Strength Through Adversity

From FOCUS ON THE FAMILY, Today, 14-May-2008 edition

 

Strength Through Adversity

By Dr James Dobson

 

Someone once said that if you were to remove the rocks

from a brook, it would lose its song. Well, that holds true

for you and me as well.

 

Author Scott Walker tells of the time he was asked to help

some friends dig through the ashes of their house after a fire.

When they arrived, all that was left standing was a portion

of the outer brick wall. Nothing had survived the blaze.

 

But while sifting through the debris, Walker came across a tiny,

china bluebird. A few hairline cracks had formed in the glaze

but beyond that, it remained intact.

 

A story of the heat of the night, of terror and of survival against

great odds. And then, the crucial question hit me. Why did this

china bluebird survive?

 

It had survived the fire because it had been tested by fire.

 

And so it is with human beings who have been refined in life’s

raging furnace. They are tougher, harder and more resilient

than those who have never faced difficulty and loss.

 

That understanding may help us cope the next time the heat

is turned up on our tranquil little world.