Your hardships are a path to holiness.
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I receive a lot of emails – but recently one really stuck out. Tania wrote, “Joni, this may sound crazy, but when I heard you speak, I was jealous of your intimacy with God. I didn’t desire your suffering, but your intimacy with God. But it left me thinking … Maybe I cannot appreciate the one without the other. I mean, how can I truly know [the Man of Sorrows] without experiencing suffering? So, now, instead of asking why, I find myself thanking God for the trials, in hopes that they'll bring me closer to Jesus.” Oh, friend, Tania has it right. As Hebrews 12 tells us, sometimes God allows suffering in our lives so that we may “share in His holiness;” and to share in God’s holiness, is to share in the core of his nature. That is pretty intimate! So do what Tania does: see your hardships as the path to holiness. It’s the open door to real intimacy with God.
© Joni and Friends