“Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They’re what make the instrument stretch, what make you go beyond the norm.” ~ Cicely Tyson, Actor
Challenges
Sometimes I don’t want a challenge. I just want a sunny, bright, happy day in which everything happens exactly how I want it to. Days like that are good, but in reality they don’t happen very often.
Every day usually holds some kind of challenge, and so provides an opportunity for refinement. The trouble is, the road to refinement typically isn’t comfortable.
New Discoveries
I remember the day my divorce was final. We were standing on the courthouse steps in the warm October sun. I was trying desperately not to cry and my attorney said, “You know, women discover all kinds of new things about themselves through this.”
I smiled and nodded, but in my heart I wanted to say, “I don’t want to discover anything new about myself, I just want to grow old with my husband and share all the joys that this time in life is supposed to bring.”
An Unexpected Journey To A New Life
Now that I’m more than a couple of years out from my divorce, I can see that my attorney was right. This journey has brought me so much personal growth and has deepened my appreciation for this incredible life we have. I wouldn’t go back to where I was for anything.
But on that morning on the courthouse steps, I was truly unsure of whether I would ever experience anything good again. I know where you’re at right now. And how hard it is to accept. But the things you will discover about yourself through this can bring about a new life that is worth all of the pain and heartache. Hang in there.
“We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next … and we’re never left feeling shortchanged.” ~ Romans 5:3-4 (The Message)
