Have you ever felt stuck in the hurt of other people’s actions?
A couple of weeks ago I was reading an article where the person was talking about an extremely painful experience that they had been through. They had received a letter which said some very cruel things. This person then said that they decided to turn the bullets off this letter into blessings.
I think we could all remember times where people have aimed bullets at us. What if we could turn those bullets into blessings in our lives? When I think of this I am reminded of Joseph. He had lots of bullets come his way, from his brothers through to Potiphar’s wife. He had many people who tried to take him out. When God restored Joseph and he stood before his brother he was able to say that what they meant for evil God turned into good, Genesis 50:20.
We can get stuck in the hurt of painful situations, especially when we focus on the damage it caused us rather than what we can learn from it.
God wants us to grow and gain something from the painful situations caused by others. We have this opportunity to turn those bullets into blessings. Now, I don’t for a second think that this is easy. As I thought about the bullets I’ve received in my life I did struggle to see where the blessing was in them. I had become fixated on the pain and that’s where I remained stuck. But when we are able to extract positive things out of our painful circumstances, we will experience freedom and peace. By way of encouragement to you, I wanted to list 6 of my bullets to blessings to encourage you to discover your own.
The bullets I have experienced have been things like gossip and slanderous lies, being used then ditched, being shut down and disregarded, stabbed in the back, mocked and belittled, and being betrayed by the closest of friends to name a few. Maybe you can identify with some of these.
As I thought about all of these experiences this is how I have been blessed in them.
I’m blessed because I have a deeper relationship with God.
I’m blessed because I know that my value and worth are not measured by man.
I’m blessed because I am a stronger person.
I’m blessed because I’ve survived the attacks and they haven’t broken me.
I’m blessed because I now know to only share what I have to offer with people who are willing to receive it.
I’m blessed because I am even more determined to live my life with greater authenticity, integrity and humility.
The only reason we can turn the bullets into blessings is that God is with us in the battle and He brings out the blessing as we trust in Him. He shows us the positive growth that we can benefit from when we look to Him for help.
Bullets are going to come our way but if we can see the blessing that comes from the bullets, we will not be held captive in the pain. What bullets can you turn into blessings today?
Lord, the bullets people have aimed at me have been really painful to bear. Would You please help me to see the blessing in those bullets so I can grow and move on. Amen
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