Last night I was watching Criminal Minds. The always attractive Shemar Moore was talking to another detective and said “We all have experiences. Some are good, some are bad, but they shape us…” As this detective allowed himself to recount some painful memories from his childhood, what he recalled helped the team catch the murderer.
Now, it is entirely true that some experiences feel good and some feel bad, but who am I to say whether they were actually good or bad? It seems to me that I am not in a position to judge the intrinsic goodness of any event.
When I was 16, I got into a terrible car accident on black ice. I totaled my parents’ van. At the time, it definitely felt like a bad situation. But it taught me to drive more carefully; I haven’t gotten in an accident since then. Breaking off an engagement wasn’t exactly a fun thing to do, but it sent me on a journey deeper into myself than I’d ever dared to go before. I found wounds that I didn’t even know needed healing and I now am becoming more complete, more the woman God has built for ministry. So, how do I know which events were ultimately good and which were ultimately bad? And do I even need to put one of those labels on them in order to glean from them?
What is absolutely evident in my life is that each and every one of my experiences has shaped me. I am who I am because of what I’ve been through. Yes, I have the fears that were cultivated in my childhood. I have the wounds developed from the pain my life has brought. But I also have the strength and conviction that has come from every answered prayer I’ve seen. I have the endurance that I’ve gained through the difficult situations. I have the joy of knowing that, no matter how hard those experiences were, I lived through them.
My experiences have indeed shaped me.
They have fashioned me for victory.
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