Reflections 

   From time to time it’s good for me to just sit and reflect on my life.  To remember the good times and the bad as well.  Both have had a great impact on me so both have been important parts of my life.  Sometimes it’s difficult to see which has benefited me most.

   The good times would seem to be the easy answer, but I’m not sure.  The periods of my life where everything was going well sometimes brought satisfaction and complacency.  Things were good so I just kind of drifted along.  Maybe I thought they would stay that way, but they never do.

    During difficult times I was forced to take action to overcome them.  It’s good to have a challenge that requires effort to resolve; it causes me to reach out with more urgency to my Lord.  I am ashamed that I seem to seek Him more in the hard times, often failing to give Him thanks for the good times, the many blessings He has given me and continues to give me.

   As I reflect on my life I see that the times that I thought were the worst were the ones that brought me closer to God.  Does that mean that the hard times were good?  Makes no sense but it is, in some strange way, true.  I honestly believe that I would not have grown closer to Christ if there had not been suffering and pain at times in my life.

   All in all, it comes down to a very basic truth.  God has a plan for me, and that plan is for my eternal salvation.  The trials as well as the joys are a part of that plan and must be seen in that light.  Therefore, I must give thanks not just for the good times but also for those that were difficult; both are God's will for me, and both have enabled me to grow closer to Him.