The longer I live…the more I see and experience…the more I respect the fruit of life.
The sweetest fruit of our lives is borne not from quickness, but from steadiness. Just as the best wine is aged, the best fruit of our lives is also aged. Aged by wisdom. Aged by living instructed lives. Aged by adversity and conflict…
Have you ever walked through a season and felt suddenly older as you came to its end?
I’ve had many moments where I look at myself in the mirror and think, “Wow. I have suddenly aged.”
These are signs of the struggle in life. But all fruit must first struggle in the ground before bursting forth with shoots that end up producing fruit.
We can’t avoid life’s struggles. We shouldn’t.
I know we’ve touched on this topic in different ways before, but it’s really resonating with me as I watch generations coming up who have no grid for struggle. They think everything should just come to them. They believe that any hardship is trauma. Sometimes we laugh at their fragility, but honestly it should concern us deeply. What have we given these kids? We are leading them as lambs to the slaughter…weak and unable to stand strong in the day of adversity. This isn’t funny. It’s terrifying.
Everything in scripture, about the last days, makes it clear that we must be solid and built up before that time, if we are to withstand it. So, why have we neglected the training up of multiple generations?
They must see that the sweetest fruit comes from the greatest and longest struggles.
As I watch my children grow up, it’s not lost on me that not long ago they were each a toddler wandering around and having to be told “No” constantly. I had to basically run their whole lives, or they would die. They didn’t know how to cook and drive and clean…they couldn’t provide their own income…Chris and I were solely responsible for every part of their lives…even their learning about God. Another important thing we taught them was that life is a good struggle. A worthy struggle. That we will struggle with them. Carefully watching over them, we will not prohibit the struggles; rather we would watch and continue to be a safe place for rest during the struggle.
Now, I see them capable of navigating life’s relational and social struggles. We gave them the gift of a solid foundation. We gave them the gift of disappointment. We gave them the gift of discipline. We set boundaries in their very young years, so we could enjoy the freedoms that slowly come as we walk through teens and early twenties. It’s a beautiful thing to walk into adulthood with your children. Not blocking their way, rather encouraging their separation. The healthy separation. The godly separation.
We are called to be separate. How can our children grow that way if we constantly force them to conform? How do you raise warriors and leaders if you never give them room to choose and fail.
Life isn’t certain. The only thing that is certain is death.
We must lead the next generation to conquer and inhabit. We must allow struggles in their lives to strengthen their minds and hearts.
We must allow the same in our own lives. Where we have hidden, it’s time to emerge and conquer! It’s time to take the land.
Are you willing? Are you willing to fail and succeed? Are you willing to be tested and approved?
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17
Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be My people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
365 Days in the Presence 