“Pain is weakness leaving the body.” Anonymous
I know I’ve mentioned this quote many times before. If the statement above is true, (and I know it can be), we can all be bionic women! I have seen the saying on a shirt at a Cross Country meet. I have seen it in a book about Marine Corp Boot Camp. I have seen the same idea in the Bible. When we are in the middle of the pain, it is hard to see anything good about it; but when we are training for an endurance race or working out we can understand that we have to “suffer” to get the results we want. That concept is harder to accept when we are facing emotional or spiritual pain — especially the pain of rejection.
I can say without a doubt however that when you get through the pain and heartache and suffering and struggle of a midlife divorce, you are stronger than you ever thought you could be. During the pain of my divorce I learned lessons that eventually became the “super” powers of faith, joy and determination … although at the time, I didn’t recognize the growing that was happening. Little things don’t bother me like they used to. We can earn to hold our head high through dishonesty, unfair circumstances and loss … and we begin to understand a little better the fact that with God, we can truly conquer any difficulty.
Instead of looking at the pain of divorce as something that saps your strength, look at it as something that is “forging the tempered steel of virtue,” and making you stronger and better than ever.
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials for we know that they are good for us — they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. Then when that happens, we are able to hold our heads high no matter what happens and know that all is well …” Romans 5:1-5 (The Living Bible)
