When Life Gives You Lemons


There is an old saying that goes something like this - "When life gives you lemons - make lemonade."  Cute - but a lot harder to DO than to SAY.  

In reality, sometimes when life gives you lemons - you get an awfully sour taste in your mouth.  Sometimes it becomes hard to move past the bitterness...

But the fact is LEMONS are out there - and each person will get them as they journey through life.

Romans 5:3-4 says this, "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope."

And while I am definitely not at a point where I "glory in my suffering", I do recognize the wisdom of this verse.  

It's sort of like another old saying I know - "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger..."

Divorcing Chris was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life.  Very few people supported me and my family thought I was crazy.  But those dark days are what brought me to Jesus.  Those desperate, hopeless moments are what caused my faith to take hold and grow.

I think quite often when we are put into situations that are extremely difficult, our natural reaction is to try to handle "it" (whatever "it" is) on our own.  

But when we learn that there are burdens in this life that we were never meant to carry beyond the foot of the cross, our faith and hope can grow.

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope." - Romans 15:4

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