Thoughts.

So I have just finished week 2 of my new Bible study and I really am loving it. (I was a slacker and didn't do it over SB, so that's why it's been a week in between the starting and now). One principle that the past couple days has been based on is constantly in my mind, still without an answer to the many questions it has raised. So I will share it with all of you who actually read my blog, in hopes that it will raise similar questions in your own lives, and perhaps help answer them for everyone.

God shapes your life through circumstances, events, or other people. Throught true friends, false alliances, and suffering injustice or other hardships, He sculpts Christ- like chacteristics into our selfish hearts. This process can be painful, but the final result is that we become more like Jesus.

It's really true. Even the outwardly appearing negative things or relationships that we deal with have some sort of purpose, and God can use them for our benefit. He can use anything and anyone He wants to...we just have to be maleable enough to be used and shaped.

Another interesting thing that I guess I never really knew, (or if I did, I definitely forgot haha) was that diamonds come from coal. The only difference is time, intense heat and intense pressure. How can something so blah, grey and ugly turn into something that is revered as "a girl's best friend"? Crazy process...incredible outcome. It's the same in our walk. Crazy situations and really rough times with intensity and calamity..but an outcome beyond words...becoming a man/woman after God's heart, and closer to the person of Christ.

This is a crazy time in my life. And honestly, I don't know what God has for me through this whole process. This semester I have been in the worst physical pain of in my entire life, I've had to completely change my life because of this and I just know that there has to be something bigger in all of this. Bigger than the plans, bigger than the pain, and bigger than all my questions. And while I'm waiting for answers, that I may or may not ever get, I just have to be open for Him to mold and refine me through this process.