The Making of Something Beautiful (31 Days of Healing in Him)

"Relieving people's suffering is not always the compassionate thing to do."

~  Kevin D. Huggins

My son loved reading the Harry Potter book series. But I wonder sometimes, what about it makes it so wildly popular?

Is it the battle between the forces of good and evil? Maybe it's the steadfast loyalty of Harry's friends and classmates working together for the same cause?

Or perhaps it's just simply magic. Have a problem? Just wave your magic wand, say a few latin phrases and all is right in the Hogwarts world.

Casting a magical spell to fix my problems does seem easier, less painful even. If I'm honest, the idea of living a safe and comfortable life never having to "do hard" seems appealing.

That's what we want from God, isn't it? To use His power to fix things?

But life doesn't work that way and neither does God.

Hard things do happen and there's no avoiding it. But why? Why can't He just fix everything? Why do people have to suffer?

I don't know. But here's a thought…

The free-will God put within us means we can choose. Choose God or the world. Choose healing or denial. Truth or deceit. Light or darkness.

Fixing the hurts so I don't have to experience them wouldn't actually help me. It might feel better, but what would it really mean to me?

I just learned how to crochet. I can buy a scarf or a winter hat at a store and it's just a hat or a scarf. But when I make one, suddenly it's not just a hat or just a scarf. Its value increases because it represents me — invested time and energy, creativity. Each "yarn on" the hook creating a stitch now means so much more.

In the same way, time invested in working through trials can have a rich reward. I can stop wondering "what if this hadn't happened" and thank God that it did. Not because I'm a masochist, but because in the overcoming, something beautiful has been made in me.

It's not a flawless process. It does require perseverance. But anything worth having takes work.

There is a story God is writing in my life and yours. It's a story filled with good versus evil, loyal friends, disappointments, battles waged, and victories. A tale that won't be completed until our days on earth are done. And it's beautiful — broken, healed, scarred and all. 

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.”

~ Gilda Radner

This is a post from my 31 days of Healing in Him series. You can find all the posts in this series here, updated each day in October. Category: Inspirational & Faith #write31Days