We are too prone to engrave our trials in marble and write our blessings in sand. -C.H. Spurgeon
This is a powerful but interesting quote. I think we all do it, we feel like our mistakes and our problems leave permanent scars and struggles. While at the same time thinking our blessings and the good things in life or just transitory. I’m convinced that we’re all called to be the remembering ones. The problem is when you only remember the bad things you have done or were done to you. To much of your time and energy is spent arguing and replaying negative events in your head. Nothing you have done or has been done to you has gone too far that God can’t redeem, restore, or forgive, you can always have a second chance.
A technique that I’ve used with myself and many others so we can do the opposite of this quote – to write our problems in sand and our blessings in marble. The technique is to reframe it. Take any picture you have in your home and put a different frame and a different mat around it. The picture is still the same but you see it and interact with it in a completely different way. The new frame and mat cause you to see the colors, nuances and beauty of the picture in a completely different way. This is what you have to do with the experiences in your life that you call negative.
You have to reframe it with the knowledge that you are loved wanted and enjoyed by a good good father. Your wounds and scars should be your servant. They should be a servant to the cross. Your wounds and trails have created wisdom and strength. Your blessings should be the beauty that inspires, strengthens and guides you. Our trials should be written in the sand.
Scars are beautiful when we see them as glorious reminders that we courageously survived – Lysa TerKeurst
This is a powerful thought. And a game changer.
Thanks Jon – God can make all things new