I am sitting at the campus center right now waiting on students to arrive for a student-led worship time we have every other Monday night, and I am pondering over how fragile I am. My entire right leg (along with my right elbow, the pink on my right hand, and my right hip) is bruised and scratched up from diving in the game of racquetball. I play racquetball with Beau Davis quite often, and because he is better than me (at least in his mind, ha!), I have to dive to get the ball sometimes. I must be fragile or something because it hurts…and every time I dive it reopens the same wounds! But I finally came to the conclusion that my pain is making me a better player than I used to be. Even Beau will admit that I am better now than I was when I started! Let’s just say that I am a work in progress.

My life is very similar to my play I suppose. I tend to take on things that ultimately result in me getting hurt. Whether by my own actions or the actions of others, I periodically go through pain in my life (and I am pretty sure I am not the only person that does). But I have comfort in the fact that the Lord never leaves me; he never forsakes me. God is satisfied with me being a work in progress (as long as I AM in progress). He works in all things to bring about good in my life, whether by rescuing me or by teaching me a lesson much-needed.

He does the same with your life. Times have been hard for some. Take heart. The Lord has not left you. Neither has he forsaken you. He is there, creating new ways to rescue you and hoping that you will have the open heart to learn something from the experience.

Would my life be easier if I didn’t take as many dives? Would my racquetball game? Absolutely. But I wouldn’t learn nearly as much as I do the way things are. I am becoming a better player and a better person because of my trials. I know the Lord is shaping you through yours as well…and if you just open your heart to the lessons that come from all of the diving, I know your game will continue to improve as well. What joy can be found in the most unlikely of places (James 1:2-4). Praise the God who heals all wounds!