Glory in the Midst of Pain
I am not sure how many of you heard, but on 10/1/17 around 10pm PST, a very tragic event took place in Las Vegas. It is being deemed as the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, as around 59 people lost their lives that day and over 400 people were injured. These are innocent people enjoying an outside concert when the massacre took place from a near by hotel. People are saying that the person who committed this act is senseless, deranged, and even psychotic. However, only thing one thing crosses my brain when it comes to something like this - he is missing Jesus.
The person responsible for the many lives lost is Stephen P. He is a multimillionaire and a major gambler. A lot of our brains cannot fathom the reasoning, as in reality, it should be hard for us to comprehend this. However, we need to stop and really think about this whole situation. We have a hole in our heart that can only be filled by God. We can try to cram all kinds of things into this void, but in reality we cannot. Money will not fill it, sex, drugs, alcohol, and gambling (to list a few) cannot fill the emptiness we all long. We, as humans, want to fill this space and some don't even realize that the only way to do that is with Jesus and his amazing grace that he offers.
This event is very tragic and affects so many people. However, did you know that there is and will be good that comes from this situation? There is good that comes from all sorts of situations. You may be wondering, "How in the world can good come from over 50 people being shot to death and over 400 being injured?" Easy! What Satan intended for evil, God will turn around for good. This is even found in Genesis 50:20, "You (Satan) intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good..." Did God want those people to die and get hurt? No, but he will use this for his glory regardless. Look at the many people afterwards that lined up outside the hospitals to give blood. There were some people that held complete strangers, trying to help them in their time of need. Those that didn't believe there is a God, will now because of this situation. And who knows what will stem from this event later on down the road even. Here is a good example for you:
We started the adoption process back in 2013 or so. We were matched around August of 2013, and then near the end of September, beginning of October of 2013, the birth mom changed her mind. We were devastated, and we were out about $11,000. The money was not the issue. What hurt the most was the hope that we had of finally becoming parents, being ripped out from underneath us. Little did we know what God had planned for us was far better than we could have ever thought, dreamed, or imagined.
Just because tragedy or bad things happen in our lives, doesn't mean that God will bring good out of it. I'm not saying that you aren't going to feel pain, but what I am saying is that joy will come from it eventually. Talking about losses or struggles is not fun for anyone, but they can be highly encouraging to other people. My girls have an amazing story because God took our toughest situations and turned them into a beautiful masterpiece.
Like I have mentioned before, we struggled with infertility for a good 10 to 11 years before we finally got Anna. Then, when she was a year old, we were able to do infertility treatments because of my new job. I found out about this while talking to a co-worker about Anna and telling her story. The lady I was talking to has been struggling with infertility for about 4 or 5 years now I believe. She's endured an awful miscarriage several years ago with triplets, and just a year and a half ago now she endured a miscarriage with her twins. How devastating! She's doing another round of IVF, why? Because she has hope! She recognized that all the trials and struggles that we went through, we never gave up. Our hurt, our pain, and even our losses brought about Anna and Olivia so we can tell others our/their story, to give others hope. What Satan intended for harm/hurt/pain, God used it for so much more than that.
Now, you might be asking, "When will I see this good? When will I see that God is turning this bad situation into something wonderful?" I hate to break it to you, but you are not going to see this right away. You won't see the good coming from the bad even a few months down the road. Depending on things, you might/won't see what God's doing until sometimes years later, to even sometimes after the good has already happened. I didn't see God making our situation into something beautiful until we had Anna in our arms and everything was finalized. That moment when I first started to share her story that's when I had the "OOOOOHHHH" moment. That "Ah-ha! That's what God was doing!" moment that changed everything.
All of our lives are beautiful messes. What are you doing to share your story? You might not realize it, but your trials, pain, and losses just might help and encourage someone else. As painful or hurtful it is to talk about what you are going (or did go) through, it just might bring someone else hope as they might be walking a similar path. I don't wish infertility on anyone, I don't wish for someone to lose a close family or friend, but we can take these moments in our lives and be a light of hope to someone else. So again I ask, what are you doing to share your story?
The person responsible for the many lives lost is Stephen P. He is a multimillionaire and a major gambler. A lot of our brains cannot fathom the reasoning, as in reality, it should be hard for us to comprehend this. However, we need to stop and really think about this whole situation. We have a hole in our heart that can only be filled by God. We can try to cram all kinds of things into this void, but in reality we cannot. Money will not fill it, sex, drugs, alcohol, and gambling (to list a few) cannot fill the emptiness we all long. We, as humans, want to fill this space and some don't even realize that the only way to do that is with Jesus and his amazing grace that he offers.
This event is very tragic and affects so many people. However, did you know that there is and will be good that comes from this situation? There is good that comes from all sorts of situations. You may be wondering, "How in the world can good come from over 50 people being shot to death and over 400 being injured?" Easy! What Satan intended for evil, God will turn around for good. This is even found in Genesis 50:20, "You (Satan) intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good..." Did God want those people to die and get hurt? No, but he will use this for his glory regardless. Look at the many people afterwards that lined up outside the hospitals to give blood. There were some people that held complete strangers, trying to help them in their time of need. Those that didn't believe there is a God, will now because of this situation. And who knows what will stem from this event later on down the road even. Here is a good example for you:
We started the adoption process back in 2013 or so. We were matched around August of 2013, and then near the end of September, beginning of October of 2013, the birth mom changed her mind. We were devastated, and we were out about $11,000. The money was not the issue. What hurt the most was the hope that we had of finally becoming parents, being ripped out from underneath us. Little did we know what God had planned for us was far better than we could have ever thought, dreamed, or imagined.
Just because tragedy or bad things happen in our lives, doesn't mean that God will bring good out of it. I'm not saying that you aren't going to feel pain, but what I am saying is that joy will come from it eventually. Talking about losses or struggles is not fun for anyone, but they can be highly encouraging to other people. My girls have an amazing story because God took our toughest situations and turned them into a beautiful masterpiece.
Like I have mentioned before, we struggled with infertility for a good 10 to 11 years before we finally got Anna. Then, when she was a year old, we were able to do infertility treatments because of my new job. I found out about this while talking to a co-worker about Anna and telling her story. The lady I was talking to has been struggling with infertility for about 4 or 5 years now I believe. She's endured an awful miscarriage several years ago with triplets, and just a year and a half ago now she endured a miscarriage with her twins. How devastating! She's doing another round of IVF, why? Because she has hope! She recognized that all the trials and struggles that we went through, we never gave up. Our hurt, our pain, and even our losses brought about Anna and Olivia so we can tell others our/their story, to give others hope. What Satan intended for harm/hurt/pain, God used it for so much more than that.
Now, you might be asking, "When will I see this good? When will I see that God is turning this bad situation into something wonderful?" I hate to break it to you, but you are not going to see this right away. You won't see the good coming from the bad even a few months down the road. Depending on things, you might/won't see what God's doing until sometimes years later, to even sometimes after the good has already happened. I didn't see God making our situation into something beautiful until we had Anna in our arms and everything was finalized. That moment when I first started to share her story that's when I had the "OOOOOHHHH" moment. That "Ah-ha! That's what God was doing!" moment that changed everything.
All of our lives are beautiful messes. What are you doing to share your story? You might not realize it, but your trials, pain, and losses just might help and encourage someone else. As painful or hurtful it is to talk about what you are going (or did go) through, it just might bring someone else hope as they might be walking a similar path. I don't wish infertility on anyone, I don't wish for someone to lose a close family or friend, but we can take these moments in our lives and be a light of hope to someone else. So again I ask, what are you doing to share your story?
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