Learning from hardship

My firstborn girlie turns fifteen this weekend. Fifteen years ago we were in the midst of a whirlwind of crisis and activity. This little baby was arriving with a half a heart. We were facing the largest hurdle and challenge life had thrown at us. We didn’t know what to expect, and we were anxious and afraid. But calm. There was nothing we could do but hope and hang on.

As I look at this event in the rear view mirror, much of the pain is hidden. I see the outlines, like a city fading into the distance. I don’t see the raw, ugly streets that were traversed. Just the fading emerald city.

Life is like that. We can’t hold onto the pain. It must subside, or we couldn’t manage to keep moving forward. We carry the scars and the lessons of the past, but we move onward. Sometime onto better days, sometimes into other struggles. But we must keep moving.

If we are wise, we let the trauma teach us without embittering our hearts. This is tricky, but essential. If we see our suffering as a lesson that we can share with others, then we are less prone to envy. In this way we can find benefit in the hard fought experience, not just pain. This is how we can avoid bitterness.

Ephesians 4: 31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.