Only the Devil Doesn't Cry

Dear Kate,

My son is preparing for his driving road test, and I am preparing for the test that is him preparing for his test.  I don't know which one is harder.  I might be biased.

I wrote a few words this morning to my family, a few specific points about driving and road test, and also the following general statement, which I am sharing with you now.

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So these are general statements, first meant for myself as I live through everyday and endured crushing defeats in my own life, and second to you all hopefully as encouragement.

Plan to success, but prepare to fail.

Do your best, with what God has given you, and plan to succeed. But if you do fail, understand that it is also part of the story of your growth. In fact, a person's true character is not revealed when she is having everything her way; we only know what we are truly made of when we need to face defeats.

If you trust God always means the best for you, then you can not only accept personal defeats, but one day embrace the crushing disappointment of the Cross as the true triumph of the human spirit, and speak the Good News in a bad news world.

What is important is how we live our life when everything is going our way. If we live with humility, being fully aware of how everything is sustained by the grace and providence of God, then defeats are not only easier for us to accept, but actually have a beauty to them, in how they bring us closer to the heart of Jesus, getting us ready to go where He has gone.

But if we live with pride, believing in the world's story, that it is always about winning and losing, then, when we succeed, we would give ourselves all the credits; and when we fail, we would point fingers at everyone and everything else. You don't have to agree or disagree with Trump's politics to see he is only a most grotesque example of such human predicament.

If Jesus is in you, you would have peace in your heart. You would want to share your success when you are doing well; you would thank Jesus when there is a setback. No one can (or need to) prove or disprove if there is a God. But peace in our heart is indisputable. We are all nice people when things are going well. It is in our weakness that we know what we are truly made of.

Only the devil doesn't cry.

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Yours, Alex