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To become a certified physician a person has to complete 4 years of undergraduate education, 4 years of medical school, 3-7 years of residency; and then pass a rigorous state exam to get a license. All this intense preparation is necessary to practice medicine. Even though our salvation is a gift from God based solely on faith and not works, God is not finished with us when we accept His Son. His goal is that we grow more and more into the moral likeness of His Son. So God continues to break us, shape us, and mold us in this life so He can see His Son’s likeness in us. Even though we will not reach perfection in this life, God wants us to make progress. With that goal in mind, the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans Ch 8, “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Since God’s purpose for us is that we reflect His Son’s likeness, we ought not to be shocked when God allows us to have experiences that may be painful in the short run, but are beneficial in the long term. It’s like they say, “No pain, no gain.”
