It has been five years….
I know that you are waiting. You are waiting for me to tell my story from five years ago. The story that changed my life. But I’m going to disappoint you. After telling the story so many times, I’ve realized that the story itself doesn’t really matter.
The words that I use, the tiny details I explain, the dramatic pauses, the pain that I try to convey—it’s a string of useless of consonants. Telling my story will not make today’s five-year anniversary any more or less special, because the story doesn’t matter. What matters is that I lived, that I learned something, and that my life changed.
Everyone has a story, something pivotal that changed their lives—changed the way that they live and view the world. Perhaps it’s not a dramatic story, it doesn’t have the flourish of battle scars, the thrill of life-and-death, or the credentials of a front-page news story, but you experienced something that changed your life, and it was epic.
But epic stories need more than just a hero and a delicious plot twist. They need to bring the reader to that emotional life-threatening moment when the hero is faced with a horrible disaster and then learns something that changes his or her life.
It is in that moment—when disaster strikes and the world suddenly spins off its hinges—that moment, right there—when the hero learns something about life and perseverance. It’s what you learn in that beautiful and horrible moment that matters—not what happened, not the headline, not the body-count, or even the happily ever after—what matters most is the lesson—the truth—that you found.
And so, today on the five year anniversary of my most terrible day, I am consciously choosing to not tell you my story. Because the story itself doesn’t matter, what matters is the lessons that I learned. And five years ago, I learned two very important things.
First, I learned that God doesn’t promise to save us from disaster; He promises to walk with us as we walk through disaster—which is very different and very difficult to learn.
And second, I learned that sometimes the disaster we have been hoping against, is really the blessing we have been praying for all along.
We have all prayed for God to show up and save us from certain disaster. But, sometimes, we have to trust that if that disaster comes anyway, that God is still good and is walking with us. And that maybe, just maybe, this disaster that we are walking through is the best thing that could’ve ever happened.
Helpful Resources:
“And if not, He is still good.” Daniel Bible Study: http://shereadstruth.com/plan/daniel/
“Blessings” is a song impacting many touched by disappointment only to discover the revelation of God’s grace.
Article publié pour la première fois le 19/11/2015
