Recently in a meeting someone shared, “pain is the threshold of spiritual growth”. Somehow this gave comfort, knowing that when we are struggling physically, emotionally or spiritually, it is a time of growth for us. That is our goal after all. To continue in our sobriety and find strength, peace, joy. In the promises it says that we will know a new peace and a new happiness, but we didn’t know that in order to have these gifts, we may go through hard times. We thought that if we just didn’t pick up a drug or a drink, this would automatically happen. We want the quick fix. That’s what we’re used to. Immediate gratification or relief from whatever discomfort we are feeling. It says in the Big Book that “they will always materialize if we work for them”. That means if we do the work we will comprehend serenity and know peace, self-seeking will disappear, our attitude and outlook on life will change, no more fear of people or financial worries, we will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us, all because of spiritual growth. We are not doing these things. We have not achieved this on our own. It is only when we seek God and realize that He can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves that we receive these gifts as we daily turn over our will and ask that His will be done. Spiritual growth does not promise a life without pain, but spirituality provides us with a solution, and a power greater than we have ever known, that will work for us and through us. Using our imagination to our fullest potential, we can never fully grasp how much greater our life can and will be when we let God run the show.