"We're all on loan. The only thing that makes sense is to be together.”
“There's a million what-ifs in life. You just have to keep yourself from
thinking about the bad ones.”― Juliette Fay, Shelter Me
In 2009 driving along the highway we were headed to Las
Vegas, Nevada to see family. It was a
leisurely drive and thankful for being able to stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico
to stay with my grandmother. The next morning we were traveling and we were
distracted by a sign: Crater City next exit. It was an amazing adventure and I
learned how millions of years ago the earth was impacted by a crater and left
the mark in the earth. Wow; I thought
this is how we impact others physically and emotionally.
On the way back we stopped at the Grand Canyon. It is still
a mystery to me in how the canyon can be so wide. Scientists believe the water
made the change by making debris flows which deepened and widened the walls and
forming the canyon into what it is today. The water created its own path and left
a trail known as the Colorado River.
Personal relationships or people in general, provide good
impacts and trails within our hearts that have left a footprint in our lives.
Sometimes, there are the negative impacts. However, do we show how we been negatively
impacted by others like Crater City and never filling in the void?
“Loneliness is painful. But suffering is not wrong in and of itself.
It's part of the human experience, and in a way brings us closer to all
people.” – Juliette Fay, Shelter Me
This past weekend, I was impacted by watching a Netflix
movie called: Gimme Shelter. It is based on a true story of a teen who ventured
out on her own after abuse by her mother. She didn’t know she was pregnant when
she showed up at her father’s house. There was a moment of impact for me in the
movie which I could identify here are some bits and pieces of quotes:
Agnes ‘Apple’
Bailey: I just wanted to come and tell you I probably shouldn’t have
yelled at you.
Chaplain: Are you apologizing to me?
Agnes ‘Apple’ Bailey: Um… I’m not.
Chaplain: Sounds like it to me. Never apologize for your true feelings.
Agnes ‘Apple’ Bailey: Where was God when I was suffering and abused all
these years?
Chaplain:
Don’t make your child suffer because you’re suffering. Jeremiah 29:11-12,
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to
me, and I will listen to you. “
Agnes ‘Apple’
Bailey (talking about the shelter for teen mothers): The people there, they make you feel like a family. Like
you’re loved…. It’s crazy how you can go and live with strangers and feel
so much joy and not feel any different, and not feel unwanted and feel you can
go places in your life and succeed in life. I know I can be your
daughter, someday, but I need time. Can you give me that?
Tom (her father): Yeah, I can do that.
We are all impacted by good and bad ways. When we are negatively impacted, we can blame, accuse, excuse or be
angry at a person who we feel has hurt us. Sometimes our views are skewed by
others biased gossip. There are times we can be impacted and felt hurt by
someone, but it stemmed from prior hurts we never dealt with, which is often known as
baggage. These feelings can be projected onto the person we feel is hurting us,
when in fact, they are trying to uplift us and challenge us to changes we are
not accustomed to.
We all have been impacted by hurts and wonder "why". In the movie, "Apple" asked, "Where was God when I was suffering and abused all these years." The Chaplain went to the truth. Often we feed into lies that
breed more contempt or disheartening, instead of looking to the truth. The
truth was found in scripture when he quoted: Jeremiah 29:11-12, “For I know the
plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you
will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to
you. “
We are all impacted in some way by each other. Sometimes our
suffering stems from poor choices, which other people have made and sometimes even in our choice that we
have made. God has a way of turning the bad into something good; but only if we choose to
call, come and pray on Him. Allow the impacts of your life to turn into positives in
order to challenge and uplift others who are stuck in their craters of life.
I want to leave you with this quote and may you find it
having an impact by providing hope:
It is the darkness of
misapprehension of God that is
enshrouding the world. Men are
losing their knowledge of His
character. It has been
misunderstood and misinterpreted. At
this time a message from God is to
be proclaimed, a message
illuminating in its influence and
saving in its power. His
character is to be made known.
Into the darkness of the world is
to be shed the light of His glory,
the light of His goodness, mercy
and truth. . . . The last rays of
merciful light, the last message of
mercy to be given to the world, is
the revelation of His character
of love” (E. G. White, Christ
Object Lessons [Hagerstown, MD:
Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1941], p. 415-16).
It is time to make a
positive IMPACT on others. Let’s begin illuminating a positive story that provides
a world of Hope that there are good things in life. If we choose to look at the
positive impacts of how Christ perfects us through His love and grace and our
focus is on Him and not of ourselves, then we created a new trail because many
of us are used to walking similar paths of pain.
The
good news is that God is not the kind of person Satan has made Him out
to be. . . . Since the great controversy began,it has been Satan’s
studied purpose to persuade angels and men that God is not worthy of
their faith and love. He has pictured the Creator as a harsh, demanding
tyrant who lays arbitrary requirements upon His people just to show His authority and test their willingness to obey (Graham Maxwell, Pineknoll.org)
By Faith,
