YOU Are Being Prepared!

We all have bad days. It is a normal part of life, a normal part of being an adult. Unfortunately, there are also times when bad days turn into bad seasons, which means the bad seems to follow us around and perch on our shoulder, waiting to zing us again and again. WHEW! All that trouble, misery, and sadness seems to be something we just can’t shake. It’s one thing after another, and what was a bad day has turned into a bad season of life we want to quickly escape…but can’t. All we can do is sigh, and keep getting up each day hoping it will get better.

I found these words from Henry Ward Beecher that helped me find a new perspective, a new way to think about a terrible season of life:

Troubles are often the tools
by which God fashions us
for better things.

– Henry Ward Beecher 1887

HUH! Things that make ya’ go huh!?! Sometimes it takes someone else’s words to give us a new way of processing things. A new ability to think differently about what is going on in our life. Beecher gives us just that in this quote. He flips the bad on its back and reminds us of two VERY important things. First, no matter what is going on or how bad it feels, God is always with us. He never abandons us – no matter how we think or feel. He never says, “Never mind, this one is a goner.” He is faithful no matter what! Which is amazing and hard to believe, yet a cool slave on our tender wounds. Second, He has a plan and will use this bad season to fashion us for better things. HUH!? And yes, it can be hard to believe that better things are coming, they may be just around the corner, so we must not lose heart, or lose faith. And His plan is most likely something we could not imagine as we get up during the dark, dull days of a bad season in life. He sees what we cannot AND has a plan to prepare us for the unimaginable times ahead.

There is hope in the darkness, there is a light at the end the tunnel and it is not another train! What you are experiencing now is preparation for better things, important things, for things you may not even be able to process in your current state. You ARE being prepared for better things. Sort of like a life boot camp without the grueling pushups and an obnoxious whistle screeching in your ear. God is your coach building your stamina and skills, your thoughts and dreams, to get you ready for what you need to do in your future.

If you take nothing else away from this post, remember this…tough times never last. They may feel like they go on forever, or that the tender wound left in your soul will never heal. God is there through it all. You are becoming what you need to be as you march forward into your future life. It will end. And when you are on the other side YOU can help someone else who is treading water in their own swamp of turmoil as you are stronger, better, wiser and on the other side. What you are experiencing today is a vital part pf preparing you for better things. It may suck, and feel like it is lasting WAAAYY too long. Have no fear. You are not forgotten. So get up today and know that you are not alone, and you will be a better you for all this trouble. You are being prepared.