“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1Co 13:11 AV)
Although Paul applies this verse slightly differently, the principle is still the same. He applies this verse to immature desires, goals, and sin. Point was, when the invitation to salvation came, he put away the childish sinful life he had and grew up into spiritual maturity by accepting Christ. One would think this verse is for the young at heart only. But not so. One would assume this truth is for those who are transitioning from childhood and adulthood. Not really. One would assume there would come a time when we no longer need this verse. Probably not. In some way, no matter our age, there is an element of immaturity that needs to mature into reality. It doesn’t matter how old we are, there are times when we think and feel as a child. We can live in a state of naïveté. But every day is not a play day. Every day is not sunshine and roses. Every day is not filled with nothing but blessings. Sometimes, there are hardships of life to which we have to adjust. Life is hard. That is our burden to bear. How we adjust to those times determines whether we mature or not.
We are childish when we think life will continue as it is. We are immature to think life will never get any more difficult. This is not so. We know this, but we don’t want to admit that our lives will get more difficult. When we see others go through the hardships of getting older and assuming more and more responsibility, we don’t think that will ever be us. We think our lives will continue with little or no more hurdles to overcome. When they do come, we are surprised and emotional. We have to learn to adjust to them. Why? Because we understand as a child. A child does not see reality. He can play in a field and completely miss the storm that is about to descend. A child can ride his bike like the wind and not notice the dangers of traffic all around him. A child avoids that which would disrupt his perfect world. A plate is set before him with bacon fried green beans and a cheeseburger. He will eat the burger and leave those beans on the plate. A child will see his game system sitting next to his homework. He will use the former and avoid the latter. But, there comes a time when those things he is trying to avoid become his unfortunate reality. The storm will come. Eating your vegetables becomes a matter of life or death. And, unless he does his school work, he will repeat the grade and never get out of school.
We may not like the hardships of life, but that doesn’t make them go away. Trying not to think about them doesn’t either. They are still there. When faced with trials of life, the best thing to do is mature into and through them. God can and does do miracles. But there are hard realities of life that are not going to change. All the miracles Jesus did were only temporary. Life still went on. Have you ever wondered how some people can go through the trials of life with joy in their hearts? I have. I had the privilege of hosting a widow/widower’s luncheon once a month. What a blessing. These sweet people knew how to laugh and live. How did they do that? Their lives were harder than anyone else in the church. How could they have so much joy? Partly because they matured into and through their circumstances. Mostly, though, because through these times, God becomes more real and closer than He ever was before. They learned to live because they didn’t fight what God had planned for them, and they learned to lean on Him like never before. Part of growing up is accepting the hardships of life as something from God which helps you in some way. It is uncomfortable. It is ugly. But it is also an extension of God’s love.
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