A thought by Maria Goff (2017-03-07) from her book, Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need in a World Telling You What You Want (Kindle Location 331). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
I am so glad that is true, aren’t you?
Maria says, “We’ve changed a lot since the night the Lodge burned down. It’s odd how much I still remember about that night. It makes me wonder if God spends much time thinking about who we were and all of the details surrounding the difficulties we’ve experienced in our lives. I know He could remember everything if He wanted to, but I can’t help but wonder if He thinks that the fires we’ve endured don’t matter as much as the future He’s promised us. Certainly, God uses everything in our lives; nothing is wasted. But among His favorite questions for us isn’t where we’ve been and what we’ve been through, but ‘Where do we go from here?’ Like the disappointments we’ve all experienced, what stands out in my memory of the fire are just a few snapshots. The phone call, the family gathered close, standing next to the charred foundations, and the smell of smoke. I think God wired a lot of us to remember just a few parts of our pain, because He knows we don’t need all of the details to remember the lessons we’ve learned.”
Is that true of you and the difficulties that you have gone through or are going through?
She goes on, “Nothing remains of the Lodge. The intensity of the fire even destroyed the foundations. That takes a lot of heat. But you know what? I’m kind of glad it did. If there were even one old charred beam still standing after the fire, I’d be tempted to use it to rebuild.
“We do this all the time in our personal lives, too. We keep scorched pieces from our biggest failures and incorporate them into our lives as we rebuild ourselves. It’s not a good construction practice with wood, and it doesn’t make for a good future when we do it with our lives, because it only reminds us of our past. Sometimes we’re best served to start all over.”
She then says, “When we’ve suffered loss, starting again always feels like a gamble. Will we risk it all, knowing it might all just burn down again? Each of us has to decide if we’ll ante up and play another hand, or push away from the table and call it a day. I don’t think God gambles. He doesn’t need to. He sees the future and because He does, He already sees the beauty we’ve yet to find in the rebuilding. He doesn’t just make beauty from the ashes; He makes something far better. He shapes us into who we’re becoming.”
Maybe this is where you are in your life today. Just remember, God is there with you and he sees the beauty that is ahead. As Maria said, “He doesn’t just make beauty from the ashes; He makes something far better. He shapes us into who we’re becoming.”
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