Glass Hearts and Rubber Souls

When I look at the past and all that has led up to this point in my walk with Christ (twenty-two years, now!), I think about all that has happened and how many times over the grace of God has been shown to me. I also think of how many times I failed to see it, royally. I am convinced, as the verse says, that "all things work together for good to them that love Him, to those who are called according to His purposes." How many different jobs have I had where the work just seemed unbearable at times, or people in my life that I had to interact with on a consistent basis have been difficult to say the least? How many times have I just wished to move on, or hoped for something better? Maybe that I'd have more money to deal with the financial issues of life. Maybe that I'd only be working with people who I got along with well. Maybe that the pressure of deadlines would finally come to rest. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I am convinced that though my heart so quickly breaks with the circumstances, God has, if you will, given me a "rubber soul." I think this could be said of all believers. He gives us the grace that sustains us through all the moments, and somehow we find ourselves in the future, looking back in the past, forgetting that so many times over we said, "How will I ever get through ______?" And here we are. It was the grace of God that sustained us, and it is the grace of God that will continue to sustain us. We were made to be stretched, to be people of a higher caliber in the calling of God, that we may continually be changed into His image and not left to our own. Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," as well as God making it clear to him, "my strength is perfected in weakness." Paul says that he glories in his weaknesses therefore. I think that God never intended us on earth to overcome being reliant on Him. I think He never meant for us to come to a rest from the various wearinesses that we face. I think life consistently shows us that while we may hope for a rest to come after our present trials, we may only find that we graduate to another way of being stretched. I take heart in this, realizing that it is the love of God that continues to stretch me as I follow Him where and how He leads. Believer, if you find life difficult yourself, take heart in God's love and grace. He wants to stretch you, even though your heart may feel like breaking one thousand times over. Glory in your weakness--we may have glass hearts, but by His grace, we have rubber souls.