Favorite Christmas Gift

Numerous things come to mind when I ask myself the question, “What is one of the greatest gifts I’ve been given?” I could share about many wonderful Christmas gifts I’ve received over the years, about the precious blessing my family is to me or about my salvation, but as I really considered what has been a great gift to me, I had to choose “trials of various kinds”. I know that sounds awfully boring and maybe even a bit ridiculous, but it has been through these hard times that I have learned to know and love God more. Let me clarify that my difficulties by no means compare to those of others. I know God doesn’t give us more than we can handle so mine have been very minor. And yet, often times they have looked large in my eyes because I’ve had a small view of God.

The greatest lesson I have learned through the difficulties and trials God has sovereignly placed in my life has been that it always has a purpose for my good and His glory. J.R. Miller said that, “His purpose concerning us is not to make things easy for us, but to make something of us.” I’ve learned that everyday I should expect to see God’s commitment to dying to self. And everyday I must strive to seize every opportunity to become more like Christ, no matter the pain involved. Charles Spurgeon said, “Some people have learned to trust the smiles of God’s face, but they must also learn to trust the blows of His fists.” I see that as true in my own life. It’s through difficulties that I have grown to love more and love deeper. It’s through difficulties that I have seen what truly matters and what doesn’t. It’s through difficulties that God is refining and molding me. It’s through difficulties that I have seen God’s unchanging faithfulness and power. So even though I love when everything is going well in my life and I am certainly not asking for trial upon trial, I see that it’s through the fire that God’s work has been most affective in making me more like Christ. In a book called “Stepping Heavenward” the author writes, “There is a chain in between us and God.” God is on one end and we are on the other. He is using every trial and difficulty in our lives to remove link after link in order to shorten the chain and draw us closer to Him. With every link removed, He often brings new blessings better than we could have imagined. When I choose to rely on God first and foremost instead of myself, the “hard things” He is calling me to do, not only become easier, but often become a joy as well. Doing hard things may look like climbing up the face of a scary mountain to us, but unlike earthly harnesses that can break and fail, God will never fail and will never let us fall. There is always a beautiful and breathtaking view to be enjoyed after a hard climb and often times, the harder and longer the climb, the more amazing the view. So, this Christmas season, I am thanking God anew for all the tough things I have faced over this past year. The blessings have been priceless.

When I think I can't make it through another trial, I have to remind myself that I have enough grace to make it until tomorrow. " Life does not come to us in lifetimes, it comes only one day at a time." – J.R. Miller

~ Lana Calabello