face, and once again I am eating the dirt of my troubles.

When I find myself with my face pressed to the ground, kept down by my troubles, I question my God and my faith.  Most often in these circumstances I ask God these two questions: 1. Why?  Why do I have to go through this?  2.  Why do I deserve this?  God answers by cleverly creating the metaphor between man and the vine, and we find this in John 15:1-8.  To give us understanding of why we must endure hard times, God compares these troubles to the pruning a grape vine must undergo. A gardener must remove from the vine all branches that do not bear fruit, thus allowing the healthy branches more room to grow, and this in turn causes them to bear more fruit.  God permits us to experience hard times so that the unproductive areas of our lives might be removed and the prosperous areas have more room to develop, thereby producing good things.   From each of our troubles, there is a lesson to be learned, and instead of asking God "Why" when troubles arise, we should instead ask "What?  What can I learn from this experience?"   Sir Winston Churchill once said this, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

It is ironic that in hard times we often do feel as insignificant as dirt, when it is the soil from which we came.  How worthless can dirt truly be when God used it to create us in His image, and when the sustenance that we need to survive is produced from it?  It is in our lowest points that God can raise us to the greatest heights, for His word tells us that it is in our weakness that he is strong.  (2 Corinthians 12:9) We must strive to remember that God sees the picture, while we see only the brush stroke. In the moments of hardship it is difficult to see what good can come from our hurt, but once we have climbed again to our feet and if we are looking with focused eyes, most often we can look back and see the purpose of our struggle. There have been so many times in my life when things that looked like disasters were really incredible GIFTS that served as pivotal turning points. I am truly thankful for persevering through all of my 'mistakes.'
Chelle Thompson, Editor of Inspiration Line

May we learn to face each new challenge that comes our way as an opportunity to learn a lesson and to be better, more productive and faithful people because the difficulties we have faced.

I'm grateful for all my problems.  As each of them was overcome I became stronger and more able to meet those yet to come.  I grew on my difficulties. - J.C. Penney
-Bri