Where do heavy hearts go to find relief?
Who heals humiliating wounds
Inflicted and inflamed by intimate swords?
How do you explain scars without causes
Pains in sacred places, shame undeserved?
What comes handy when hearts break
When words fail and tears prevail?
How does trampled trust stand again,
To hope again, to walk again, someday?
O God, when my heart is overwhelmed
Please lead me to the rock, higher than I.
What do you do when your best gets you nowhere and your all fetches no good? How do you feel or react when your good intentions are misinterpreted or misappropriated? Who do you turn to when those you love become constant sources of pain and embarrassment? Where do you turn to when those you look up to let you down and steps that forged your confidence disappear midway, leaving you feeling not only disappointed but equally deserted, abandoned? How do you cope when your robust hope falls upon a fragile dream and crushes it to death?
I have been there several times and one thing that has remained consistent irrespective of the changing faces, locations, and timing is growth. Disappointments are critical points of growth that can be easily messed and missed if we don’t tread carefully. Growth is an essential part of life. In every relationship, changes in status and seasons are bound to introduce pressures that may either tear or strengthen the relationship, depending on how it is handled. And whatever or however the changes appear, it constantly compels one thing: growth.
Growth has its discomfort but the end product is maturity. It is amazing to note that the very things or events that force us to mature and stand out also leave others shriveled and fallen. Life is in phases. For us to progress from one phase to the other, we go through tests, whose results determine our promotion or demotion. There is no advancement without passing the appropriate test. Tests reveal how much we have learned from the opportunities provided in the school of life, whether we are ready to move up, remain where we are, or go lower. It is not the fault of perpetrators or events: our attitude influences our responses which in turn determine where we eventually end up.
If we must advance in life, growth is essential. Those who jump the lines because they are privileged eventually reach limits beyond which such connections can’t take them. Their responses ultimately shock observers who wonder, “How on earth did he get there?” Current challenges are relevant for your next steps so don’t jump processes or it will catch up with you along the line. There are places where you can only cross by what you have made with challenges that inspire development.
True growth doesn’t make us judges, insensitive, or arrogant. Instead, it stretches our initial capability, exposes us to crucial realities we may have been inured to (which often inspire arrogance,) and brings us into an enlightened position where we see farther and respond better with greater understanding. Wisdom and understanding are not sold in shops. Neither are they acquired through connections. We may learn here and there but nothing beats the joy of attainment when you persevere in the face of difficulties, when you take the right route to your destination or promotion.
On our own, we would be consumed by what is dealt us on a daily basis but I found the best way to deal with the good and the bad events of life – to lay them all down at the feet of the Master in worship. That includes occurrences that don’t seem to make sense at the time. As often as we do this, He opens our eyes to see beyond what was, what is, and what can become if we chose, for His sake, to deal peace to the unpleasantness of life. On our own, we will spend and be spent fighting battles that hold no prizes, missing possibilities, losing potentials. Nevertheless, as we trust our cares in His able hands, the eyes of our understanding will be enlightened to behold beyond the visible and empowered to respond accordingly. And growth is the essential bonus we enjoy when we learn to deal right irrespective of what we are dealt.
Glory!