Sometimes life deals you some serious crap. Everyone disappoints you and hurts you and makes you feel less than loved. Then you systematically sort through all the good memories, filtering out the bad and still can't identify a single person in any of those moments that hasn't caused you heartache and/or left you stranded.
Sometimes life deals you another hand of crap. Everything that can possibly go wrong, does. Every good thing that ever happens to you (as small as it may be), ultimately results in yet another few things going wrong. You know there is a God, but you forget that He is yours too. You can't tell the difference between God's tests and His punishments. A wise woman once shared with me something that another wise woman once told her. There is an easy rule of differentiation that separates the tests from the punishments so it can be just that little bit easier to act accordingly to disentangle the mess that is your life. She told me that the only way to know if a certain bout of bad luck is a test or a punishment is by deeply reflecting on whether that misfortune brings you closer to God or pulls you away from Him. If it brings you closer to God, than it was a test. If it takes you further from Him, it was either a failed test, or quite simply a punishment - which when you think about it, either way, is really the same thing - a punishment.
That wise woman is my sister, and the wise woman who told her is her best friend. After my three-year blogging hiatus, I write today to share this slice of wisdom with my own friends, foes (if I have any) and anyone who may chance to read this. If this little thought can pull even one soul out of misery or even a tiny bit of confusion, than my post has served its purpose.
Here's to many more years of ranting - with a purpose and more often, without!
Sometimes life deals you another hand of crap. Everything that can possibly go wrong, does. Every good thing that ever happens to you (as small as it may be), ultimately results in yet another few things going wrong. You know there is a God, but you forget that He is yours too. You can't tell the difference between God's tests and His punishments. A wise woman once shared with me something that another wise woman once told her. There is an easy rule of differentiation that separates the tests from the punishments so it can be just that little bit easier to act accordingly to disentangle the mess that is your life. She told me that the only way to know if a certain bout of bad luck is a test or a punishment is by deeply reflecting on whether that misfortune brings you closer to God or pulls you away from Him. If it brings you closer to God, than it was a test. If it takes you further from Him, it was either a failed test, or quite simply a punishment - which when you think about it, either way, is really the same thing - a punishment.
That wise woman is my sister, and the wise woman who told her is her best friend. After my three-year blogging hiatus, I write today to share this slice of wisdom with my own friends, foes (if I have any) and anyone who may chance to read this. If this little thought can pull even one soul out of misery or even a tiny bit of confusion, than my post has served its purpose.
Here's to many more years of ranting - with a purpose and more often, without!
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