Ok, I don't know if I would call it a milestone, per say, but let's go with it for lack of a better word...
Last month I turned 40. Where are my fellow 40-club friends? Would you consider that a milestone?
I guess to have survived this crazy ride called life for 40 years could be considered a pretty big deal. It felt like just another day, though my family and friends did make it very special for me (this is what happens when we are locked up to long, LOL)...
...but when you reach those (let's call them) mile-marker moments in life, it does cause you to pause and reflect, doesn't it?
For me, it was a moment of looking back and becoming so thankful for everything that God has brought me through. I felt myself being transported back into times in my life that were really hard, only this time I could see things so much more clearly. Having 'made it' through to the other side, I can now see exactly how God was using each situation as a way to grow me or help someone else. Maybe some day I will open up here and talk about all of it, but I can say with assurance had it not been for God's hand on my life I would not be where I am today.
Having God in your life, or rather committing your life to God's hands, does NOT mean that it will be free from trials, disappointments, heartache, sickness, or utter devastation... it does NOT mean that you will never hit rock bottom, be beat up, broken, or crushed...
It DOES mean that He will use every one of those instances to remold and reshape you into the person that He is creating you to be. Each time you are broken, He remakes you into something better. Each time you are crushed (seemingly beyond repair), He sweeps up the shattered pieces and the dust, breathes new life into them and turns them into something so much more beautiful than they were before. Not one piece is ever wasted.
The most beautiful part about all that, is that He will then cause your path to cross with the paths of others who find themselves in a place where you have already been. If you allow Him to, He will use you and all your painful past experiences to speak directly into the life of someone else... Him working through you to bless them.
"He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." 2 Corinthians 1:4
The crazy part about how God works sometimes, is that I believe He will cause you to walk through storms for the sole purpose of you then being able to comfort someone else walking through the same thing. It has nothing at all to do with you. Part of being a good steward over ALL the things God has entrusted to us, means accepting the good with the (seemingly) bad. God uses all things for our good and His glory, and sometimes for the benefit of others, they just seem bad to us in the moment.
I challenge you today, friend... whatever it is that you are facing right now... ask God to reveal to you how it can be used for His glory. Take the focus off of you, and look up. Maybe even take a minute to look around. Is there someone else who is facing a similar situation? Or is there someone else who has already come through it and they are stronger because of it?
#1 - There is someone out there waiting to comfort you, God promised it.
#2 - There is someone out there waiting to be comforted, God promised it.
Your situation either puts you in category #1 or is preparing you for category #2.
Embrace it.
Gather all the seeds that you can find right now... comfort, understanding, acceptance, perseverance, knowledge, love... and be ready to sow them into the lives of others... some seeds are only found in the storm.
Until next time... Blessings!
