Thankyou God for troubled times!

Yesterday I met up with an Old friend, Beckie. She is going through some hard stuff and trying to deal with a lot of issues. She is an amazing person and a great christian, but life has dealt her a lot of tough times. I know her from school and really regret not getting to know her better then, but at the same time I would not of been able to help her like I can now.

If this last year hadn't of been so tough, hard, painful, full of problems. If this year I hadn't overcome a lot of my 'daemons', long lived issues and come through to see light at the end... There would have been no way I could of sat down and listen to what she needed to say for whatever reasons. I wouldn't of been able to deal with her 'stuff' and baggage as well as my own, if God had not seen me through all that happened last year. I can really identify with how she feels, there have been times when I have felt exactly the same and I can empathise and pray into this situation without dragging myself down to where I was then.

So I thankyou Jesus for last year, I thankyou for all the troubles and pain that you have brought me through. I thankyou that in such a small time you have healed deep wounds and changed me so much for the better. I thankyou that I can look back now and see a purpose and that I can thankyou for those times! Amen

2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

Romans 5:2-4 (New Living Translation)