quinta-feira, 24 de junho de 2010

UGLY THINGS CAN BECAME BEAUTIFUL



Bruno was nine years old and was my son’s best friend. They were next to my house, in Maringá, PR, Brazil, debating about who had the courage to go down a very steep hill riding their bicycles.
Bruno was the first one to go down, and unfortunately, he fell and ended up with a bad cuts and bruises on his face and multiple injuries everywhere else . I encouraged my son to spend time with Bruno,in order to help him get through that painful experience, so we arranged a sleepover. My son had often spent the night at Bruno’s home, but this time I received a phone call from Bruno’s mother in the middle of the night. My son was afraid to sleep in the same room as his friend, because of the bruises on Bruno’s face.
I went to Bruno’s house to pick my son up and he said: “Dad, I was scared, he looked like Frankenstein’s monster.
Time went by and Bruno had a few surgeries and was recovering really well. On another day, my son returned to Bruno’s house and came home very happy: “Dad, Bruno is much better, his face is even better than before the accident. The doctor was really good!”
I’m Naama Mendes today I will explore how even ugly things can become beautiful
Our word today is the inspired Word of God written by Paul in II Corinthians 1:3-4: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that, with the consolation we have received from God, can comfort those going through trials "
This tells us something that is common to us all, pain and suffering. I do not know what is the origin of your pain. Your pain may be caused by physical, emotional memory of the past, memories of events that always return to the mind, or things that are happening these days(in your present)
These verses show that God transforms the wounds they suffered in ability(in order) to comfort those in distress, that is, God allows certain suffering in our lives, so that, comforted by it, we become able to comfort others.
Perhaps pain is a constant part of your life , reoccurring, like a broken cassette player, the same things seem to come back to haunt you. Pain might be intrinsic to life, you may not be able to extract it from your life, but you can react to it differently, how you react to pain will greatly impact your life.
You may bottle it up inside, which is a tendency for most of us. However that does not solve the problem, instead it will resurface and hurt the individual again.)

Once comforted by the Lord, we can put our pain out of ourselves, in the form of consolation for those who are suffering. Then the wounds that are so ugly in us, they turn into actions, that are filled with mercy and compassion. The pain you feel can be transformed by the Lord in compassion for suffering.
Let the Lord turn your pain into something that makes a difference in the lives of others. Take the focus of your pain and put the focus on the pain of others.
Naaman Mendes