In your pain, you find your purpose!

My husband and I were watching Joel Osteen earlier tonight. If you have ever watched him on television, you know that his preaching style is definitely to motivate people and uplift them in whatever they are going through in life. His messages are full of catchy phrases which hold much truth, but I think are also designed to help people remember what he has to say.

One of the things he said tonight was "In your pain, you find your purpose". I instantly had an ah ha moment when I heard this. My life over the last year or so has been a series of ups and downs. I have been trying to figure out how to explain exactly what has happened in my life during this time. While there are many things I could tell you about this time in my life, this phrase I heard tonight, sums it up.

I feel like my life has a purpose now that I never saw before. While I don't know where this will lead me, I do know that this new direction is a direct result of the path I've been down. The things I have been through have led me to where I am.

My life about a year ago was spinning out of control. I was put in a place that I never thought I would ever be in. I was going through something that I didn't want to talk about with other people. Partly because I didn't want to believe that it was happening and partly because I was afraid of what other people would think. So the only thing I knew to do was go to Church.

Jesus was the only thing I knew that was never going to change in my life. He was the only one I knew I could count on. He was the only person who I knew would never hurt me. But what I didn't consider at the time was how much He could change my circumstances. How much better my life could be by trusting Him to handle my situation. Before I realized this, I was spending countless hours trying to change my situation on my own. I was praying about my situation, but I wasn't praying in a healthy way. I was praying for the Lord to change the other people involved. I was begging God daily to change someone else so that my life would settle down.

In January, I went to a sectional women's meeting with a good friend of mine. It was an amazing women's meeting and the Holy Spirit was definitely moving. During that meeting, I heard from the Lord in a way that I never have before. It was such a clear message and I felt like someone was standing in front of me talking directly to me. I felt the Lord telling me that He was in control and that no matter what happened in my situation, He would take care of me. From that moment on, my prayers changed. I stopped trying to change my circumstances and the people around me and just trusted God that He would take care of things. From that night on (literally) things began to change. When I gave up control and let the Lord handle things, my life started getting better. Things were changing for the better.

Earlier this month, the Lord began showing me something else. I believe that the Lord is calling me to begin sharing my story. Although, I have not been incredibly detailed in this blog post, I really don't need to be at this point. My life was spinning out of control because of ______________. Just fill in the blank. Whatever it is for you, insert issue here... The Lord is able to change your circumstances no matter what they are.

Back to Joel Osteen. I have a calling on my life that I would not have ever realized if it had not been for my pain. If I had not gone through what I have, I would have missed my purpose in life. Look for your purpose in your pain. Satan would love nothing more than to make you miserable. Don't let him win. Take the pain of life and turn it into something with purpose!