Life viewed well

I have often wondered how to really help people see life well. It has been so difficult to labor for the people of faith knowing that apathy is rampant and theology is weak. You can give invitations without explaining the Gospel. You can complain about a lack of leadership and then balk at every instruction pastors give. I have come to view life certainly through the lens of Scripture but I would suggest that we think of life and how we view as maybe how my view of coffee has changed and grown over the years. I used to hate it. When I had to sample it at Starbucks, I would be honest and tell them this one tastes like different dirt than that one. I loved the smell and was committed to trying to like coffee. Over time and exposure I began to cultivate a taste for this fine brewed beverage. When I was in college I would only drink it when I had to and then with lots of cream and sugar. Back then I was in it for the jolt and the sweetness. Why would anyone want a drink that was bitter? What I began to discover on my coffee journey was that this was about subtlety. Coffee is about little notes of flavor and metaphorical descriptions. Buttery or nutty only hint at what is really there by evoking an understanding through previous flavor connections. Coffee is great by itself when it's hot, well crafted, and stands alone as a beverage. I say all this about coffee because I see redemption in it. If when we were  younger we could only drink very sweet coffee, I would equate that with some of our immature understandings of life. When were younger, in the faith or in years, we would prefer life to be easy and fun and sweet. In fact the sweeter it was the happier we were. As I have gotten older myself and so many others have learned to enjoy the simplicity and even the more interesting bitter flavors in coffee and in life. When we see the bitter in life as from the hand of a good and gracious God we can find the joy in it. This doesn't mean the sweetness should not be enjoyed or celebrated .But it does mean that we should not just discard something because it doesn't tickle our pallet in  the easiest way.