"I'm Starting With The Man In the Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change his Ways
And No Message Could Have been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World a Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself and then Make A Change"
(Michael Jackson)
Sometimes I wonder why God allows really painful things to happen to people. I know the Sunday School answer- it's for our own good, blah, blah, blah, but it's harder to accept it when it's happening to you, isn't it? But......when truth speaks, truth says that it is indeed for our refinement that God allows us to walk through times of great pain and sometimes, He might even orchestrate those events in the lives of His children. The question is, do you really want that refinement? Really and truly?
If I look back at the last five or so years of my life, I could walk you through a painful list of things that occurred. But honestly, I wouldn't ask that a single one be taken off that list. Have I been devastated by some of the events and the actions of some people? Yes. Have I been shattered by the lack of love shown by fellow believers? Yes. Have I felt sorrow and rejection over a lost relationship with someone I once thought I might spend my future with? Yes. Do I wish that some of these issues had been handled in a different manner? Of course. But I don't wish them away, to be swept under the rug and out of my mind or life. Because through them, God has brought a change in me. He's made me a different person than I was ten, or even five years ago. He's turning me into a softer, gentler person- someone still quirky and with a sense of humor, but also someone who cries a lot more and isn't afraid to show vulnerability. Like I said before, I'm learning that I'm not strong. I'm quite weak. But HE is my strength. HE is my rock. HE is the refining fire who says, "So, are you REALLY sure that you want to be refined?? Be careful what you ask for, friends, because if you really want to be refined, He'll surely answer that prayer.
