Do you find yourself in disbelief sometimes?
There are times that are hard to grasp while we are walking through them and also hard for our loved ones to grasp. Sharing an experience with someone can make you feel vulnerable. It's not a good feeling when what you share with a friend or loved one is received with disbelief.
Trust may not even be the issue. However, there are times when trusting certain individuals has an impact on whether I believe their story or not. The content of what we are being told is just hard to conceptualize at times.
There have been actual moments in my life when I couldn't process and therefore didn't want to believe something that I was told. For example, when my friend called me and told me she had stage IV pancreatic cancer. I accepted it when she told me and encouraged her how she needed encouragement. However, the next day I texted her and asked her if we could talk again because I was not able to grasp the horror that she had shared with me the day prior. I needed help processing her words again. Life without her didn't seem like an option. We have been a part of each other's lives since I was 19 years old, my entire adult life.
When the tables were turned, I have revealed truths to another loved one. She verbalized, with a response of “I just don't believe it.” This was said as a sincere response. I shared the specifics of the health issues I had been experiencing daily for years. Her response impacted who and what I would share with others moving forward.
Trauma or health scares can be unbelievable and hard to conceptualize. Hopefully, it is not until we have gained wisdom through living daily life that these unbelievable circumstances present themselves. Wisdom gained from living through some of life's challenges is meant to assist us through subsequent hard times.
The definition of wisdom reads: the quality of having experience, knowledge and good judgement; the quality of being wise (listen to his good judgment).
Other bullet points include:
*the soundness of an action or decision with regard to an application of experience, knowledge and good judgment.
*the body of knowledge and principles that develops within a specified society or period.
Wisdom is gained and rewarded, and referenced as using good to reach an outcome. It is not always instinctual. If we do not have wisdom at the time we are walking through one of these hard times, we will surely gain wisdom from the experience. Otherwise, we are left broken with no desire to keep moving.
I do believe that in these circumstances our wisdom comes from above. God provides strength and longs for good to come to us even when we experience trauma or health scares. Do you not wonder how a child, who is goodness embodied, can rise up from abuse to walk through life with purpose and a desire to better their circumstances and outlook?
One of my favorite things in life, is witnessing a success story. Any opportunity I get to read, watch, or listen to an unbelievable story where the underdog who was down and out but chose to reverse fate, inspires me. One of my favorite tv shows was The Biggest Loser. The stories about people who used food as a vice, instead of chosing a healthy way to recover from a trauma that they hadn't faced head-on is real life. I love that each one of the people who were on the show decided to make a positive change for their life. Essentially, he or she was chosing life. Each one of them faced their demons that had impacted them emotionally which lead them to food to comfort themselves.
We have all made unhealthy choices to help us endure life from time to time. However, reversing that bad decision and choosing a healthy pathway through life with less baggage and hopefully more opportunities to give and receive love make the sacrifices worthwhile.
The big reveal at the end of every episode when we witness each individual achieve success was my favorite part of the show. All the sacrifices paid off. The hours of hard training, and time spent preparing healthy meals, in addition to cutting out temptations like sugar and alcohol, were rewarded with joy and elation. Some weeks some people lost more weight than others, and some lost none. However, every participant, even when they left the show, persevered to achieve and live this new truth.
This show mimics real life to me. We each will suffer in life. Some will gain rewards from the sacrifices they make. Some healthy sacrifices will allow us to gain more days on Earth. Others will choose good after gaining knowledge and wisdom through suffering and sacrifice that there is a God who longs to reward us with joy, peace, and most of all love. God reaps rewards on those who choose to believe the unbelievable. When we acknowledge that He is real without having seen Him, we choose to live by faith.
John 20: 24- 28
“Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
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