Someone said recently, "Where is your gratitude?" It wasn't spoken as a direct question to me, but I was struck by the truth of those words. Am I truly grateful for what God is doing in my life? Am I truly grateful for His presence in my life and the fact that hardship brings me to my knees in desire and desperation for His wisdom? Do I trust that God has my best interest at heart when I hurt and when I don't understand? Do I believe that all I need is God each moment and that this world and its people and things will pass away and I stand in need of my Savior?
Henri Nouwen writes, "Where there is reason for gratitude, there can always be found a reason for bitterness. It is here that we are faced with the freedom to make a decision. We can decide to be grateful or bitter...
Our first, most spontaneous response to pain and suffering is to avoid it, to keep it at arm's length; to ignore, circumvent or deny it...Still my own pain in life has taught me that the first step to healing is not a step away from the pain, but a step toward it...The deep truth is that our human suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and peace we so desire, but can become, instead, the means to it."
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1 comment:
the rest of the serenity prayer..."accepting hardships as the pathway to peace..." it's true. cr
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