December 28th…only four more days (including today) until the year 2010. Many things happen to us during the 352 days that make up our year. Happy things, sad things, good things, bad things, things we understand, things we do not understand, opportunities we seize, opportunities we let pass…yet, the time goes by. Time that can never be retrieved. There are no “do overs” in life. As I look back on the last 361 days of 2009 I think of the things I did wrong, but I also want to look at the things I did right. Sometimes it is hard for me to focus on the positive things; yet, when I put my focus there I am always better off emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Many things happen during the year that we do not understand. Things that make no sense. We may ask God, “Why?” yet, if we knew the reason, knew the outcome, knew God’s ultimate plan, we probably would not be asking that! Many of the things that happen in our life that cause us to ask this question are really opportunities for us to grow in our faith. When Amy died 17 years ago, I absolutely questioned WHY??? To this day I still do not know WHY she died, but I know that I received comfort from the Lord, learned from the experience and have been, I believe, a comfort to others in similar situations. The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 1:3-5 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” (NIV) As I look back over this past year I pray that I am able to learn from my experiences and be a comfort to others when I have the opportunity.
Lord, please help me to learn the lessons you tried to teach me this past year. Please help me to focus more on the positive things and less on the negative things. Thank you for the trials I have had and the opportunity to share with others what I have learned from those trials. Lord, please help me recognize that my comfort is found in you and doing your will for my life. Help me seek out your will and give me the courage to do it. Thank you for this season of Christmas and this opportunity to reflect and share.
By the way, I am doing OK with the cross training I mentioned on Dec. 14th!
Thought for the day: What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. Ralph Waldo Emerson
May you, my friends, have a blessed day….
Chatter