“When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.”

I got this from one of those joke pages flying around the Internet. Actually, having everything coming at you may not necessarily mean you’re in the wrong lane when it comes to personal growth.

I would go as far as to suggest that everything going your way is probably a condition to be less trusted than feeling like you’re driving into oncoming traffic.

I just don’t see God as doling out ease and contentment. His business lies more in the areas of refining and shaping us to conform more to the image of Christ, and none of that comes easy.

Scripture indicates that the process by which this comes about includes, among other things, trials (James 1:2-3), suffering (Romans 5:3-4), discipline (Hebrews 12:7), and a growing sense of our own mortality (2 Corinthians 5:4-5).

In one illustration, Paul uses the metaphor of an earthen vessel to explain our human condition and how God uses us (2 Corinthians 4:7). To think about yourself as an earthen vessel, like a mug of pottery being dirtied and cast about, is to get an accurate picture of what we can expect in this life.