The Value of Life's Lessons

A few days ago I received a text message from my newly married daughter in Oklahoma.  She was commenting on one of the posts that I had written in the previous week about her life.  She remarked that she hadn’t totally realized how far she had come through the years.  She found herself happy, amazed and at the same time very thankful for her past.  Not all of those times were happy times for her, but they were times were she sought the Lord with all her heart, learned many of life’s lessons and found her true path to follow. That path has led her to where she contentedly finds herself today!  Is she at the end of her journey?  Not even close!  In fact she’ll probably tell you that she is just at the beginning of it!  And she is thrilled to imagine what is ahead!

How about you?  Have you every REALLY looked at where you have been and the lessons you’ve learned along the way?  You have probably received quite an education and may not even have realized it!  Most times the hardest battles in our lives lead to our biggest victories. 

When we were back in Oklahoma a few weeks ago, my wife and I met a longtime friend and went for a walk in the campus park on the grounds of the Bible School we attended.  There is a white swing there that my daughter and I had spent some time sitting on and talking when we first moved back there in 2006.  She was not a happy camper and I wanted to be with her as much as I could in order for her to talk about her feelings and needs.  I believe the conversation at that swing was the first of many such times that gradually progressed from anger to joy at her working through the tough times and knowingly receiving the will of God for her life.  She and I grew very close through those emotional conversations and I am very thankful for that!  While I don’t necessarily believe that God causes the tough times in our lives, I do believe that He can use them as training centers for our personal development if we look to Him for His answers.

I guess that what I am trying to say is to be thankful for your past.  I know of many who are angry and unforgiving about their personal history.  While we don’t need to dwell on the past, I would suggest that you look and discover what positive lessons the Lord may have taught you (or may still want you to see) through the experiences you lived.  I have mentioned a few times about some of the hard things that I have experienced from others close to me during this battle with my wife’s health.  But like I’ve said, I’ve learned a lot about myself through it all.  I’ve learned to see these things through the eyes of Jesus, and let me tell you, it is a totally different viewpoint than what my flesh wanted me to see (and say!).  But the point is that I have allowed it to be a positive lesson for me. 

Are there some positive lessons that you need to take from the hard times in your past?  Learn them and then employ them as a part of your foundation as you move on as a more complete individual in your daily walk with God!  Stay tuned and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”