Law and Order

Occasionally i will sit down with my sexy wife and join her in watching an episode of Law and Order. There are several different shows that fall under the same title but they feature different police units, different characters. There is the Special Victims Unit, the Criminal Intent Episodes, and who knows what other Law and Order shows they have now! I don't watch it that much but when i do i enjoy it.

Here's the point, the reason the shows are so good is because they are well written and usually have great plot twists at the end. The endings are difficult to predict, unlike the old Perry Mason shows, (which i still enjoy).

Life is a lot like the Law and Order TV shows. Sometimes it's unpredictable. Sometimes it seems like the bad guys are winning. Sometimes it is very entertaining, other times it's pretty ugly. Sometimes there is justice. Sometimes there is romance and mystery but...Sometimes life is hard! How do you deal with it when life is not so nice?

I'm reminded that God’s ultimate goal for my life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants me to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. It's is all about transforming my character.

God wants to develop the kind of character described in the Beatitudes of Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit, Paul’s great chapter on love, and Peter’s list of the characteristics of an effective and productive life (Matthew 5:1-12; Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 13; 2 Peter 1:5-8).

Every time I forget that character is one of God’s purposes for your life, I become frustrated by my circumstances. I wonder, “Why is this happening to me? Why am I having such a difficult time?” One answer is that life is supposed to be difficult! It’s what enables us to grow, sand ometimes like the TV show Law and Order, there are surprises.

What about you? How do you deal with difficult seasons in life?