When face with hardship, struggle and criticism, what is our reaction? Do we let it hurt our feelings, put us down and trample us? Or do we allow it to mold and shape the individuals we are and are trying to be?
In this life, there are times that terrible things happen or maybe it’s just an uncomfortable situation. Whenever something terrible happens our reaction is to run to God and ask Him “why God?” when I have learned that our reaction should be to ask”what can I learn from this?” We are so quick to assign the blame for a terrible situation to someone else. To a Dr. that has just performed a surgery that hasn’t gone well, to a policeman who wasn’t able to stop a shooting, or to a fireman that wasn’t able to stop a fire. Thing is, it is easy to blame someone else for terrible situations, we’re human and many times the people that you feel whose fault it is are human too and never intended for a bad situation to come of it.
Instead of always trying to assign blame to someone let’s realize that we do live in a fallen world where sin and suffering do exist. Remember, the only way that there is hope in this imperfect world is in the blood of Jesus Christ. Even aside from that fact I challenge you when a situation happens that leaves you asking “why?” Ask yourself “what can I learn from this?”
Let me tell you a story of a situation that happened to me. I was struck by a drunk driver from behind late at night on a highway a couple of years ago. When I got out of the car I looked at the damage and was immediately upset, this was my first brand new car and I had and was working so hard to pay for it. The lesson that struck me from that situation was that I had placed far too much importance on an earthly object that could be replaced. After the accident, I ended up with a car that was the same model as the one that had been hit and it had more features and a much better interest rate on my car loan.
Now I’m not saying every story will have a positive outcome like mine did, but my point is that you can learn things from terrible situations and they can make you a better person. You will never see yourself grow in character by blaming someone else, especially when the situation was out of their control as well. Life is a great teacher if we are willing to learn.