I walked all the way to Parkway Parade tonight. And I walked back. The speed at which I walked was very fast. I didn't feel tired although I should be since I rushed back from Johor Bahru. But what was so good about the walk was I met an old friend.
Each time I met someone from my distant past, I know there is a reason. Tonight was no different. I could easily walk off because this person didn't see me. She is not someone I want to meet or dying to meet because she is not so easy to understand. Talking to her can make you feel like you are a loser. But I chose tonight to speak to her.
She told me her long story and in that I learned many things. For one, I learned I have a great life. Not that she doesn't have one. I have a great life because God has been so kind to me. She has gone through a divorce and was physically and verbally abused in her marriage. She took her kids and walked out on her abusive husband. She had had it with her husband when his abuse of their son became detrimental to the boy's mental health.
Sometimes I wonder why people bother to get married and then abuse their spouses (husbands can be abused by their wives too). As a student who minored in psychology, I learned that anyone who was in an abusive relationship always look for the same type of person. Especially so in an abusive marriage. This is because the abusive spouse will always be so nice and the victim enjoyed this brief moment of blessedness. And it is this brief moment of happy thoughts and feelings that may not last that get the victims so hooked onto an abusive relationship.
This is not healthy and to walk out of an unhealthy relationship like this takes courage. She displayed great courage to walk out. But I believe greater courage is to fight all these shadows of her past. That needs God.
We bury our sorrows in different forms. Some of us do sports. We cycle, we swim, we walk ... Some of us sing. Some draw and others have their own ways...the bottle may be. But God wants our sorrows. He is not just a God who gives happiness. He does give pain and sorrow. It is so wrong to think God will only keep us happy. Happiness is subjective. People can be happy in their sorrows.
People always say no pain, no gain. Yup. God gives us pain so we can gain. Gain strength and courage to face whatever confronts us. Gain experience so we can share with others who may be in the same dark hour we just went through. Gain joy when we eventually live through the darkest hour. Gain friends who fought through the darkest moments. Gain better vision of another day because you know God is going to be right there. Gain faith trusting that God will walk with us on the troubled waters. Gain peace because He will still the storms of our live. Gain directions because He will show the way. Gain wisdom for with each fire that we are baptised with we learn more about God, more about what to do, what not to do and how to do it right another time. Gain forgiveness because we learn to forgive others who may falter the same way we did. Gain a good listening ear with repeated training of our own failures. Gain a peep into God's heart when we see how He hurts when we hurt.
Tonight has been great! I embrace tomorrow knowing God will take care of everything.
Bonita will like this:
