There’s an old story about a grandfather clock that had stood for generations in the same corner, faithfully ticking away. Then it got sold to a new owner who noticed the heavy weight hanging inside it, and removed it from the chain. Suddenly, the clock spoke. ‘Why did you do that?’ it asked. The new owner, startled, said: ‘I wanted to lighten your burden.’ ‘Well put it back,’ the clock replied. ‘That’s what keeps me going.’
Most of us look for an easy way through life, and think that life would be so much better if we could get rid of the burdens we carry. We forget that these are what make us and keep us ticking too. ‘Consider it a gift,’ the Bible says, ‘when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that it’s when you are under pressure your faith life shows its true colours.’