One of my all-time favourite songs

Thank You Lord

And I thank you Lord
For the trials that come my way
In the way I can grow each day
As I let you lead
And I thank you Lord
For the patience these trials bring
In the process of growing
I can learn to care

But it goes against the way I am
To put my human nature down
And let the Spirit take control of all I do
But when those trials come
My human nature
Shouts the thing to do
And God's soft prompting
Can be easily ignored

But I thank you Lord
With each trial I feel inside
That you're there to help and lead
Guide my way from wrong
Cause you promised, Lord
That with every testing
That Your way of escaping
Is easier to bear

But I thank you Lord
For the victory that growing brings
In surrender of everything
Life is so worthwhile
And I thank you Lord
That when everything's put in place
Out in front I can see your face
And it's there I belong

When I first sang this song, it didn't appeal to me at all, partly because the chorus sounded so negative, and possibly because I had never gone through any major trials in my life. But as life wore on, the simple, honest words began to strike a chord. Isn't that what life is like? An endless struggle, against our own sinful natures; against the cares of the world like our studies, our relationships, our future. We've all faced ups and downs before, some worse than others. Some people think that Christianity is a free, all-expenses paid ticket to a better life, the instant solution to the million-and-one problems that nag at us day in, day out. Some others think, even more erroneously, that because of the grace and forgiveness of God, that Christians are free from all condemnation and hence free to live life as they please. I've found that the higher I've sought to go in my spiritual life, the harder it gets. Ask any mountain climber and he will tell you. Jesus himself said to his disciples, "In the world ye shall have tribulation" John 16:33

Thank God, that like Jesus' death on the cross, that is not the end of the story. When God closes one door he opens another. Look what follows the verse: "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." James 1: 2-4. Don't underestimate the weight of the words "perfect and entire, wanting nothing". I know in some translations, the verse says "lacking nothing", but this is taken from the King James version, the most accurate one. James wasn't kidding when he said those words, he was divinely inspired. Through trials we learn to depend wholly on the grace and love of God, to the point that in good or bad times, we may want nothing else but that. God's love is all we need, everything else is a bonus, an added blessing.

"In surrender of everything, life is so worthwhile"
"For whosoever will save his life will lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" Matt 16:24