:. tenderized .:

Awhile back, my little Katie bought me a meat tenderizer. For years I had used the handle of my heaviest knife to pound out a nice cutlet, so that was a thoughtful little surprise, indeed. My new heavy-duty mallet is a wonder!

I've been thinking lately about trials . . . and about suffering . . . and about all the hurts in this world. I have come to realize that repeated trials pound our hard, selfish hearts into something tender, something malleable.

Anyone with even a smidgen of human kindness will feel badly for someone facing cancer. A tenderized heart will go beyond feeling badly; a tenderized heart will understand the fear, will feel the 'aloneness' of the sufferer.

If you've never experienced the death of a loved one, you can still understand the pain of someone facing that loss. But once you've been there yourself, you never forget how much it hurts to have part of your heart torn away.

It is the dearly-bought difference between sympathy and empathy.

The Bible tells us that "the Father of mercies and God of all comfort" will comfort us in our afflictions. Out of love for His child, yes, but also "so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction."
As we persevere under trials, we begin to look more and more like the One who suffered for us all.

As long as we are on this earth, there will be trials.
It actually gives me comfort just to know there is a purpose for our suffering.