"What if my greatest disappointments, or the aching of this life, is a revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?"
So, I have been extremely busy this week. Lots of events at work, and my best friend is getting married today. I had been feeling guilty about not posting over the past two days. So as I looked at the topic I planned to write about today, I was suddenly floored at how appropriate it is to write it today.
A little background: My best friend and I met through our boyfriends, who later became our husbands. They were best friends. We got married a year apart on the same weekend. Then, tragically, only a few months later, her husband died in a car accident. We were all devastated. How could such a terrible thing happen to such a wonderful person?
Which falls in line perfectly with today's topic: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?
What I've realized is this. Contrary to popular belief, everything doesn't "happen for a reason". Stuff (insert word of your choice) happens, and God doesn't always stop bad things from happening, but I don't believe he has this master plan which dictates who lives and who dies and when those things happen. He allows life to happen, and when those horrible, terrible things do happen, he finds a way to make good out of what seems like nothing but hope and dispair. And by good, I mean better than if that terrible thing had never even happened. Not very often do we get to see it come full circle in a relatively short amount of time.
Back to this weekend. Last night at the rehearsal dinner, her fiance' was wrapping up the toasts with a moving speech about the important people in his life, and he ended it with how important she is to him. He said that for all that know him well, ever since college he has been kind of a lost soul, and when he met her, he was finally "found". Nobody has ever showed him the unconditional love that she shows him, nobody has shown the grace and mercy that she allows him, and even though she has always been a wonderful person, I think she embodies this grace because of what she went through. She knows what it is like to suffer, a suffering that few young people ever have to experience. She, for a while, was truly broken (I remember her telling me she should just be a nun, because she would never be able to love again). God gives us an opportunity to take our brokenness, and the hole that it leaves in us, and fill it in a way that magnifies and glorifies God.Without our struggles, we wouldn’t grow in our capacity to love. She truly has such a greater capacity to love than most people I know. She judges her fiance based upon his worth as a person, and not based upon his feelings or actions at any given time.
In my toast last night, I couldn't say everything I wanted to say, because this wasn't a time to relive the past. But this morning I texted her the part that I couldn't say, and it was this:
"I have been meditating on why certian things happen in our lives. After hearing [fiance] speak last night, I was really able to see how God brought tremendous goodness to a situation that once seemed hopeless and futile. I don't believe that God took [deceased husband's] life as part of his master plan, but he found a way to create so much good out of the situation. You are such a blessing to [your fiance]. You have a grace and understanding that most people who haven't been in your shoes would never have, and [he] needs that. This gives me hope that great and wonderful things can follow all of our strugges in life. I love you, and I am blessed to stand by you in the greatest days, as well as the worst days, of your life. I am glad today is one of the greatest. OK, no more tears on this happy day! I love you!"
The book that I am reading "When Life Doesn't Go Your Way: Hope for Catholic Women Facing Disappointment and Pain" (I highly recommend it for all Christian women, Catholic or otherwise), goes so far as to say that we should ask for God to change the script of our lives, because in allowing him to use us, greater things come about than anything we could ever have hoped for or imagined.
Don't you agree that I was meant to take the last two days off and cover this topic today????
Two song recommendations for those that are suffering (make sure you have tissues handy):
"Blessings (Mercies in Disguise)" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ
"Steady my Heart" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmaBhMOXXHg
So, I have been extremely busy this week. Lots of events at work, and my best friend is getting married today. I had been feeling guilty about not posting over the past two days. So as I looked at the topic I planned to write about today, I was suddenly floored at how appropriate it is to write it today.
A little background: My best friend and I met through our boyfriends, who later became our husbands. They were best friends. We got married a year apart on the same weekend. Then, tragically, only a few months later, her husband died in a car accident. We were all devastated. How could such a terrible thing happen to such a wonderful person?
Which falls in line perfectly with today's topic: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?
What I've realized is this. Contrary to popular belief, everything doesn't "happen for a reason". Stuff (insert word of your choice) happens, and God doesn't always stop bad things from happening, but I don't believe he has this master plan which dictates who lives and who dies and when those things happen. He allows life to happen, and when those horrible, terrible things do happen, he finds a way to make good out of what seems like nothing but hope and dispair. And by good, I mean better than if that terrible thing had never even happened. Not very often do we get to see it come full circle in a relatively short amount of time.
Back to this weekend. Last night at the rehearsal dinner, her fiance' was wrapping up the toasts with a moving speech about the important people in his life, and he ended it with how important she is to him. He said that for all that know him well, ever since college he has been kind of a lost soul, and when he met her, he was finally "found". Nobody has ever showed him the unconditional love that she shows him, nobody has shown the grace and mercy that she allows him, and even though she has always been a wonderful person, I think she embodies this grace because of what she went through. She knows what it is like to suffer, a suffering that few young people ever have to experience. She, for a while, was truly broken (I remember her telling me she should just be a nun, because she would never be able to love again). God gives us an opportunity to take our brokenness, and the hole that it leaves in us, and fill it in a way that magnifies and glorifies God.Without our struggles, we wouldn’t grow in our capacity to love. She truly has such a greater capacity to love than most people I know. She judges her fiance based upon his worth as a person, and not based upon his feelings or actions at any given time.
In my toast last night, I couldn't say everything I wanted to say, because this wasn't a time to relive the past. But this morning I texted her the part that I couldn't say, and it was this:
"I have been meditating on why certian things happen in our lives. After hearing [fiance] speak last night, I was really able to see how God brought tremendous goodness to a situation that once seemed hopeless and futile. I don't believe that God took [deceased husband's] life as part of his master plan, but he found a way to create so much good out of the situation. You are such a blessing to [your fiance]. You have a grace and understanding that most people who haven't been in your shoes would never have, and [he] needs that. This gives me hope that great and wonderful things can follow all of our strugges in life. I love you, and I am blessed to stand by you in the greatest days, as well as the worst days, of your life. I am glad today is one of the greatest. OK, no more tears on this happy day! I love you!"
The book that I am reading "When Life Doesn't Go Your Way: Hope for Catholic Women Facing Disappointment and Pain" (I highly recommend it for all Christian women, Catholic or otherwise), goes so far as to say that we should ask for God to change the script of our lives, because in allowing him to use us, greater things come about than anything we could ever have hoped for or imagined.
Don't you agree that I was meant to take the last two days off and cover this topic today????
Two song recommendations for those that are suffering (make sure you have tissues handy):
"Blessings (Mercies in Disguise)" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ
"Steady my Heart" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmaBhMOXXHg
So very well said. :) I told my mother in law the same thing after my son died.
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