Four of us hiked through the beautiful Watkins Glen Gorge in New York. At times we stood together in awe as we gazed in wonder at waterfalls and two-hundred-foot cliffs. Other times, we had to stop to catch our breath and rest our hurting legs as we climbed wet rocks and endless steps. When we neared the top, a hiker heading back down said, “You’ve got only 10 steps to go of your 832.” Maybe it was best we hadn’t known how difficult the journey would be because we might have stayed back and missed the beauty of it all.

The journey of life has difficult steps too. Jesus and Paul warned believers about trouble and persecution (John 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:12), and this requires some perspective. James said, “Consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). Why pure joy instead of pure agony? God knows and we “know that the testing of [our] faith produces perseverance” (v. 3). But to what end? So that we may be “mature and complete, not lacking anything” (v. 4).

If we’ll stop and look, despite the pain, we may see the beautiful strength of character God is producing in us and those around us. And we’ll learn to appreciate the truth that one day we’ll “receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (v. 12). Let’s keep climbing together.