“Image courtesy of marin/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.
This young man looks overwhelmed; and, I must admit, that I have certainly felt this way many times. However, I have learned that these moments are usually meant to teach me something important. Perhaps this quote will explain what I mean a bit better:
“We can be assured, our higher power is caring for us. Each breath we take is Spirit-filled, and the plan for our lives is an accumulation of necessary experiences that are helping us to grow and develop our special talents. What we often forget is that the difficult periods of our lives stretch us, enlighten us, ready us to be the women we desire within to be” (Casey, K., 1982, Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women, Page for July 16).
This paragraph from Karen Casey’s book of daily meditations for women reminds us of two important things:
- One, that our hardest, most difficult experiences help shape us into the person God wants us to be
- Each and every breath we take is filled with God’s spirit
At times, I find myself getting mired down in thinking about the “what if’s” of my life—-what if I hadn’t done this, what if this hadn’t happened, why couldn’t I fall in love and live happily ever after like some people are lucky enough to do, why don’t I have children, etc. The list can go on and on, and I can sink deeper and deeper into regret and eventually depression. What I have to do at those times is redirect my mind from the “what ifs” to the “thank Gods.” God didn’t give me the things I wanted; God gave me the things I needed to become what I need to be to fulfill Creator’s will.
As I did my “God point me to the right page” with the “magical opening” of several books this morning, they all seemed to be taking me to pages that talked about two things: the importance of learning from our mistakes and using them to build us into people who can use their “life’s wounds” to empower them to be more empathetic and helpful to others and the importance of living in the present moment rather than regretting our past or worrying about the future. I know that these were the messages God wanted me “to get” and to share this morning.
Now, about that “every breath we take” bit. God created us by “breathing” His breath into us, and that gift is re-gifted with every breath we take. That may just sound like a bunch of “fancy words” to some of you, but I have, at times, in the past had to fight for every breath I took. Since then, I no longer take God’s gift of breath for granted. What I am coming to appreciate more and more, however, is the fact that not only is this gift the “breath” my “life”—- it is also God sharing His Spirit with me so that I, in turn, can share that Spirit with others.
So, the next time you feel like God has given you more than you can handle or you get angry about or hurt by something, stop and ask yourself what lesson God wants you to learn from what you are experiencing and how you can use that to share God’s Spirit with others. Don’t worry about not having enough Spirit to give away; God will give you another breath.
Please comment about how “bad experiences” can be used to help us learn what we need to in order to do God’s will and share His love and/or how our own “portion” of God’s Spirit is constantly being renewed or released within us. God bless and keep you.
Living One Day at a Time 
I’ve been struggling with this. I can say that my lows seem to come out of nowhere and I pray for them to pass. I know they are connected to something, perhaps memories or bad choices from the past but its very hard to pinpoint. I do know that there is a lesson in it all and that it will pass!!! I ask God for clarity and wisdom and try to move on to the next right action. THANK YOU FOR THIS BLOG, KATHY!!!!!
You are welcome; I am so glad you are finding it useful. Clarity and wisdom are very good things to pray for as it is sometimes impossible to understand God’s purpose without His help. Hang in there!
Made me think about the ways in which the experiences and situations in my life that I wished/wish I could change have done so much more for me than the things I would have chosen for myself. So often it is easy to focus on a life goal of “I want to be happy.” I don’t think that is God’s greatest plan for us. He has more important goals for us and sometimes we must be very unhappy indeed to get to where He wants us. In the end, that can make us happy too, but often not what the world would understand by that term.
You are so right about “being happy” as the world understands it not being the purpose of our journey! Thanks for your insightful comment!