This, too, shall pass away.
When I was younger,
I don’t think those five words were ever a part of my vocabulary. Life
stretched out in front of me with minimal care and minimal thought for the
future. Had I known what was to come, I’d have taken better care of myself, my
finances, and pursued my goals with more vigor when I was young. But I was young, and when you’re young you don’t
think about getting older, facing health issues and retirement, or worrying
that life won’t turn out the way you want it to. You just live life as if it will
go on forever.
But I’m not a
rosy-cheeked teenager anymore. Far from it. And, recently, I find myself saying
these five words with more and more regularity, especially when I face physical
trials.
Three years ago I said
it when I fell backwards on concrete. I thought I’d broken my tailbone. I hadn’t,
but the pain was bad enough that I asked the doctor for pain meds to get me
through the experience, and I have a very high pain tolerance. I once dropped a
sixteen-pound bowling ball on my big toe, broke it three places, and still bowled
three games, and I didn’t need any pain meds. I said it last year when a horrible
bout of sciatic hit me and laid me up for nearly three months. You have not experienced
pain until a nerve knives you so hard you can’t get up or move without weeping.
I’ve said it this year after falling and
shattering my right shoulder so badly it required a total reverse shoulder
replacement. I’ve said it every time my back goes out, leaving me limping on a
cane like a ninety-year-old woman. I’ve even caught myself saying the phrase to
my daughter when she complains about situations at work.
And all those things
I’ve faced have passed, just as I predicted. Not always as fast as I wanted.
Not always leaving me with the total functionality I wanted, or with the exact
results I wanted. But it passes enough for life to go on. And when I come out
on the other side, I’m wiser and stronger, if not physically then mentally. I
know what to do and what not to do to keep from making the same mistakes that
led to the problems I’ve been through.
Philippians 4: 11-13
says “…for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how
to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I
have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can
do all things through him who strengthens me.”
In addition to the assurance
in Philippians, I also have the knowledge that whatever problems I may face, they,
too, shall pass away. That’s the thing about going through trials—you come out
on the other side knowing that you will survive. God will not give you more than you can endure.
More importantly,
you don’t have to go it alone. Jesus
said so in Matthew 28:20. “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the
age.”
That promise shall
never pass away.
About the Author
Multi-award
winning author Catherine Castle loves writing, reading,
traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate
gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local
gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning
books The Nun and the Narc and A
Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes
and Noble.
Catherine, thank you for sharing your personal story about difficult times which did pass away. I'm thankful that troublesome times will pass away but God's love and His Word never will. Blessings.
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