Per Aspera....

We can't see it approaching, it doesn't strike us when we're prepared, it isn't like a storm we can watch as it nears us. But you feel it when it hits you. Difficulty is in those moments when you're on your knees telling God you know you can't make it through this without His help. It's when you're so tired you don't think you can take another step. When you're about to sob in frustration. It's when you're so overwhelmed you feel like you can't breathe.

That is difficulty.

Those are trials that we all face. In fact, life is made up of challenges that we must face, and we won't win them all. We can't predict when difficulty will strike, we don't see it approaching, but we know when we are fighting it. And every single one of us has felt difficulty effect us. In those moments when it feels impossible to keep fighting, I know that it takes everything just to keep going. But we must keep going. Because difficulty doesn't last. Yes it will strike over and over, but it never lasts for longer than we can bear it. It's hard for us to believe it when we face it though, often it seems like the trials will never end and the sun will never come out again in our lives.

There's a Latin saying, "Per aspera ad astra" which means "through difficulty, to the stars". And since I heard it, I've been thinking about it a lot. It seems like toward the end of each year I start thinking a lot about all the trials and difficulty I've gone through in the last year, and each year it's more and more. But I can look at how far I've come and how much progress I've made and be encouraged. I'm not quite to the stars, but as the difficulty builds I get closer. I love the imagery that this saying gives us. Reaching the stars isn't easy, but it is definitely worth it.

There's another quote that also caught my attention lately, "An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward, so when life is dragging you back with difficulties it means that it is going to launch you into something great. So just focus and aiming.” The only way to get to the target is by being drawn backward, and then life will launch us toward our goal. All we must do is keep aiming. We cannot move forward, we cannot make progress and become better without first facing trials that drag us backward.

You've probably heard the saying, "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger". And it's true. As much as difficulties seem like stumbling blocks, they really are there to help us. Life is hard. No one ever said it was going to be easy. It throws difficulties at us and it often feels like we are moving backward rather than making progress. But by understanding how difficulty strengthens us we can have the courage to persevere. View your difficulties as a positive thing. Take a moment when they hit you to appreciate how much stronger you'll be. Then persevere through them. Focus and keep aiming for the stars.