Learning from Hard Things

In a conversation I had with Karen, Dan and Kayleen, I learned something profound. 1. Spirit - The Spirit directs us regarding what we are supposed to learn from his current situation. We also observe that many role models (friends and relatives, etc.) do not seem to learn the things of the Spirit but continue in the same critical, rejecting spirit. 2. Emotions - Our emotions creep in and make us so angry (upset, impatient) about our current situation (children, insolvency, whatever). We have self recrimination (I could have done it better in the past), self reproach (cursing ourselves for what we have done, it is all our fault), what will others think (our perceived image in the eyes of others), and fear that someone might say something negative regarding our apparent lack of being able to do it right (raise a 'righteous family', measure us for church callings and reject us, etc.) 3. Behavior - Because of these emotions flowing through us, we exhibit wrong behavior. We want to take it into our own (natural man) hands and shame others because we feel shamed. We want to use force. We choose not to accept and love others because withholding it makes good sense (to the natural man. Our defenses are already hieghtened because our own self-recrimination and reproach. We believe that others are thinking about our failure and talking about us. If persecution (indirect or direct) comes, we are in the mindset to revile back (defend ourselves). Our pride and our image are on the line. So what is to be learned in the present when things are not working out the way we want them to? I believe that the current situation is the perfect situation for each our current growth. We may learn patience, kindness, and love. We learn what it means to hope, endure and believe. We end up having to look inward instead of outward (blaming others for our unhappiness). We then learn to forgive ourselves and others. We learn to revile not at the intolerance (persecution) of others. So, if this is what needs to be learned, our current imperfect situation is the perfect place to grow. What we want so badly to be different is not what we are supposed to learn. We are all in the crucible of life being redirected by God toward the tree of life. Our righteous indignation is really a self-satisfying childish demand to get what we want.