Fullmetal Heart

As many know the famous manga Full Metal Alchemist has ended recently. It is one of the best series I have read, and talking to some friends we have concluded that we are slightly sad that it ended.

The very last page of the series shows this text:

A lesson without pain is meaningless.
For you cannot gain something
without sacrificing something else in return
But once you have overcome it and made it your own
You will gain an irreplaceable fullmetal heart


I won't say much, but the main characters went through a lot of pain, but in the end they realized that the suffering led to a greater lesson and a stronger inner character.

I started to link this to Christianity. I think of these following verses:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." - James 1:2-4

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
- 1 Peter 1:6-8

It is really hard to share about Christianity to others because it is not an easy life. I remembered telling my home church pastor that "life is tough with much suffering" and he replied "you are a man of wisdom".

God does not promise a life full of comfort because we are so weak that we will take Him for granted. So we are given a life of trials because we will have no choice but to rely on Christ who gives us strength and joy to endure. The beauty of this is that even though God puts us in difficulties, He is the one who gives us what we need to go through them. There will be moment of sadness, but God's joy will fill your heart. There will be perplexing moments, but God's peace will be with you. There will be moments of persecution, but God will never abandon you.

Taking a step back, it is really "grace" that we are suffering. Because we are objects of wrath by nature (Ephesians 2), and we deserve not suffering, but the wrath of God. So, God taking His time to care for us and  planning trials in our lives is really part of His pouring of grace on us, so that we can be molded into a more beautiful person by conforming into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Going back to the quote from FMA: you cannot gain something without sacrificing something, this reminds me that we are to die to ourselves everyday and follow Christ. Because if I want to gain Christ, I have to declare that He is Lord of my life and that means that I have to let go of the control of my life.

Why is that I get motivation to continue walking in this life of a Christian that entails trials and tribulations? Because of Christ, our hope of glory. I know that this life is temporal and that the troubles here are so little comparing with the greatness that awaits for those who trust and follows our hope of glory, Christ.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18