Comparing Challenges

When I think about the pioneers, I think I'm really glad that I don't have to face the same challenges that they did, but I also remember hearing somewhere that if the pioneers could have seen our day, they'd have been glad that they lived in their time and not ours. This is a rare variation of the old expression that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, only this time, both we and the pioneers believe that the grass is browner on each other's sides. I wonder why that is.

I suppose it's a matter of perspective. We see the physical suffering the early saints went through, and we marvel that they endured it so well, while I think they saw things from a more spiritual perspective. I believe that they cared more about their souls and their God than about their comfort or even their safety. Comparing our situation to theirs,  the question of which set of circumstances is preferable may depend on which is more important - a person's body or their soul.

In our day, we have more spiritual dangers than physical ones. Temptations surround us and the voices of the world blur the line between right and wrong. If we're not careful, we can easily become distracted and lost, and our spirits suffer when we do. We have little physical pain or danger to endure, but in this world, our spirits are in grave danger. I think that that is the danger that the early saints would have chosen to avoid, even though such a choice would have cost them great physical hardship.

The bad news is that neither of us got a choice anyway (at least, not that we recall). We each have our own burdens to bear in life. The pioneers bore their burdens remarkably well. Now it's our turn to bear ours. Even though our challenges are different, we can look to the pioneers for examples of courage, strength, and faith, which are traits that we are certain to need, perhaps even more than the pioneers needed them. Our trials may or may not be as challenging as those of the pioneers, but the stakes are certainly higher. They had to fight for survival. We have to fight for our souls.

I'm still not jealous of the hardships the pioneers had to face, but I think I understand why they wouldn't have been jealous of ours. I'd rather endure physical harm than spiritual harm, and, given the choice, I'd rather lose my life than my soul, but it's not always easy to make right choices, especially in the world we live in today. I still don't wish I had the pioneers' challenges, but I think I now know better than to underestimate mine. We're not being asked to die courageously; we're being asked to live righteously. We both have to endure faithfully, but I think that, in our world, doing that is just a little bit harder. For us, the challenge is not to endure, but to be faithful. But just as the pioneers were able to overcome their challenges in the strength of the Lord, so can we overcome ours. With God's help, we can face the challenge of our day, just as they did with theirs.