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         (Dad:) One of these days you'll be talking with someone who's going through the same battle or test that you went through in the past, and you'll be able to speak to them from your heart. They'll feel a connect with you and they'll know you understand them. But this wouldn't be possible if you never went through any battles yourself.
         Don't you feel closest to the shepherds who you know have really gone through the wringer themselves, who've hit rock bottom and are sometimes even struggling themselves? When they pray with you and cry with you, you feel like they understand, and if they can make it, you certainly can too. Don't you relate to them a lot better than those who've never had a battle, or at least don't seem like it? So if you can't see what good these battles will do you, just think for a minute about the fruit it's going to bear in others' lives. Do it for them.
         If Jesus had the grace to be beaten, abused, and then finally killed in one of the most painful and cruel ways imaginable, don't you think you can endure just a little bit of hardship and a few tears here and there? He didn't have to die, but He did it for us. That's a pretty drastic example, because we haven't been asked to go through anything like Jesus did, but it kinda makes you think, doesn't it? We don't deserve all the forgiveness and love we get. We haven't done anything to earn eternal life; it's a free gift.
         We have an incredible future ahead of us, and all the Lord asks is that we endure a little bit of testing and some trials here and there to prepare us for when He calls upon us to rule and reign with Him--and even before that, to comfort others with the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted.



Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family