Category: Nature

Hardship Builds Character

“A noted scientist, observing that the early sailors believed the coral-building animals instinctively built up the great reefs of the Atoll Islands in order to protect themselves in the inner waterway, has disproved this belief. He has shown these organisms can only live and thrive facing the open ocean in the highly oxygenated foam of the combative waves.

It is commonly thought that a protected and easy life is the best way to live. Yet the lives of all the noblest and strongest people prove exactly the opposite and that the endurance of hardship is the making of the person. It is the factor that distinguishes between merely existing and living a vigorous life. Hardship builds character.”

~ from Streams in the Desert, January 13th

Yet I am so thankful to God, who always marches us to victory under the banner of the Anointed One; and through us He spreads the beautiful fragrance of His knowledge to every corner of the earth. – 2 Corinthians 2:14

It is so difficult to believe this and to take it to heart, much less to live like we believe it! I know that I, for one, would LOVE an easy, comfortable life. But that is not always what is best for us. Many times God would have us to go through trials in order to build our character, and to make us into the people that He wants us to be.

So today, regarding that difficult situation, trying person, or hurtful experience that you (and I!) want to lament and resist…let us make an attempt to accept the circumstance as an opportunity from God to grow. I think that we will be amazed by how He assists us and rewards us for our efforts! ❤

Photo Credit: Unknown

Snow’s Radiance

“There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the forest clothed to its very hollows in snow. It is the still ecstasy of nature, wherein every spray, every blade of grass, every spire of reed, every intricacy of twig, is clad with radiance.”

– William Sharp

Sing Sweetest in the Dark

Sing a little song of trust,

Oh my heart!

Sing it just because you must,

As leaves start;

As flowers push their way through dust;

Sing, my heart, because you must.

Wait not for an eager throng —

Bird on bird;

It’s the solitary song

That is heard.

Every voice at dawn will start,

Be a nightingale, my heart!

Sing across the winter snow,

Pierce the cloud;

Sing when mists are drooping low —

Clear and loud;

But sing sweetest in the dark;

He who slumbers not will hark.

And when He hears you sing, He will bend down with a smile on His kind face. As He cheerfully listens, He will say, “Sing on, dear child. I hear you and I am coming to deliver you. I will carry that load for you. So just lean hard on Me, and the road will get smoother by and by.”

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! – Philippians 4:4

~ Taken from Streams in the Desert, December 28th

Photo Credit: Singing Nightingale, an acrylic painting by Laura Milnor Iverson