Hardships! What are they? Well, let us pontificate here and come up with a response to that question.
I would have to say that the definition is one that is interlaced with my personality. I see myself as an optimist. An optimist would see a hardship as an opportunity. An opportunity for growth and edification. “What can I learn from this or what is the take away for me.” A pessimist, on the otherhand, might see it as an obstacle. Something standing in the way of advancement or moving forward. Which ever the case, it is a opportunity of a lifetime where my imperfection highlights God’s perfection.
We have all, at one time or another, benefited from the assistance of others. One of the by-products of hardship might be anger. Anger is a wild beast, when left untamed, can cause insurmountable damage and change one’s perspective or outlook. Anger triggers the ‘fight or flight’ response of the body. This response is also triggered by fear, excitement and anxiety. Physiologically, what happens is the brain senses this brash outside stimuli and tells the adrenal glands to release the stress hormones. Adrenaline and cortisol flood the system and the results of the anger response are in full gear. The part of the nervous system that is dramaticly affected is the SNS or sympathetic nervous system. Anger, like other emotions, has a physiological effect in the body and activates this system. Its effects are quite noticable,causing the heart to pound, raise the blood-pressure, and make the muscles contract – all of which prepare the body for fight or flight or freeze responses. Anger often requires outside influence to get relief.
Just as anger affects me and those around me, my choices do the same. My righteous choices can bless me as well as those around me. These choices do not come without competition. Santification pits me in a battle against my beliefs that I espoused before my justification. God provides a contingency or escape plan for when I enounter these experiences. A relationship with Jesus Christ. God is faithful and guides me in this process of santification. God is the one who sustains life and my waivering faith leaves me short sighted in His over all grand scheme for creation.
God develops my trust to be unshakable and His presence is always there for me to be in. To be a part of that I must welcome Him into my house.
Temporal Eternal - 2 words 