Reason #812
Scout has an appointment with the vet tomorrow. Twice a year she goes to get her shots, and I always feel so bad for making her go. Of course, it's for her own good, but I doubt she believes that when she's being poked with needles. She usually feels pretty bad for a day or so before she's back to being her perky self. The up side is that she doesn't have any clue what's coming her way, so that way, she doesn't have to spend her time in dread. However, if going to the vet wasn't bad enough for her, she also has to get groomed on Saturday. It's going to be a rough next few days for her.
Sometimes really unpleasant situations come our way. Sometimes it's events or circumstances we'd rather not endure. It might be something we have to face more than once, or it may be a one time thing. But there are those times where life has scheduled us what seems to be a no-good-very-bad day, and we never saw it coming. We were not prepared for it, and even if we had known about it we still wouldn't have been prepared anyway. And so sometimes we wonder why we have to go through such things when life would be so much easier, so much better, if we could avoid them all around.
We never know what our day holds in store, but the Lord does. And, if you're anything like me, you'd prefer that only good things come your way. Yet there are times when He allows less than desirable things to happen. Occasions when He leads us to a spot that is completely uncomfortable and maybe even a little painful at the moment. And so why? What's the purpose? If He knows what lies ahead, why can't He take us down another path to avoid it or at least give us a heads up? Well, as crazy as I might sound, I fully believe it is because He loves us. Let me explain.
I make Scout go to the vet because I love her. She doesn't want to go get shots, and if it was up to her, she'd never go. I don't make her go because I am trying to punish her, and I don't enjoy seeing her feel bad. Honestly, I hate the fact that she has to go get shots as much as she does. But this is for her own good. She gets shots so that she'll be healthy. And when she's healthy, she's happy. When she's happy, I'm happy. And so I love Scout too much to neglect her or care any less for her. I want her to have the best pet care possible so that she'll live a long, good life, and sometimes that means she's got to go through things she'd rather not.
Such is life. God loves us too much to allow us to avoid all of the difficult things in life. The truth is, when things are easy, it's easy to become stagnant and forget about Him. If God always let us take the easy way out and avoid anything that made us feel uncomfortable, how could we be refined and changed to look more like Him? How would we ever grow in our walk or mature our faith if we never faced a challenge? How would we understand God's power in our lives to help us overcome if we had nothing to overcome? You see, it's all for our good. That's right, even the tough, bad, uncomfortable stuff is for our good. Because God uses it to draw us closer to Him. He uses it to shape us into His image and to be a testament of His faithfulness. And, honestly, the little pains often save us from the really big pains, so we have to trust that God knows what He is doing as He leads us through every single day.
We don't know what each day holds, and sometimes that probably for the best. Yet if we trust God regardless of whether or not we like what we're going through, we can rest in knowing that He will use it for our good. It may hurt now, but the outcome will be for our benefit. Just give it time and you'll see.
#812 - Because His love for us ensures us that, in time, He will use everything for our good.
"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." - 1 Peter 1:6-7
Sometimes really unpleasant situations come our way. Sometimes it's events or circumstances we'd rather not endure. It might be something we have to face more than once, or it may be a one time thing. But there are those times where life has scheduled us what seems to be a no-good-very-bad day, and we never saw it coming. We were not prepared for it, and even if we had known about it we still wouldn't have been prepared anyway. And so sometimes we wonder why we have to go through such things when life would be so much easier, so much better, if we could avoid them all around.
We never know what our day holds in store, but the Lord does. And, if you're anything like me, you'd prefer that only good things come your way. Yet there are times when He allows less than desirable things to happen. Occasions when He leads us to a spot that is completely uncomfortable and maybe even a little painful at the moment. And so why? What's the purpose? If He knows what lies ahead, why can't He take us down another path to avoid it or at least give us a heads up? Well, as crazy as I might sound, I fully believe it is because He loves us. Let me explain.
I make Scout go to the vet because I love her. She doesn't want to go get shots, and if it was up to her, she'd never go. I don't make her go because I am trying to punish her, and I don't enjoy seeing her feel bad. Honestly, I hate the fact that she has to go get shots as much as she does. But this is for her own good. She gets shots so that she'll be healthy. And when she's healthy, she's happy. When she's happy, I'm happy. And so I love Scout too much to neglect her or care any less for her. I want her to have the best pet care possible so that she'll live a long, good life, and sometimes that means she's got to go through things she'd rather not.
Such is life. God loves us too much to allow us to avoid all of the difficult things in life. The truth is, when things are easy, it's easy to become stagnant and forget about Him. If God always let us take the easy way out and avoid anything that made us feel uncomfortable, how could we be refined and changed to look more like Him? How would we ever grow in our walk or mature our faith if we never faced a challenge? How would we understand God's power in our lives to help us overcome if we had nothing to overcome? You see, it's all for our good. That's right, even the tough, bad, uncomfortable stuff is for our good. Because God uses it to draw us closer to Him. He uses it to shape us into His image and to be a testament of His faithfulness. And, honestly, the little pains often save us from the really big pains, so we have to trust that God knows what He is doing as He leads us through every single day.
We don't know what each day holds, and sometimes that probably for the best. Yet if we trust God regardless of whether or not we like what we're going through, we can rest in knowing that He will use it for our good. It may hurt now, but the outcome will be for our benefit. Just give it time and you'll see.
#812 - Because His love for us ensures us that, in time, He will use everything for our good.
"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." - 1 Peter 1:6-7
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