Hebrews 2:10
For it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering.
A couple of nights ago I went to see Glennon Doyle Melton speak. She's a blogger and author. She writes and speaks about motherhood, sisterhood, honesty in our relationships - all good stuff. There were a few nuggets that I walked away with and one dawned on me as I was reading this verse from Hebrews.
Glennon shared about a friend who called her crying, saying that because of her divorce, she feels like she has failed as a mother because her son was in pain. Glennon stopped her and said - hang on... before you say anything else, tell me three characteristics you'd like your son to have when he becomes a man. She said, I'd like him to be brave, strong and wise. Glennon said - ok, I don't know any man who is those things who hasn't gone through some serious pain. So why are you trying to protect him from this?
We try to shield our children and ourselves from the very thing that can transform us and show us what we're really made of and who we're made by. We either avoid it at all costs or when we do encounter pain, we do whatever we can to numb it or snap out of it as quickly as possible. I love the description Glennon used for pain - she called it a traveling professor. You don't necessarily sign up for his course, he comes to you, and you don't know when. When he does come he has a lot to teach you, so don't turn him away, Pull him in and allow what you learn to change your heart and soul for the better.
