Hard Times Give You Something!

It has been awhile since I have written on here and much more that has both happened and been thought of will be written soon. This week has been the first week I have been able to type in a normal manner. About two months ago, give or take a few days, I was playing football down on the ranch with the youth there. While running to grab one their flags I reached out and missed the flag just as he blew past me. As he continued on I had to slow down and as I did so felt my finger go numb. I figured I jammed it and looked down. The tip of my ring finger on my right hand was dislocated! It was pointing almost straight sideways!

It didn't really hurt but it felt numb. After everyone looked at it for a minute, and a couple of the guys almost feinted, I grabbed it and snapped it back into place. Surprisingly that didn't really hurt either but it was still numb. About thirty minutes later I couldn't move it without pain shooting up my arm so I went inside and splinted it. Last week I took the splint off and that finger tip droops a little bit now but is coming along nicely! I can type again so here I am!

Today I was discussing my future with my mother and what I plan to do with it. She is a woman of great faith and her only concern is that I put God first and be where He wants me to be in my life. As we talked we both talked of something from a little different angle and I found what came of it quite fascinating!

How often do we of faith think that if we follow God and do what He would have us do that 'All shall work together for our good' and be perfect!? We think that quite often I must confess and I can see it both in my life and the lives of those around me... and yet it is only part of the story. 'Bad' things also work together for our good. Hard experiences teach us to appreciate and help us to grow. Just because we are experiencing pain in our lives does not mean we have forsaken God or gone against Him. It does not mean we are in the wrong place. God may want us to be happy but he wants us to know the difference.

One reason I have not typed much on here is because I couldn't type fast enough to keep up with my thoughts and that galled me quite a bit. The reason I mention it is that because of my dislocated finger I began to appreciate all the things I normally do that I now cannot do in quite the same manner or fashion.

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Now think back in your life on the hard times, perhaps you are in one now... What lessons are you learning? What have you already been taught? Are there more lessons hidden inside of this experience? What else could you be missing?

We tend to stay in certain circumstances and live them over and over again until we LEARN the lesson and APPLY it in our lives. If we only see and recognize the lesson... that is great... but it will change nothing. When we recognize something that stops us and keeps us trapped, it is that that we must change. On changing ourselves to conform to the lesson, we grow and are no longer plagued by that trial in the same fashion. It may come back stronger or with a different face but we will remember how to get out of the trap we set for ourselves.

Think of where you are now and the circumstances you are in. They do not mean that God has forsaken you. When you taught your children to walk, or were taught to walk yourself, you had to let go of their hand at some point. What a frightful thought as the child! It is the same learning to ride a bike... the first time your parents let go it might hurt when you fall... but you learn from it and get up again until you have mastered riding the bike.

We are created in the image of God, of the Great Creator of heaven and earth and He wants us to be happy. The problem is this, for us to be truly happy it must be our choice. We cannot be forced into it. Thus come difficulties as we choose our own way. These difficulties help us to appreciate life and the many blessings around us, and help us to appreciate the moments when God was holding our hand as we took our first steps. Now that we have learned to walk on our own we wander through the world and take step after step through experiences both good and bad.

Remember that no matter what happens in your life, whatever will happen, or whatever has happened... so long as you focus on making the best decision you can at the time... you will be able to see the dawn breaking across the horizon and watch the shadows of your difficulty slowly fade with the rising sun.

Many times in my life I have wondered if I was on the right path because I felt alone and the path was difficult to walk. Yet I know that what does not kill me only makes me stronger... that it is the hard experiences which teach me who I am and what I will be. Through trial we toil upward, through ease and comfort we begin our own demise. Through love we ascend to the heights while through hate we experience the depths of hell. Through growth we experience joy, through complacency and indolence, depression. Take your choice... you say you would be where God wants you to be? Do not expect it to be easy. Nothing good was ever easy. It is the journey that brings joy and not the destination.

Keep those things in mind and try them on in your life to see if they work for you. Keep smiling and remember to look for the lessons all around you.