Any Given Day: 40

Growth

With hardship comes one of two things: hardness or growth.

We can choose to become hardened against life, keeping our barriers up and ourselves closed off to possibilities . We can choose to let our bitterness and anger consume our thoughts and affect our actions and eat at our relationships with others. We can choose to decide we are a victim and surround ourselves with people who pity us.

We also have the choice to grow from the experience. We can reflect on where we took a wrong turn and learn from it. We can keep our hearts and our minds open for new possibilities. We are perfectly capable of coming back from a painful and embarrassing experience with a new humility and a greater empathy toward others.

Growth requires reflection, however more than anything, it requires strength and courage. God made us imperfect. We are not Him, and sometimes we need reminders. He uses our pain to teach us where we went wrong in order to grow closer to Him. His reminders can be gentle or they can be tough depending on how far we have strayed off course. As always, they are designed to be a vehicle for growth.

Dear Lord, I am feeling the growing pains of life today! I have so many regrets and so many unfulfilled desires. I have strayed away from your plan for me and I am not sure how to return. Please guide me in the right direction so that I may grow and prosper from this experience! Thank you for loving me enough to bring Jesus to Earth to set the example of growth and humility. AMEN

2 Corinthians 8:10

Any Given Day: 6

Sorrow.

We have all experienced the emotion of sadness. It seems to just hang there, ever present, sometimes. You may feel it due to a situation you can not control, a loss of a person or a relationship, and sometimes for no particular reason at all. It is always accompanied by it's evil twin, the sense of hopelessness. You can see it in another person's body language and in their eyes.

Today, God wants you to know that it is ok to be sad. In fact He created the emotion and He Himself feels it. How could He not?

Accepting sorrow is difficult, especially for those of us whose job it is to be cheerful. It can and should be embraced and recognized, but it should not have the power to paralyze you...

If today you are sad, or you know someone who is, pray this:

Heavenly Father, sorrow is a dark and lonely place. Help me to understand the emotion and accept it as something that is felt, not something that defines the person. For those struggling with profound sadness, for any reason, may they feel Your comforting arms around them. I pray for peace in our hearts today. Please allow the gift of time, and Your Love, to pull me through the darkest days and closer to You. Jesus wept, and it is ok for us to as well...AMEN

2 Corinthians 8:10