We love the sound of laughter And the merriment of cheer; But our hearts would lose their tenderness If we never shed a tear.
Our Father tests us often With suffering and with sorrow; He tests us, not to punish us, But to help us meet 'tomorrow'.
For growing trees are strengthened When they withstand the storm; And the sharp cut of the chisel Gives the marble grace and form.
God never hurts us needlessly, And He never wastes our pain; For every loss He sends to us Is followed by rich gain.
And when we count the blessings That God has so freely sent; We will find no cause for murmuring And no time to lament.
For Our Father loves His children, And to Him all things are plain; So He never sends us 'pleasure' When the 'soul's deep need is pain'.
So whenever we are troubled, And when everything goes wrong, It is just God working in us To make 'our spirits strong'.
~ Helen Steiner Rice ~
"So often it seems that life is only made up of things to worry about. Life has many disappointments for all of us ... death, illnesses, tragedies, and feelings of worthlessness and despair. Sometimes life can seem so very grim, and so many times we tend to wallow in pools of self-pity.
Do you have a sinful behavior you want to change? Repenting by turning to God is what reassures you and soothes you when you hurt. Doing so can help you grow even in areas that have been difficult for you to change! "...If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods...from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord...He will deliver you..." (1 Sam. 7:3).
True Repentance is more than a change of mind or feeling sorry for one's sins. True repentance is a radical and deliberate turn or returning to God that results in a moral and ethical change in action. Forget pride, seek forgiveness from those we hurt, be faithful, God will forgive.
Our time here on earth gives us the opportunity to grow spiritually. We can experience much personal growth because of all the suffering, worries, and difficulties we have to go through during our mortal lives. It is God's way of fine-tuning us so we become more compassionate, more caring, more loving, and more aware of others' pain. After all, how could we ever dry the tears of others if we had never cried ourselves?
We all find ourselves in the valley of despair sometimes. It may sometimes seem that we are forever worrying, learning lessons, suffering pain, and facing challenges. But we must try to remember that the fertilizer that helps us "grow" is in those valleys, not on the mountain tops.
During the times that we feel scared and confused, we will always end up wiser and we will grow more from the experiences. We will understand more about people and life, become more sensitive, and we'll be able to enjoy life more after we go through the hard times.
We have to experience sadness so that we may better measure joy. Life has a way of balancing the sorrow with the joy, the disappointments with the hope, and the emptiness with the meaning.
Even though things look cloudy right now, they'll get better soon. Just remember that it takes rain to make rainbows, lemons to make lemonade, and sometimes it takes difficulties to make us stronger and better people. If you hang in there, you will see that the sun will shine again soon ... you'll see."
