So many people these days are so entrenched in "doing it their own way", that they refuse the only true help to them, that is Jesus Christ.
Psalm 54:4 "Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life."
Imagine being in a lake drowning, someone comes along with a life jacket and boat and you refuse to take the jacket and push away the boat. Does any of this make any sense to a rational person?
His help takes us to paradise where we will never suffer again. His help changes us into an entirely different person never left without help or resources, that is Jesus Christ.
Even when our training hurts the joy remains in us all the time knowing there is a purpose in all that we encounter.
When I went into labor with our first child the doctor told a joke right in the middle of serious labor pains, I laughed, then he teased saying to others in the room, "look at that she is laughing."
I knew what the pain was producing, another life that God was giving me to take care of, it was a pain with hope and joy attached to it. The pain was not the focus so much as the child that was coming was the focus.
Our culture sees any kind of pain as something to be avoided. I don't like pain either if I can avoid it, but when I have no control over it then is when I need Christ to help me with my perspective. He knows all about it, He knows the next thing that will happen and He will help us through to the end.
James 1:12
"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."
Revelation 2:10
"Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life."
The hardest time to take our attention off of ourselves and onto others is during our own trials, but it is one of the remedies for our trials, not that we are taken out of them but that our perspective remains Christlike.
Ephesians 4:1-6:24
I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism,"
Our hope ought to be that as we grow older and more feeble our personalities and responses would become more gracious and engaging with others. We must never use our infirmities as an excuse to become rude or selfish.
And, as others become feeble and less kind, we must never allow their infirmities and angst to be an excuse for us to become short-tempered or rude.
