I'm reminded again this morning of one of my favorite
stories from the Old Testament (of which I know next to nothing so this is a
story I can refer to yet not come close to quoting correctly...but the sense of
it is right).
It's the story of Joseph, having been sold into slavery by
his brothers, ending up as the right-hand man to the pharaoh. Famine hits, his
brothers are down, broke and starving, they hightail it to Joseph, begging
understanding, forgiveness and a piece of his pie since he's now in the catbird
seat. And they're there with excuses up the gump-stump for selling him into
slavery in the first place. Which leads to my favorite punch line: He says to
them, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."
That sentence never fails to help me turn my hurt heart
around. I like to think I've vanquished my victim, but then Garth or Sylvia or
Ruckus slights me, and hurt? angry? feeling
unlovedunwantedunneededunappreciated (that is always one word to my hurt)? You
betcha.
It is stories like that...quotes, experiences of
others...that I hold onto, that I recall as needed, in order to turn my hurt
into gold. I know from my own experience that if I upgrade my attitude, I
upgrade my problem.
I was talking with my best friend from high school recently.
We'd lost track and reconnected awhile back, and we were sharing the happenings
of our lives. We've both got a lot of mud on our tires, but we're content with
the choices we made to get where we are right this minute.
My friend and I agreed that the golden goose of complete defeat which led to surrender is what got
us our freedom...and we took two entirely different paths to get there.
I'm a believer that all paths lead to God, ultimately. The
path we choose is entirely up to us...or is it, really, God's gift to us?
Thank you.
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