I read soemething in my devotianal book this morning that really has me thinking! Here it is...Every event He allows in your life is designed to make you more like Christ. At first, I read right over that sentence to the very end of the devotional. But something stuck in my heart, because at the end of my reading I searched for the sentence--not even knowing exactly what I was looking for. And when I reread it, I couldn't stop saying it! Every event God allows in your life is desinged to make you more like Christ! WOW! That really hits me hard--in two ways! First of all, it makes me feel good. My husband has been out of a job for over two months now. With five young children, a mortgage and a life, there are times I feel very panicked about our current situation. But just knowing that this event can make me more like Christ (if I allow it to do that), makes things more managable--easier to get through. On the other hand, the statement leaves me feeling quite ashamed. You see, it doesn't say some events or the big events God allows in my life. No, it says every event God allows in my life is desinged to make me more like Christ. That means how I behave in even the smallest occurrences of my life make a difference. So, the incident in which I discovered that people weren't talking very nicely about me was designed to make me more like Christ! But it's what I do with that event; it's how I react that helps to make me more like Him. Unfortuanately, I reacted with anger and bitterness. And that's certainly not like the Christ I know!

So I press on--knowing that the bumps in the road I travel on have a purpose--a wonderful purpose. I must remember, however, that it's what I do with those bumps that mean the most! If they are designed to help me be more like Christ then I must treat them that way by considering what Christ would do in each every circumstance of my life!