If Christ had not experienced the misery of the bitter cup then He could not have found Joy, and neither can we find and appreciate Joy without having tasted the misery that is found in sin. Is death really a bad thing? Without death then we wouldn’t be able to have eternal life. Think what art would be without the dichotomy of light and shadow and that balance and equilibrium.
Could then our dilemma be a brief moment in misery that will translate to a greater Joy in the life beyond? Could our trials preclude us to receive greater Joy depending on how we bear them? Will we drink from the bitter cup or let it pass from us? What will you do?
You touch, David, on one of my favorite topics, which is paradox. It's everywhere in life. Can't know the sweet without tasting the bitter. Finding yourself by losing yourself in service to others. Light more discernible because of darkness. Trials teach an ability to feel greater happiness. They go on and on. I love to look for them and ponder how they might be resolved one day, and wonder if we'll ever be able to rise above them.
ReplyDeleteAnd, true to form, I think the answer to your post title's question is "both." We live amidst opposition all the time, and by making mistakes and choices we live through it as well. But we will never escape it in this mortal life. The testing goes on right up until we draw our last breath.