The young man asked: “Why? Why am I going through this?”

The old man answered: “You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.”

We’ve been studying the life of Jacob for the last few weeks. Jacob, whose father and grandfather were great men of God. But whatever Jacob’s ancestors, including his grandfather Abraham might have accomplished, Jacob has to do his own growing. Jacob was threatened with murder by Esau; exiled from his home town and family; he had to travel through the desert for 450 miles; he was tricked into working an extra 7 years by Laban; he thought he was marrying the woman of his dreams but was tricked into marrying her older, probably unattractive, sister, so he marries both and now lives with constant bickering between the two.

And the really tough part hasn’t come yet.

There’s an old Irish proverb that goes like this:

You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.

How true that is.

Why are you going through this?

Take a look around. Find a man or a woman without trials and tribulations, and you’ll find a person without growth. The really great ones have gone through tough times.

So take heart. Don’t give up. Hang in. Move forward — in Christ’s name.

There are better days ahead. For…

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

James 1:12

Notes:

Image of new growth via Ray Sadler – Creative Commons

Newly released book by Kurt Bennett, now available on Amazon!

Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)

Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others.

Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

• Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
• How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
• The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
• How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
• How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
• How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
• How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
• How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
• How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus.

(Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon.)