I'll bet every one of you can recall a time when as kids, other kids treated you badly. (Isn't it sad that we still remember those things so many years later?) At the time, it feels like your world is being crushed and we can become bitter. In this video, Ali from Rend Collective shares some personal stories like this from her childhood. I love the way her Mom tried to lift her out of the pit with encouragement, but it usually takes more time to bring about healing. The best part of her story, is how she can look back now at how God helped to shape her into the person she is today. God knew that, in time, she would meet better people, and that her identity in Him could withstand these petty assaults. Ultimately, those bad experiences would lead her closer to Him. The big question for us is, when we experience valleys like this in our life, do we choose self pity and bitterness, or do we seek God for the answers and comfort we need?
Verses for Consideration:
Matthew 5:11-12 ESV
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
2 Peter 3:9 ESV
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.