I've Been Through the Fire and I'm Thankful

There’s no such thing as too broken.  Or too damaged.  Here you are telling yourself that you’ve been through too much to love someone the right way and have a good relationship.  Here you are telling yourself you will never be a person of high regard because your past is too incriminating. Here you are saying you aren’t worth a certain amount of money because that’s just not where you come from!

Trust me when I say this- “I’ve been through the fire.”  I’ve been beaten.  I’ve been sexually abused.  I’ve been verbally ripped to shreds.  I’ve done the low life in the bars.  I’ve done it all.  I’ve seen things, felt things and heard things that no one should.  But I am no longer a victim of any of it. That fire, I walked through it!  Those men, they are gone! Those words and bruises, don’t mean a thing! 

Do you know what it would mean to me if you had the perfect family, married your high school sweetheart at age 21 and never drank a sip of alcohol and then tried to tell me that God can change my life? Nothing! What an amazing and gracious life that would be but my pain is beauty and so is yours! Now let me ask you, do you know what it would mean to me if you were broke, homeless, and addicted to heroin but now you’re married and successful and tried to tell me that God can change my life?  Then you’d get my attention!  Your life would be a testimony for what God can do for me.  

Your brokenness is what reaches people.  Your humble past and honest truth will help others open up and be honest with you and themselves! Every pain I ever had, had its purpose. In the midst of it, I felt rough and in those moments looked even rougher.  But all of it has made me beautiful. The power I drew from my circumstances and the confidence I have from knowing I got through it is beauty.  God showed me how perfect he was in my times of weakness (2 Cor. 9-10). The worth I see in myself and the abundance that I know awaits me is flawless.  I would have never sought this wisdom if I hadn’t gone through the fire.  Don’t let the past destroy you.  Let it strengthen you! Your pain has a purpose.

Warning: Diamonds are formed under immense heat and pressure. ;)