Worth The Struggle

24 Jun

“At the bottom of the mountain you have your scoffers and doubters, by midpoint you have your envious and haters, and when you reach to the top you have new friends and family you never met or thought existed.”  ~ Anthony Liccione

There are many times that people stop and ponder where that are at in life, how they got to that point, and where they still need to go.  When they look back, they can see that there were probably a lot of reasons that they could have found not to begin their journey.  When they look ahead, they see a goal that is very enticing.  Yet, when they look at their present state, then often wonder why they began and whether or not they should continue.

Our faith journey often follows the same path.

At the beginning of our faith journey, there may have been many people who scoffed and doubted that we could do anything.  If we began our journey as infants — as so many of us do — our parents may have been ridiculed by people they knew for raising a child in the faith.  Why believe in something outdated and archaic?  Why bother raising your child in the faith?  Don’t you know God is dead?

As we progressed in the faith, those who scoffed or doubted may have turned into people envious of the fact that we moved ahead in our lives and they did not.  They may even have become haters, rejecting us and what we believe, attempting to tear us down to bring us to their level.

But the goal?  The goal is so worth the struggle.  When we arrive, we will join an eternal family — people we have known through the years and people we have never met yet who are brothers and sisters in the Lord — and live forever with our loving God.  It will make all the pains, all the rejection, all the abuse we endured throughout our lives because of our believe in God seem like nothing at all.

FAITH ACTION:  Pray for the grace and determination to continue your struggle to the Kingdom.  Do not stop half way up; but, go for the goal.