As I see all the beautiful flowers in bloom again, I am reminded not only that spring has sprung but this is what a harsh winter has helped to birth. So often in the midst of the storm, we forget that there will be another side to it. There will be a beauty that God brings from the trial you might be facing. He does not abandon us in the fire so to speak. If you remember the Bible story of Shadrach, Meshack, and Abendigo, they were thrown into the fire because they would not succumb to the pressures of current culture by refusing to not pray to God. Thus, they received the punishment for this and were thrown into a pit of fire. Although they prayed, God would not remove them from the fire. The fire had a purpose; we would learn it was meant to build a testimony in each of their lives. It would become a story that would inspire others. Not only that, but God did not just say, “Learn from this, fire.” No, He actually joined them in the fire!
How often do we take the time to recognize the compassions God had/has for each of us? I think it is often too easy to see through the lens of defeat in hard times, instead of looking for the blessing. That is not a typo, there is a blessing that comes when we are on the other side of the hard things we face. Sometimes the smoke of grief is so thick we become blinded but that does not mean God isn’t there. His compassion makes it impossible for Him to remove himself from our hard times. I don’t know about you, but that certainly brings me peace. He sits with us in our pain. The Bible also says that He is acquainted with all of our ways, so in other words He feels the pain we feel.
I could not share these words with you had I personally not walked on the other side of adversity. Easter is a constant reminder to me of the day I lost my sister to cancer. A few weeks ago I was on the phone with a sweet friend and past retreat attendee, Emma June. Emma had just received the news that the cancer she was in remission to, and had lost her leg from, was back. A tumor the size of a grapefruit attached to the stump of the leg previously removed because of that cancer. Her plans to attend our May retreat in Kauai halted, and the fight for her life, back on. As we talked, together we understood the depth of grief that comes with a cancer diagnosis.
Instead of asking, “Why me?” Emma shared her hope to get to the other side of this diagnosis. The side where her life will emanate a story of what it is to walk through the fire, and to be on the other side living in victory. She is choosing to believe that there is a testimony to come from knowing and experiencing the smoldering flames, and the One who does not leave her there alone. Therefore she will gain the testimony of what it is like to have the presence of God comforting her so comprehensively, and so completely, that she can emerge from a season of life that is just like a furnace and not even have the smell of smoke on her. Emma is looking forward to the other side of her story, while walking in the midst of it. It is a beautiful perspective to have, and within that beauty, a hope to overcome.
My sister helped me gain this perspective, and clothed me with compassion to walk with others through their cancer journey. In that season I had to grasp the promises of God even though I could not see them. A beauty I gained once on the other side of the storm. Trading in my ashes for His beauty.
My encouragement to you this Easter is to believe the promises of God, and when you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart. He loves you and has you. May you and your family have a beautiful day together and may you be assured He is working it all out.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Aloha,
Sarah Hill
Executive Director
Beautifully Flawed Foundation
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