Burden or Blessing? - Ruth Doran
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.”
Submission by: Ruth Doran
Have you ever endured what seemed to be unbearable loss or hardship? I think that at some point in life, we all have. Do you ever look back upon those situations and realize that they brought true blessings? It is all in your perspective. Through what may have seemed to be insurmountable obstacles, we can be brought to the rich rewards of God’s mercy and blessings.
In losing my mother as a child, I thought that God had allowed me to carry a very difficult burden. It angered and upset me to see other kids spending special time with their mothers. They were often greeted after school with a big, loving mom hug and even milk and cookies!
I was actually envious of the kids who got punished and had curfews! I wished that someone cared enough about me to give me rules to follow at home! With my mom having passed and my dad in a mental hospital; nobody was there to ground or discipline me. What was, at the time, such a burden to me, seemed a blessing in the eyes of my friends as a teenager. See, it is all in your perspective!
Another burden through which my husband and I battled was trying to have a family. Easy, right? All around us, everyone was having babies! Not so for us, it took us nearly four years. “Okay God, remember me? You took my mom when I was a child, my dad was a mental case, remember? Are you going to cut me some slack here?” I guess not yet. My thirty-six-year-old brother died suddenly when I was eight months pregnant.
Next came three separate battles with cancer over the span of twelve years. “You are really allowing the burdens to come my way, God. Are you kidding me?” Wasn’t it somebody else’s turn now?
I was actually blessed to have had to learn so many very important life lessons at a young age. As my friends’ parents endured illnesses or passed away, I was blessed to be able to show true empathy. I truly knew, through experience, how my friends felt.
I have been blessed to be able to be there to help many people navigate the difficult waters of loss.
As I see others dealing with how to care for elderly parents, I see myself again as blessed. It is a true blessing not to have to make elder care decisions.
Having survived cancer three times is an enormous blessing! As I write this, my husband and I have now both survived covid! God has allowed me to show people his strength and power through my healing.
I have been blessed to learn so much through each experience that I first saw as a burden!
I have learned to turn that frown upside down and smile! I have learned to let go and let God! I now put all things into his most capable hands. He has a plan! He is ALWAYS there for me!
WHAT A BLESSING!!
Psalm 138:7
Matthew 5:4
Matthew 11:28