“Hardship has one of two effects: it either hardens or softens our hearts.”

A thought by Mark Batterson, (2015-10-06) from his book, If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities (Kindle Locations 3675-3676). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Hardship is a fact of life. And how we handle it tells us a lot about whether we will enjoy or endure our life. As Mark says, “And it’s that hardening or softening that makes us or breaks us.”

Mark says, “I’ve seen some marriages come apart at the seams when tough times hit, but I’ve also seen hardship form a bond like no one’s business. It can turn men into a band of brothers, and women into a ya-ya sisterhood.”

So what are you going through right now? Mark says, “If you’re in a tough place, a place where it’s hard to even ask what if, take heart. No one likes tough times in the present tense, but those tests add tenor to our testimony. And those are often the memories we cherish the most. Our great-grandparents loved telling stories about adding water to ketchup to make tomato soup during the Great Depression, using the outhouse in subzero temperatures, and walking through a foot of snow to a school that was uphill both ways.”

He goes on, “We look back on challenges with a touch of nostalgic pride. According to one poll of Londoners, 60 percent of those who survived Germany’s blitzkrieg during World War II remembered it as the happiest time of their lives. It’s the tough times— trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword— that test our love. But that’s also how it’s proved.”

Please remember what Mark said, “The love of Christ wasn’t proved by His miracles, as impressive as those miracles were. His love was proved on a Roman cross. And it has proven to be failproof. The cross is God’s way of saying, ‘Over my dead body.’”

So what is your hardship doing to your heart?

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