Many people say to not focus on the bad and just remember the good times. They say these things mostly during periods of mourning such as our times after September 2, 2008. I believe that this statement is a good statement at the time for those in mourning to hear and it uplifts them maybe for a period of time, but as far as it applying to someone 2-3 years removed from September 2, 2008 or 2-3 years removed from any situation like that I do not think it does.
Something the Lord has really been harboring on me over the past year or so is that we should never forget those dark nights, those nights where life just plain stinks. When I learned to remember all those nights of staying up and crying out to the Lord asking why, why, why, it was then that I was able to truly see how far the Lord had brought me over the past 3 years. I began to see that those hard times actually molded me into who I am. It’s just as Jeremiah 18 talks about I was the clay and my God was the potter. The clay must be put through the fire in order to remove any in purifications on it and then the potter may start to mold it. Numbers 31:23 and Isaiah 48:10 talk about being refined and purified through the fire in order to become like gold. Something Thom has always said is that these past 3 years have been the worst and best times of his life. Many people have always kind of cringed when he said that, but to me it fits with exactly what the Lord accomplishes through times like these. He humbles you to the core and then uplifts you by his love in order that you may look at Him and life differently.
So to anyone going through anything tough or even just going through daily life please do not forget where you are now so that 3 years from now you are able to look back and say “ok, God now I see what you were doing.” So I hope that if any of you are in those dark times right now that you begin to take mental pictures of yourself and where you are and put them away for the day when you need to be uplifted. Then you can open up that box, take the pictures out and say “wow”, God really has been doing something amazing in me!”
A wise man once said “Our walk with the Lord seems like walking in the Sahara Desert. There are so many times during our lives that it seems we are going no-where with God and that our relationship with him is not progressing at all. Just as in the Sahara we look around and see nothing but sun and desert all around us and it seems that we haven’t moved in years, but we know for a fact that we have been walking for what seems like forever. If we were to look behind us on the ground we would see the hundreds of thousands of footsteps that are just one reminder that we have been moving and just as in the Sahara there is a plan for our lives today and that we have been progressing with the Lord each and every day through good and bad.” Just look at the Vines family, me and all of Kelsey’s friends. God has been doing a work in us each and every day for the past 3 years. We are testaments to His faithfulness and to His one perfect plan.
John Michael Vestal
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