When we are born our parents have hopes and dreams for how our lives will turn out. Over the years we begin to develop our own dreams. Sometimes those dreams align with those of our parents and sometimes they don't. Either way, we set out on a path to achieve our dreams. No matter what those dreams are...somewhere along the way you are bound to face challenges that run the chance of shifting your perspective and quite possibly adjust the path to achieving your dreams. So often there are experiences that change the course of our lives. Whether it's not getting in to the school you hoped to or the career you've chosen not working out. There are so many things that affect us.
So what happens when we are faced with a challenge we don't thing me can possibly overcome? We survive!!! How? Through our relationship with God. For some this is hard to believe. I know it was for me. I had to experience going through hardship and surviving that hardship in a way that was supernaturally beyond my capability and could have only been the result of God working in my life.
I recently read the book "Work Love Pray" by Diane Paddison. A lot of what she wrote about really resonated with me. For those of you who haven't had a chance to read this book, I really recommend you check it out. While the focus of the book is "practical wisdom for young professional christian women," I believe that this book is an excellent read for just about anyone.
While the book focuses primarily on what it means to be a Christian woman in the workplace, she also shares some personal aspects of her own life. One personal aspect that I really appreciate and respect her sharing was her experience of going through a divorce. Diane talks about how she was hesitant to share this part of her life because of the pain she still feels, the ongoing perceptions that one faces by being divorced, and because of how easy it would be to paint her ex-husband as a monster. But she admits how he wasn't actually a monster, just that they shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. That the plans they each had for their lives didn't align with one another.
I really appreciate how Diane summarizes her decision to share such a personal aspect of her life by saying, "Perhaps
the greatest lesson I learned from my divorce is that with God's help, I
can face anything and come out on the other side a better person. You
can too. But only if you allow yourself to be exactly who you are. To
be authentic, not just when everything in your life is going as planned,
but when things go horribly wrong. And they will. I
was tempted to hide this part of my story from you, but I chose to
follow the advice I've always tried to live by: just tell the truth.
Sometimes it will help you. Sometimes it won't. But it's always the
right thing to do."
Have you ever faced something challenging in your life that was difficult to share with others. Maybe it was something you were currently experiencing. Or perhaps it was something you experienced at some time in the past. Either way, we all have aspects of our lives that we are tempted to hide from others. It isn't always necessary that the first thing we share with someone is a deep personal part of our lives. Sometimes it is good for them to get the chance to know us first. But we need to not be afraid to share how we are who we are with others. Diane sharing about her divorce might not directly impact many of her readers...but for those of us who have gone through that kind of an experience or know someone else who has, her encouragement and demonstration of overcoming that aspect of a time in her life is a powerful example and motivator.
It is a challenging thing to share the personal aspects of our lives with others. Fear that you will be looked at differently. That you will be respected less. It is so easy to worry that people will see the worst in us. But is important for us to share our testimonies. By sharing the challenges we have faced, we reduce the hold that the negative aspects of these experiences have over our lives.
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior" Isaiah 43:1-3
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