What if there is truly more to our sufferings than what we see? If you're anything like me, maybe you have discovered the disquieting and dreadful places of crushing in life moves us along from one stage to the next. We may not like to admit it, but what if our crushing is necessary in order for our potential to be fulfilled? ...
Once accepted, this line of thinking causes a massive shift in our perceptions. We finally realize we have been thinking on too small a level in contrast to a God, whose endgame for our destinies resembles eternity instead of something temporary. ...
Crushing places reveal that there is more to our lives than we had planned. The truly invaluable, marvelous, and eternal aspects of our identity and ultimate destiny are displayed to us there. It is in the midst of painful crushing that we realize that the blessing found in the production of fruit in our lives was ever the Master's end goal. Our latest crop of fruit was merely part of an ongoing, greater process.
-T. D. Jakes Crushing
That suffering can move us from one stage to the next became truth in my life. I received crushing news of a betrayal on this date two years ago. As I looked for answers, God put something on my heart and then dropped opportunity into my family's life. The blessing was effortless, but my heart had to be opened to it in order for me to see and grab ahold of it. I had to have a shift my perceptions, and the betrayal did that in my heart. Without the betrayal of a friend, I would not have been looking for answers or seen the opportunity when it came. It has been a tremendous blessing to us. Suffering in a relationship took my family in a direction we had wanted to go, but we thought we had to wait at least a decade before starting. We were moved from one place to another through the hurt of betrayal. Betrayal really hurts, but God works all things for the good of those who love Him!
