To play a violin, you need to pull a bow across a tight string. The bow is abrasive and pulls on the violin strings over and over. All of the pressure and stress seems like torture to the string, but it’s needed so the violin can play beautiful music. If the string didn’t feel those stresses, you’d never hear a sound out of it. The string would then never be able to fulfill its ultimate purpose.

The same thing goes for us. We want things to be nice and peaceful; live a totally stress free life. However, God couldn’t show His miracles and His goodness unless there was something bad to overcome. You can’t show someone real kindness unless they first go through hard times. The hard times in life bring out our best work.