The Gift of Suffering.

I know you're probably wondering, "The Gift of Suffering?" since when is suffering a "gift"?

Well, read on!

When we go through hardships as Christians, we sometimes wonder, why me? Why is this happening to me? Is this some kind of a joke, God? This isn't what I planned. This wasn't supposed to be like this.

I've been there, believe me, I have. Every plan I had for my life ten years ago has been a complete and utter joke. I dropped out of college just to be a realtor, which I flunked not once but four times. Then I ended up working at a hotel until my husband hired me on to work for him. Then we began trying to start a family only to have two silent miscarriages that hit us like bricks. Then we found out it wasn't going to be easy at all to foster or adopt. So, yeah, I get it. Life doesn't always turn out how we expected. We lose people, we lose plans, we lose hope. But, then there's God and His plan.

So, a lot of people question God when things like this happen, I've heard Why would God allow this to happen if he loves his children? If he can heal the blind, why can't he do this simple task for me? I'm guilty of asking myself these questions, just like everyone else who wonders.

Well, as I was reading my devotional I read, "Even when those in the world around us ignore our words during peaceful or pleasant times, they pay close attention to us in our suffering."

Did you read that? Read it again! The world can and will ignore us during the good times when our lives are great, but they're watching in the bad times! That is when God can use our situations and our heartbreak to His good!

"It's unnatural to praise God in hard times, but that's when our praise rings truest. Others pay attention when they hear us praising God in our pain. They learn to trust Him when we trust Him even on our hardest days."

We all ask God to use us to His glory, but what if His way of using us is putting us through heartbreaking trials just to show others around us that even in the worst of storms, we can still praise Him. Are you willing to turn to God and praise Him during your darkest moments? Or are you only going to praise Him when things are going your way?