Suffering

WHAT I CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON: the flip side of suffering

To me, suffering is a pretty intense word. I think of near death types of situations, excruciating pain and things of that sort. But today, as I was pulling into the garage and the radio was on scan looking for something peppy to pick up my mood, a pastor preaching on suffering came on. I heard him say, "God uses suffering to reveal our spiritual character." WELL, AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH?!? I immediately hit the scan button again, so I could hear what this guy had to say. I was interested because I actually got some sleep last night (thank you tylenol pm), so hearing and comprehending words are back amongst my skills today (have been a little sleep deprived punch drunk the past week). The jist of the sermon was that God uses suffering to draw us closer to Him. That we are forced into the presence of God and become SERIOUS about our prayer life.... can I get an AMEN?!? That is soooooo true. Its no suprise I have been struggling lately, but I have been also doing my fair share of praying too.... seeking His truth and looking for any nugget I could grasp on to get me thru the day. And thats the gift, right? Being able to surrender the pain and suffering, not matter what the situation is, and continue to move forward, pursuing our purpose? We all have our 'stuff' to deal with, its all in how you deal with it, and get to the other side, and hopefully, it draws you closer to God in the process. 'Cause some days, thats all I got. Dont get me wrong, I could write VOLUMES about the blessings in my life... its those damn valleys that make the mountain-tops so glorious. And most days, it feels like I am either climbing, or sliding on the ups and downs of life, but I have been leaning on Him, and trying focus on the sweet stuff.... and boy, do I have A LOT of sweet stuff to focus on and be grateful for.


MY THANKS GOES TO:

1) Tylenol PM. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the 2 hours of sleep I got last night. It doesnt sound like much, but it was what I needed to function today.

2) Saturday Night Live. Old and New. Humor is also something that helps get me thru the day and I have viewed my fair share of SNL skits in the last couple of days to get me thru. The Betty White stuff last Sat was hysterical!