Impossible Situation or Great Opportunity???

I recently came across this quote by Chuck Swindoll:
"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."

I shared it with a friend, who responded:
"I would not take away one brilliantly disguised impossible situation, would you?"

My answer???
"No, I wouldn't. I'm glad the Lord took me through them, I learned so much. But, I don't want to relive the pain of them."


Would you take away your brilliantly disguised impossible situations?

Facing the illnesses, disabilities, pains, disappointments, fiery trials, fears and worries, causes our hearts to be turned more fully to Christ. And, for that reason alone, I would not remove one of the impossible situations I have faced.

They say hind sight is 20/20....but I'm afraid, for some of us, it's not. Some of us face these impossible situations and walk through them, barely surviving and at the end of it, become bitter towards God and others, instead of taking them and using them as great opportunities to grow in our faith. At the end of the trial, some may look back and say, "What a waste." It doesn't have to be that way.

I've walked that narrow tight rope between spiritual growth and bitterness. Sometimes, I leaned precariously close to falling off into bitterness. Thankfully, the Lord continued calling my name, drawing me to HIM. I am still walking the tight rope toward Christ, eyes fixed on HIM. There are still plenty of opportunities to fall into bitterness, but God is faithful.

Each of us, regardless of what we are experiencing, can find great opportunities for growth. That is the purpose of trials. Trials are not easy and there are times that we just want the pain of the trial to end.

We have no guarantee when it will end or if it ever will. We may live to the end of our days with this difficulty. Each moment, we must make a conscious effort to accept whatever the Lord gives us, knowing it is for our good. And, then we must look for the opportunity to share with others HIS faithfulness. We must reassure our hearts with HIS word. HE is with us, HE walks before us.

What are the opportunities we will have because of this trial of care giving? I don't know....today, our time and energy may be high demand, but we don't know the future and the way the Lord wants to use us. We may be able, along the way, to encourage another brother or sister in the faith. Perhaps we'll change another person's perspective on suffering. Maybe we'll find ourselves with a ministry we never would have thought of before. Where ever the Lord leads us, He will use us.

Let's not waste this time of learning and growing. Let's learn the lessons the Lord wants to teach us and wait for those opportunities to show themselves.