Our leader at yesterday's ecumenical Bible study had us begin looking at the book of James. One of the first verses was "Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow." (verse 2).

Happy? Like some of the things which happen to us that we don't like? But sometimes, bad things turn out to be good!

Then she shared this analogy:

"Think of a seed.
God uses the dark places to make us grow.
They're part of His divine plan.
Spring is coming and we think about planting.
As long as a seed remains in the light,
it can't germinate and will 
never become what it was created for.
But when we plant the seed in the soil
where it is dark.
It becomes alive.
We are like that too........
we sometimes have to go through dark times,
that's where our character is developed,
where we learn to trust God
and persevere.
We tend to pray more,
draw closer to God
and listen for God's 
still small voice."

(Author unknown)

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