Monday Morning Memo: Better Days?

Several weeks ago, our three-year-old grandson, Ezekiel, had his tonsils taken out.  It’s so hard to explain to a young child what they are going to have to endure…and what it will be like when they wake up from the surgery.  He was smiling before they took him back, but unfortunately, there were few smiles after it was over.

Naturally, it didn’t take long for Ezekiel to know that whatever they did to him, didn’t make him feel any better.  Through tears he looked at his parents and asked, “When will they put my tonsils back?”  You see in his young mind, if they would just put the tonsils back where they belong…his pain would be gone.  In the long run…he will be much better off without them…but that was impossible to understand in his current situation.

I had to chuckle when I heard what his question was, but it didn’t take long for me to wonder how often I ask the same thing in my life.  When life is throwing painful, difficult circumstances my way, I can find myself asking when things will return to the way they were.  Sometimes, yesterday’s life seems so much better and if God would just allow me to return to those “good old days”…I wouldn’t have to experience today’s pain any longer.

We read in Romans 5:3, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.”  While I know these words are true, I have to admit that it is easier for me to believe them when I am looking in reverse in my life…but it’s often hard to hold onto them when I’m in the pain.

If I take some time and review the past moments in my life when things were difficult, I can usually see how God was working through those days…molding me, making me stronger and hopefully making me look more like Him.  While going through the pain wasn’t fun, I can see that in the long run…I am stronger and better off because He allowed me to walk through those challenging times.  

I don’t know what you are going through today, but odds are that someone reading this is experiencing a difficult time and you are begging God to take you back to those “better” days when things were easier.  I want to encourage you to use your past life events as a reminder of God’s faithfulness and then use your current difficulties to help you grow to look more and more like Him.  Just like it was with our grandson, the pain of your today just might make you a much healthier person in the days to come.  Keep looking forward and allow God to work His perfect plan in and through you today!

PLEASE NOTE:  My next five weeks are going to be rather crazy…so I will be taking a little break from my Monday Morning Memo.  I am confident that my experiences during this time will give me some new, fresh insights to share when I return.  Blessings to all!