Through The Deep Water

This is kind of an introspective season for me. There have been quite a few “a year ago today…” moments that I’ve been thinking about. And while I’m grateful for the road I’ve traveled this past year, and the many ways I’ve grown, for some reason one-year anniversaries are hard. It’s kind of melancholy for me to reflect back on a number of things that rocked my world a year ago. I haven’t actually mentioned all of them. I never will.

But this has led to a lot of reflecting on challenges in general. While none of us really want them, it’s true that we all benefit from them in a way. Horrible things happen to every single person who lives. The actions of others have a ripple affect that goes on indefinitely. But it is in the soldiering on through difficulties that we grow. Without them we’d live lives of relative ease and comfort, but we would be shallow, unrooted individuals as a result. That old “there must needs be opposition in all things” is true. We would all be lesser people without the challenges and hardships we’ve endured.

So while hurting another is never okay, and while suffering and loss and disaster and pain aren’t the kinds of things we’d choose, when I survey the sundry experiences of my life, I see how those times have helped me to become a stronger person. A better person. More compassionate, patient, long-suffering and kind. And I am grateful for them in a strange way.

God won't interfere with our agency, or prevent us from experiencing adversity or suffering, but He does bless us in our trials, and consecrate them to our benefit...especially when we ask for His help. That has been my experience at least, and I suspect I'm not alone.

Blessings:
1) Introspection, and the perspective we gain from it
2) The people who’ve blessed my journey thus far
3) The words from my favorite hymn