The Beauty of Adversity

Excerpt from: As the Tree Grows by W. Phillip Keller

"The growth of character is possible only under adversity. It is something that can be produced only under the inexorable stress and strain of stormy weather. The tree which responds vigorously to the wrenching winds and bending snow grows tough and strong and durable. Inwardly there is the continuous, quiet, unspectacular growth in godliness. The inner life becomes rich, lustrous, and mellow. Built into the very fiber and grain of the soul are a charm and beauty that only blustery weather could possible produce.

Most of us want to avoid the hard things, the adverse winds, the testing times. Let us not. They are God's method of making special timber for adorning His sanctuary.

The individual whose life has been exposed to stormy weather and survived the strain is most often the one with a quiet inner calm, a sweet serenity of spirit.

Beyond and above this, the picturesque trees above timberline - the battered, beaten, bent, and beautiful trees of the high country - posses the finest aroma. Their wood is impregnated with pitch and resins that act as lubricants between the flexing fibers of their wind-tossed timber. when this wood is sawn and planed and shaped under the Master craftsman's cutting tools, its fragrance fills the air and all the building.

Such perfume is produced only by adversity.

God give me grace to thank you for hardship.

When I do, my life and spirit will grow beautifully winsome - not bitter and cynical."

(Participating in Mrs. Line's EOA Link-up)