There is an old Korean proverb that literally says “people even pay for a hardship in their younger age”, meaning that the experience of hardship at a young age is so valuable that some people might even pay money to experience it. In other words, hardship at an old age leads you and all your dependents to suffer – but hardship at a young age doesn’t have that effect. In addition, while suffering may be difficult at the time, we see that (with hindsight) such hardship can build character as well. It’s the same when it comes to faith – a Christian that has served at a small church in all sorts of ways amongst all its difficulties is more mature than a Christian that has gone through a well-structured discipleship program at a mega church. This doesn’t mean that service should come before studying the bible – we need to become Mary before Martha – but that a faith that has experienced hardship is stronger, rather than a faith learned through books.
Recently, I’ve experienced pain in my back muscles – in the morning, it was hard to stand up straight, probably because those muscles weakened over the years. Back during the pandemic, I suffered because of a cramp in my leg, which hurt even when I was lying down, so I started walking around the neighbourhood for an hour each day. Previously, I didn’t think to walk around because I was mostly at home studying the bible, but back then, to fill an hour, I used to walk through the park in the neighbourhood, observing each hidden corner. It was also quite fun to walk around different streets and observe how the entrance to each house differed, and it was nice to spend some time alone and pray, worship, and listen to the bible. A few days of walking helped the pain go away and made me healthier, so this time, I’ve started walking again.
As I age, I find that my body isn’t as before. From a few years ago, it’s become hard to read small print, and it’s much easier to read without my glasses. The senses in my face have also become weak, so sometimes I can’t even feel it when there’s something on my mouth after eating, and I often run into things, even though I try to avoid them. In the past, walking up a flight of stairs was no problem, but nowadays my right leg feels a bit uncomfortable, which requires attention.
I’ve naturally been a healthy person so I didn’t suffer much illness even when I didn’t exercise, and was able to start every day well after a good night’s sleep. But as I observe these problems with my body, I realised that I should train my muscles, so I plan to continue walking. As I did so this time, I realised that building our faith is also like building muscles. Strength training is hard at first, but it becomes easier as our muscles grow; our lives are the same.
Life is filled with trial after trial. For conflicts in relationships, the closer we are with the person, the longer we need to endure. At first, we express our raw emotions and thoughts because we can’t hold it in any more, but as we seek out for Jesus and endure, we become more resilient and capable of properly processing our emotions, even without having someone to comfort us. There were times when I couldn’t understand why God didn’t respond to my prayers, but now I realise that it was a means to help me build up my perseverance, which are like the muscles of faith. “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance” (Romans 5:3); “you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:3)
