I have endured illness throughout my teens with an overactive thyroid gland which in the end required removal to make me well again. I have experienced loss and bereavement of people close to me. But I would say the most painful experience that I've been through is divorce.
I hit rock bottom and didn't know how I would get through the nightmare when my first marriage ended. I'd envisaged a future that suddenly was taken away from me. It no longer existed and I didn't know what the future held for me. I was a single mum bringing up 3 daughters...it wasn't supposed to be that way. It's not what I planned. BUT it is what God planned! He saw the bigger picture and knew where I would end up on this road, the journey called life.
One of the verses I held onto during that difficult time was Jeremiah 29 verse 11:
For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
So, I held onto that verse and made a step forward every day, leaving my old life behind me.
I think we are all a work in progress and the image I have in my mind is that of a lump of coal.
Think of how a diamond comes into being...through intense 'stress' and 'pressure' the carbon becomes a brilliant shining diamond!
And likewise, the pearl is formed through 'irritation' that enters the oyster but over time it forms a beautiful pearl.
After pressure, stress and irritation, something good emerges...a new you! A shinier, stronger version of yourself!
1 Peter 5 verse 10 says:
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
God will allow testing times, As a loving Father he disciplines us knowing that we will be all the better for it in the end. And these testing times won't last forever. You will get through them.
The sermon at church today focused on Patience. Through the trials of life and testing times you may find that you lack patience...When will this difficult time end? When will there be a solution to this problem? How am I going to get through this? The answer for me and hopefully for you is and always will be to turn to God. He is the one who never leaves you or forsakes you, He is the one who will give you strength to endure the pain and suffering, He has a plan for your future and He will give you the answers...in His time. That is an important thing to remember...in His time. Not ours. We sometimes try to solve the problem our own way. I urge you to wait on God, hear His voice, let Him guide you and direct you. How? Pray. He hears you...He knows you. He wants the best for you because He is a loving God, a caring God, the God of all comfort.
2 Corinthians 1 verse 3-4 says:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
When I have gone through bad times I have often asked the question why...and the answer I always hear is why not? We don't live in a perfect world and none of us is immune to the pain and suffering of this world. Not even Jesus on the cross...but it served God's ultimate plan to provide salvation for us...a way back to Him, so that our sins could be forgiven and allow us to begin a new life in Him.
James 1 verse 2 says:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
The verse tells us that the trials we face will produce perseverance and that this will make us mature and complete...the person God wants us to be! As I said earlier, I know that I wouldn't be the person I am now had I not have gone through difficult times.We won't learn perserverance or patience if everything in life is just right!
I like to think that my suffering was never in vain but in gain! I have gained so much through going through the things I have experienced in life. As I said earlier, I have grown spiritually and emotionally and just as I was comforted by God in those times and those people used by God to help me, I can now use my life experiences to help others. To be able to say 'I've been there and you will come through this' and to comfort others in their difficult times has meant a lot to me.
As I said, one of my most difficult times was divorce but I'm now happily married to Phil...so God had it all worked out even though I couldn't see it at the time!
Romans 8 verse 28 says:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Finally, this song says it all. I have posted it on Facebook before but it really does tell others of how something negative can be turned into a positive.
I hope you have a great week ahead. Love and prayers, Marie x
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