Happy Thanksgiving! I love that America has a day set aside completely for being thankful for the people and wonderful parts of our lives. There is so much to be thankful for. I am learning, though, too, to be thankful for the rough times as well. That’s a lot harder to do, but God does work good in and through all situations, even if we can’t completely see that good.
Grown and Refined
God grows and refines us during the rough times in our lives. Just like fire, good can and does come from the bad as well. Fire is beyond destructive, as we are visibly seeing in the fires in California. It is volatile and deadly. However, fire also raises the pH and neutralizes acid soils. It clears undergrowth, diseases and destructive insects to make way for the positive growth of what is planted. I use the ash that comes from burning all the branches and twigs that fall like crazy in my yard as fertilizer in my gardens. It’s amazing! Fire is also used to refine gold to purify it. The same can be true about the fires in our lives if we allow it.
What We Allow
I think that’s the key point in how the rough times in our lives affect us. It’s how we allow the rough times to affect us in the end. When you’re going through the rough times, mostly you are just trying to get through it and stay in a vertical position so you can continue on with life. However, in the times when the initial shock of it or the roughest times are not front and center, what is important is how we process what happened. Do we allow it to destroy everything about us? Do we resign ourselves that our lives mean nothing because someone (or many someones) has told us this? Do we rebel and in many ways agree with the what has been said of us and destroy our lives?
Or do we take the negatives, even the ones that were tossed at us when we were too young to know that they were wrong, and refine them to see them for what they really were? Do we rebel against what has been said about us or done to us and still become who God made us to be? Do we take our experiences and share them with others by way of being negative and seeing no promise in life? Or do we share our experiences and lift others up by telling them they are not resigned to be what someone has told them they are? We are all created to be amazing human beings. We all have gifts and talents that we can share not only for our own good, but to lift up, refine and grow others up to be who they are meant to be.
So, today as you are thinking of your blessings and everything to be thankful for, also think of how the rough times in your life have grown and refined you. Think about how much stronger you are now and share that energy and hope with others to help them through their rough times.
You are amazing! Go and shine!
Happy Thanksgiving!
~ Joanna Lynn
