Falling Makes Us Stronger

**The post below is an entry from my journal on 4-18-07 with some additional comments.

Genesis 16:13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."

(This was spoken by Hagar, during her encounter with God after she fled Sarai, wife of Abram.)

Isn't it wonderful to know that God is everywhere. He's there to carry us as well as to let us fall so that we may become stronger. The best part~His love is unconditional~all we have to do is ask Him to be part of our lives and even when we don't He's still there.

I may not be well versed in the scripture, but I know He's there. I couldn't have made it where I am today without Him. He truly wants us to turn our burdens and sorrows over to Him. He's the ultimate Father. He's forgiving and loving. I pray that I can uphold His holy name and I pray He helps me as I try to teach my children the path to Him.

God, thank you for each day and the many blessings you bestow upon me. Also thank you for the trials~they are what makes me stronger.

Reflections added today....

God sees us no matter who we are and no matter where we are. He sees our greatest happiness, our deepest sorrows, and our sharpest pains. We cannot hide from Him. What we must do is become honest with ourselves, admit to our inadequacies, and turn our lives over to God. It is through him that all things are made possible, but He cannot help us if we don't give Him the chance.

We must remember, as I stated in my reflection above, that even though God sees us at all times and He is always there, He is not always going to carry us, He will let us fall sometimes.

(From 4-25-07 journal entry)

Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

We must turn to God in all parts of our lives, but especially the trials. We need to trust in Him and know He has a purpose for what we experience. You never know when the trials we go through are so we can come through to lead and do great things to glorify His name.

(New reflections as of 2-12-09)

We must also remember that just because we are Christians, it does not mean our lives will be full of happiness and swimming with the current. Instead, we need to realize that we will still have trials and tribulations. There will be times we have to swim against the current. Those are all a part of God's plan. We must also accept that these trials are there so we may become stronger.

It's no different that a parent watching as their child learns to walk and takes fall after fall. We allow it to happen because it will make our kids stronger. Later we watch as they learn to ride a bike, only to fall and scrape their knees. Yes, we could protect and keep our kids in a bubble, but we would rob our children of becoming stronger. It is the same when our children have their hearts broken, we don't like it and we want desperately to prevent it, but we know that we need to allow it to happen so our children become stronger.

God is our Father and He also must allow us to fall so that we may become stronger. We need to remember to look at him as our children look at us. When they fall off their bike, who do they run to to fix it? When their heart gets broken, who holds them as they sob?

So often it is during the tough times, when God has allowed us to fall that we turn away and say, "Well, God must not care about me." or "Why should I believe, there's nothing good in my life." I could go on and on. We need to be more like children who turn to their parents, we need to turn to the Father, cry, turn it over to Him, and trust that, just like we as parents will do what we can to help and be there for our children, He will be there for us.

Dear Heavenly Father, Help me to remember that you are my Father. You are always around. You know my very thoughts, feelings, breaths I take. You know it all. Help me to remember that I need to accept the trials and use them as You intend... to make me a stronger person. It is in Your name I pray. Amen.