Why does God let us go through hard times? Why does He sometimes not deliver us right away? I believe it boils down to one thing: He sees the bigger picture and He is working it all out for our good. No, He doesn't CAUSE bad things to happen to us, but He sometimes ALLOWS them to happen because it fulfills a part of His great plan for our lives...and for others' lives. We are not an island. Our lives are not static, they are dynamic. There is a ripple effect with every little thing we do, say, and experience.
About 8 years ago, our apartment was broken into. Maddie had walked home from school to find our front door ajar. Thankfully she called me before she went inside the apartment and I had her go to our friend's house next door until I could get there. We called the police, they came to check out the apartment, and then we went inside. Our home was ransacked. The window in the back door had been busted out. Electronics had been stolen. My jewelry box, which contained several family heirlooms and some very sentimental things given to me by my children and parents, was gone. That was heartbreaking. But the worst feeling of all was when I went in to my daughter's room and saw that whoever had taken all of these things had touched her bed, gone through her drawers, overturned almost everything in there. I felt sick to my stomach. I felt violated to an extent I can't even describe. I felt scared that they would come back. Nothing felt safe. Up to that point, I felt safe and secure because we always locked our doors-- even when we were home. We had deadbolts. We had good neighbors. We were good people who didn't cause any problems. But I realized that none of that mattered. We got an alarm system right after that and have had one ever since, even after we moved into the house we live in today.
Before the break-in, I had heard of people's homes being burglarized. I had seen it portrayed on TV. I had friends of friends who had experienced that trauma. I remember hearing about how violated it can make the victims feel. I had heard of how burglars target places based on location and the ease of entry, whether or not there were dogs in the home, whether or not the tenants' schedules were predictable, and so on. I felt a certain compassion for those people who were victimized and a certain desire for justice to be served. But until I experienced all of it for myself and my family, I didn't fully grasp any of that. Now I KNOW how it feels. I have been through it. I had to comfort and reassure my children through it and work on making sure it never happened again. Now if someone I know or meet has to go through that experience, I am able to sympathize with them, relate to them, and comfort them with the knowledge I have gained about what to do next so it doesn't happen again and so they can have peace in their lives again.
God lets us go through bad things-- He doesn't create the bad things. He lets us go through them because we can never fully relate to someone else unless we have walked through the fire they are walking through. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says: Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Mercies 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.
God doesn't waste our junk. He uses every bit and piece of it. If we are going to have to go through troubles, He won't waste our pain. He will use it for His glory and for our greater good. It will all work out in the end. Don't hold on to the skeletons in your past like a security blanket or be ashamed of things you have been through and have overcome. They are meant to be shared with others to give them encouragement that you made it through....and so can they. Share your dirt. Ease their burden.
Don't waste your junk.
No comments:
Post a Comment