Time

God has an uncanny way of using others to teach me important lessons of life. I just ran into a guy with whom I went to school. I've known this guy for years, from elementary school on up. He was always the popular kid. Well known, athletic, smart. These attributes followed him through most of his academic career, or so I believed. I lost contact with him after high school, but I heard he went on to play football at some junior college out east.

When I saw him recently, he was confined to a wheelchair. Naturally, seeing him in that condition aroused my curiosity but, out of respect for his situation, I declined to ask any questions. However, much to my suprise, he volunteered all sorts of information about why he was handicapped. Apparently, he and some friends were driving intoxicated. They were in a serious accident where he broke seven different vertebrae. He's paralyzed for life.

I remember asking him how he was able to successfully deal with such a dramatic change in his life. With a huge smile on his face, he said one word: "Time". He reminded me that it was his own fault that he was in this position and that it would not have happened unless God allow it (I immediately thought of my Sunday school teacher who shares the same quote with me). He admitted that while he grew to accept what happened to him, it took years of spiritual growth to get to that point. In fact, oddly enough, he credits his paralysis to being the very thing he needed to turn to God. I guess you can say that not being able to walk physically helped him to walk spiritually. Interesting, huh?!

I guess the moral of this story is that Christian growth may require for me to lose -- or give up -- stuff before I can gain. Before I can allow God to bless me with a mate, a new job, a new life, etc., I might have to let go of things that I've become used to. Just as this guy suggested, it won't be easy. It will take a lot of patience, a lot of faith and -- especially -- a lot of time...

- ACL