{"id":15,"date":"2015-05-15T19:38:10","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T19:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?p=15"},"modified":"2019-04-22T23:45:28","modified_gmt":"2019-04-22T23:45:28","slug":"your-stained-glass-window","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2015\/05\/your-stained-glass-window.html","title":{"rendered":"When God Uses Our Bad Experiences for Our Benefit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ancient-architecture-building-45975\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many years ago, a friend of mine was getting divorced.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t want her marriage to end and was distraught that she couldn\u2019t save it.\u00a0 During that time, her priest offered her the following words of advice: \u201cTry to think of life as a stained glass window.\u00a0 Each part of your life is like one small piece of colored glass.\u00a0 Only at the end of your life will you be able to look back and see the beauty, when all those pieces are viewed together as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a long time, I thought the priest\u2019s analogy sounded nice, but I couldn\u2019t see its application in my own life.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t connect any dots between my experiences.\u00a0 I had no idea how it all could add up to a beautiful stained glass window.\u00a0 It is only recently that I can see that there has been a logic to my life thus far.<\/p>\n

For example, when I was in my late teens and early twenties, my parents separated and divorced.\u00a0 It was stressful and sad.\u00a0 At the time, my only thought was, \u201cWhy me?\u00a0 Why do I have to go through this when all my friends have such terrific, happy families.\u201d\u00a0 Fast forward 15 years.\u00a0 I’d moved across the country and was working as a lawyer in the Southwest.\u00a0 I took a job with a non-profit that helped underprivileged women.\u00a0 My job was to explain the family laws to women who were getting divorced.\u00a0 Over the course of the next four years, I worked with hundreds of women who felt scared and overwhelmed by the court process.\u00a0 As a result of my experience with divorce in my own family, I was able to serve those women with insight and compassion.\u00a0 I understood what they were going through.<\/p>\n

And that is just one example.\u00a0 Now when I look back at my life, I see that God has used all my life experiences – both good and bad – to train me to be better person.\u00a0 Where my attitude has been judgmental, God has used my life experiences to teach me to be more compassionate.\u00a0 Where I have been impatient, God has made me wait, helping me to learn to trust His timing.\u00a0 He continues to mold and shape my character with every life experience.<\/p>\n

Consider taking the time during the next week to look back on your life and connect the dots.\u00a0 Reflect on either major life events or small, memorable moments.\u00a0 Have they in some way prepared you for the future?\u00a0 You will find, like I have, that God has a way of taking difficult situations and later using them for your benefit.\u00a0 If you engage in this exercise, I suspect that you may start to see the beginnings of that beautiful, stained glass window.<\/p>\n

(Photo Courtesy of Pexels)<\/p>\n

Email: yourmorningcupofinspiration@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many years ago, a friend of mine was getting divorced.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t want her marriage to end and was distraught that she couldn\u2019t save it.\u00a0 During that time, her priest offered her the following words of advice: \u201cTry to think of life as a stained glass window.\u00a0 Each part of your life is like one…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen God Uses Our Bad Experiences for Our Benefit - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When God Uses Our Bad Experiences for Our Benefit - 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