Why does a God of Love allow the innocent ones to be abused and hurt? Why doesn’t the Father step in to stop the abuse of those so unable to defend themselves? For years I tried but could not resolve this question, so I accepted with Paul the Apostle that, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” 1Co:13:12.

As I have matured in my walk with the Father I have discovered answers that have satisfied my soul.  I believe the Father has given each of us free will.  We can choose to be evil if we like. We can choose to hurt others.  We live in a world of sin. By allowing free choice the Father has permitted that evil, pain and suffering will exist in this world.  Knowing this would have to be, our Father of love also designed that our trials would be our teachers. Our biggest hurts our biggest gifts.

Trials Are God’s Tools for Refining Us.  Trials are the gifts the Father allows into our lives to enable us to become more than we ever dreamed we could be.  A Trial can either refine and ennoble, or ruin a soul.  How we accept or reject life’s trials determine the work these events will exert in our lives. I have learned that when I thank the Father for every event that touches my life, I realize the gifts these events leave in their wake.  I begin to understand the wisdom that allows evil to sometimes appear to be in control.  I believe every act has a purpose, every intention is loving.  I know that my vision is very small.  I do not see the whole picture as God does.

 My Gift.  The men, who came so selfishly into my young life stealing my childhood while they ripped my young soul to shreds, will have to stand before the Judgment Bar of the Almighty One and face the wrongs they have done.  But for me, their acts, when filtered through the love of my Father, have become a wonderful gift.

It has taken years to grow into and open this gift-years of confusion, and pain, years of being misunderstood by everyone including myself. The Father alone understood the path I was walking. He continued to enable me to go the way I had to go.  Throughout the years of confusion and pain he was filling me with this wonderful gift. It was being delivered to my soul piece by piece, being delivered and set up.  Waiting for the time I would be able to open it up and become the woman God intended me to be. 

I am still a work in progress, no one ever arrives, in this life, at a place where it can be said, “This is it, I have attained it all. I have reached as high as a human can go.”  In this life, as we emotionally mature and grow, experiences that were once beyond our grasp become plain.  We can grow into our early experiences and begin to unwrap the gifts God has ordained for our growth. 

Discover & Open your Gifts. To find your gift you must have a faith-filled heart.  Learn to thank the Lord truly for every experience that has touched your life.  If you cannot think of a blessing that has come from the experience just say, “For whatever good may come of them,” and mean it. 

When you believe you release a power into your life that is able to transform the most devastating experience into your greatest blessing. You will be able to say honestly that you would not choose to return and change these things.  That because of the gifts they carry, you would choose this road again. The Father is able to make all that has touched your life good. He will give you back all that was taken and so much more besides.  All He asks is that you trust Him.

In my life the Father has allowed me to be stretched beyond what I believed could be endured. I have overcome it all in his strength. I am no longer afraid. I have acknowledged and accepted my past experiences as gifts from the Father.  I acknowledge and accept the affect these experiences have had in my life.  My world has been blown, I am not who I was. I have found that acceptance unwraps the gifts, blending all parts of me into the excellence that has become my life.  I have discovered that I am more.

All of heaven is just waiting for a heart to open in praise and faith. The bright morning of all your tomorrows is only a praise away.  Open the gift you have in your hands. Open it and find all your hopes and dreams are stored safely there.  You already have the gifts, now praise the Lord for the growth and wisdom they brought into your life, for the depths of hurt you found you could endure. You have been emotionally, mentally, and spiritually stretched by life’s trials and pains. Praise the Lord for the growth.  You are more for having passed through the fire.

If you are still in the midst of the trial and don’t yet know the outcome, praise the Lord for the opportunity to grow that is being provided. Tell Him you trust Him, and know if you could see and understand it all as He does you are sure you would choose this road too. He will enable you to accept the gift He is giving.  He will hold your world together.