We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.

Difficulty leaves marks, and some of those marks turn out to be shape rather than damage. That is not a reason to welcome the hammer or to call every hard stretch a lesson, because plenty of pain teaches nothing and deserves no explanation. What can be true is narrower and quieter: you are not finished, and what you are living through is not the last word on who you become.

If you are in a hard season, you do not owe it gratitude. Notice one thing in you that is steadier than it was a year ago, and let that be enough for now.