As I try to figure out what life is all about, I catch myself coveting people who I think have life figured out. I covet the rich person because I believe that they don't have to worry about money. I covet the person who is popular, because they never have to worry about friendships and having people let them down. I covet the person who is happy, because they don't have problems.
But as I think about this, I know that this is an illusion. In the news, we are constantly reminded of the people who are rich and famous who are addicted to drugs, are constantly unfaithful, and who are seeking after something they can't hold onto like a donkey with a carrot dangling in front of it.
And as I think about this trap that I fall into so often, I am reminded of a story of a boy who has a egg that is about to hatch. He looks at the cracks beginning to form in the egg and he gets excited. As he sees the beak of the bird, he becomes aware of the struggle and hardship that the baby bird is going through. In his mercy, the boy assists it by helping the bird to break its shell.
Unfortunately, what the boy did not understand, was that the chick needed the struggle to build the muscles in its wings so that it could fly. The bird was never able to recover.
We are like that bird. We pray for God to take us out of that struggle and pray for his mercy. But it is God, by His wisdom, that He leaves us to struggle so that we might be made strong, both in character and as a human.
But as I think about this, I know that this is an illusion. In the news, we are constantly reminded of the people who are rich and famous who are addicted to drugs, are constantly unfaithful, and who are seeking after something they can't hold onto like a donkey with a carrot dangling in front of it.
And as I think about this trap that I fall into so often, I am reminded of a story of a boy who has a egg that is about to hatch. He looks at the cracks beginning to form in the egg and he gets excited. As he sees the beak of the bird, he becomes aware of the struggle and hardship that the baby bird is going through. In his mercy, the boy assists it by helping the bird to break its shell.
Unfortunately, what the boy did not understand, was that the chick needed the struggle to build the muscles in its wings so that it could fly. The bird was never able to recover.
We are like that bird. We pray for God to take us out of that struggle and pray for his mercy. But it is God, by His wisdom, that He leaves us to struggle so that we might be made strong, both in character and as a human.
