just because it's hard

there is, at least, a handful of statements, of which the frequency of their saying may enable some far off future civilization to find them woven in the strangely alphabetical strands of my DNA. some sniffling scientist bent over his microscope will be astonished and fall off his stool. but inasmuch as I desire to be a teller of Truth now, I feel the same strange conviction for my DNA, and so, I have set out on the task of setting my nucleic acids straight (certainly not in the literal form, since I haven't even the faintest knowledge to grasp what dire consequences might result from un-double-helixing those bad boys). . . all that to say, that my recent circumstances have resulted in a lot of "just because it's hard doesn't mean it's bad for you"s. it's not a false statement, but it's incomplete, an incompletion which has possibly originated in some false Christian ideas of "piety," and resulted in the perpetuation of some ideas which might fight against the very Joy which is to be the mark of a True disciple of Christ. alone, it provides only for the blind acceptance of unlikeable circumstances in the name of that never-quite-defineable "good for you." but it's counterpart, that "just because it's hard doesn't mean it's good for you," provides for a critical assessment of one's current circumstances. certainly, there are those things thrust upon us over which we have no control. in my experience, those are the things which neccesitate us to remember that hard doesn't mean bad (and also tend to result in the most growth and trust). it is likely that those experiences account for the origination of the 'hard doesn't mean bad' idea, an idea which is really sufficient in those cases. but the oversight occured when that idea was transferred to those things which we do have control over, and the ammendment to the statement was never made. the result has been a trend in Christianty to ignore the things that make us tick in order to "piously" scuttle down a difficult path, with no promise of tick-worthy things, in the name of the virtue of "good for you." this isn't an argument for laziness, lavishness or selfishness, and it isn't an argument against hard work. it is just the realization that all things difficult should be the means to an end, and that all things have two ends: ultimate (all things for the Glory of God) and penultimate (the pursuit of Joy inspiring, make-you-tick work, which happens to also be. . . for the Glory of God). the view of hard work as a means to an end has been lost, and hard work has become hard work with no other prize than that it is somehow, in some unseeable way, "good for us." though even Paul, when talking about one of the hardest struggles in life, that of the Christian faith, insisted that we "run in such a way as to get the prize." and so somehow Christians have been disillusioned to believe that trusting God means diving into some thing we hate (usually a profession, a way to make money), some thing we have no inkling for, and trust that he will provide Joy while we stand and stare at a wall. but true trust is in pursuing what we love and trusting that He will provide. go the way of Joy! understand that the gospel gives us hope and frees us to understand who we are in Christ in such a way that leads us to better understand what we were made to do. all good things are God's good things, and an integral part of the pursuit of Joy and life in Christ means embarking on the journey of discovering what things make you come alive. and there will be hard things you have to do along the way, things you migh hate, but all made worth it by the end, that end which is so often lacking, for people find no value in discovering the things which God has wired them to love and pursuing those things. it is the things whose rewards mean nothing to us (though, perhaps, the world to another) which dull our soul, and are in no way "good for us." the result is passionless, unfulfilled people who are secretly wondering why they can't seem to even so much as grab the coattails of Joy, and they are staying in that place based on the belief that just because things are hard, it doesn't mean it's bad for them. and so Christians are rarely characterized by the Joy which brings Glory to God and reveals His Character to the world. but I am determined to have that Joy written in my genes, and so I start with proclaiming the Truth and continue in the way of discovering that which I have been created to do. . .and doing it.