| Life lessons and why we have them. |
| © Ferna Lary Mills |
| I had a dream that I was in the operating room waiting for the anesthesia to take effect, as the surgeon stood over me with scalpel in hand. He looked so young. With slurred speech, I managed to ask, "How old are you?" He smiled and replied, "Seventeen. Why do you ask?" In a panic, I blurted out, "And you're a licensed surgeon?" He grinned and said, "Why, no ma'm. I haven't even graduated high school yet. But don't you worry. I've got the hang of this, I think." That's pretty rediculous, I must admit, but it brings about a very valid point. There is a time and a season for everything. As a surgeon must complete a certain amount of schooling and internship in order to qualify to do surgery, so must we complete certain things at certain times in order to achieve a certain purpose. My life has been filled with trials, as I'm sure yours has also. But I look back and realize that with each trial, a valuable life lesson has been learned, even in times of tragedy. It even seems that each trial has only served to prepare me for the next one which is usually much tougher than the last. I remember when I first began having problems with my son and I was so devastated. Looking back, those problems seem so minor compared to the problems he and I faced so recently. Yet, had I been faced with these current problems way back then, I would have been completely unprepared to deal with them. The prior trials prepared me for trials of today. They made me much stronger. They made me re-examine and reaffirm my faith. It's scary in a way because I begin to think, "What's next?" But I know God's timing is perfect and with each day, He teaches me new things, new ways to cope, and reminds me that His strength is sufficient for anything I must go through. A child in kindergarten cannot understand algebra and biology until he has completed certain other courses first. It's a learning process. He must first learn basic math and basic science before proceding on to harder concepts. In that same vein, a construction worker cannot grasp the many concepts of aerodynamics without proper training. Nor can an astronaut understand gene splitting without specialized training. In a sense, life is a training class. I believe that every day we learn something new, meet someone new, or see something in a different way that gives us a new concept. It may not be a conscious thing and we may go years without ever realizing that in fact we have been learning. But the process is continual every day of our life. One day, I spent some time reflecting back on my trials and wondering what purpose they served. I wish I could list them all here, but you wouldn't believe I had actually gone through all of that. It would read like a bad novel. In fact, sometimes I have a hard time believing I went through them either, but I did. Life has been full of crazy stuff. Off -the-wall stuff. Stuff they don't even make movies about because it's too weird and no one would believe it. But then I realized that God had a plan for my life, and I began to look back on all my trials as learning experiences for my great audition. For you see, God wants me to be a witness to others about His greatness, His strength, His unfailing love, and His faithfulness. How could I witness to others on His behalf if I had never witnessed His greatness first hand? How could I have ever witnessed His qualities, if I had never fully depended on Him? I would like to think that I would have fully depended on God for all my needs, even if my life had been worry-free. But I know that's not true. For in my greatest times of weakness, His greatness was magnified! In my deepest sorrows did I become so close to him that sometimes I believed the tears rolling down my cheeks were His very own. Through each trial, He has never failed me. His is eternally faithful. He never changes. Now, through Rainbow Faith, He has allowed me to tell so many others of His greatness. Rainbow Faith has been online now for almost five years and the total hits to this website average a little over 100,000 hits per year. I find that fact pretty awesome and quite humbling. My prayer is that you will come to know Him as your truest friend, for He loves you as much as He does me and He is there for you every step of the way. Life is hard and there are many lessons to learn, but He will guide you through each one and give you every ounce of strength you need to endure. There is no need for you to face your trials alone, or to go through your grief alone. There is Someone greater than us who is here for you and is only waiting for you to reach out to Him. I only know this because I have reached out for Him and He is always there. Always. God bless you as you travel through your lessons. Just keep in mind that with God you can never fail. |
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