It recently hit me how much pain we each endure in a lifetime. Even wonderful streaks in life can be dwarfed by the loss of a loved one, major disappointments, or prolonged illness.
I couldn’t help but wonder where I could be right now without mercy and huge helping of growth.
Surely nowhere good.
If it was up to the old me, I’d be making a mess of my life. I would have quit college, been arrested for mayhem, and made a mess of my career. If I were married, it would be a train wreck of immaturity and self-righteousness.
I would be a slave to self. And it would be pretty ugly.
The rough things I have seen, chosen, or endured would have taken their toll on my sanity, my body, and my attitude.
I should be a messy, unreliable, emotionally unstable, bitter shell of a man.
This realization wells up a huge sense of gratitude for what God has done in my life. Not because of me — despite me.
I am a walking billboard for God’s power to change people for good. The small parts I played were faith and the willingness to grow through each trial. The trials chipped away at me until I began to embrace brokenness.
Brokenness is terrifying.
Yet now it is obvious. It was the only path toward growth the entire time.
What do you gain by fighting brokenness? Better yet — what do you lose?