With understanding comes joy

I posted a link to a video that was a paraphrase of a sermon called "That's MY King" a couple of months ago.  One of my favorite lines from that sermon is this:  "His Grace is sufficient."

I understand that better today.  I learned quite a bit today about people, about God's love, and about myself.  Someone explained something to me today in a way that I could understand; mostly because I could relate to the person that told it to me because we share something in common these days.  I've lived that person's pain.  That's a hard thing to admit, that I hurt just the same way the person I was talking to does.  And in that moment of sharing, God gave me something.  He gave me understanding.

Often, I understand things from an intellectual standpoint.  I can listen to a conversation and understand what you're telling me.  However, in certain circumstances, to fully understand what someone's gone through or going through, I think sharing their pain gives you a different perspective on life.

Had the person shared this story with me before, I wonder if it would have made a difference in the outcome of some things happening in my life.  It was that profound.

Something else happened to me today.  As I began to understand this person; see things in a whole new light, my joy came back.  As the afternoon wore on, and even though I was working hard, I had my joy with me.  To top it off, the radio program I was listening to this evening on my lunch break was about that very subject.

I wish I could even find the words to explain it.  It's not happiness.  I'm really quite sorrowful about some things that just aren't for sharing on the blog, including the conversation I had to day.  I wish I could, because I think there's some benefit you could gain from reading about it.  But not right now.  Maybe someday, but not right now.  

What I can share with you today is this:  God's love is sufficient.  His grace is sufficient.  I didn't and don't feel alone today.  I feel like Jesus is there with me today, helping me cope with some things and helping me understand some things I've never truly understood before.

Like how you can feel sorrow, sadness, and joy at the same time.  I can't explain that either.  It just, well, IS.  Like God.  You can't see Him, but you can feel Him.  You can trust Him, fear Him, love Him, and experience His love for you.  He provides.  I'll testify to that first hand. Sometimes, when we think of that, we think of money, or something tangible that we need.  And God provides for those needs, He really does.  But God gave me today something I really needed for now, and for the future.  He gave me an understanding of another human being.  It may not make a difference in the relationship I have with that person.  Only God can change that relationship now.  But it changed me.

The ironic thing is, we talked for about a half-hour total maybe today in two conversations.  The understanding came at the end of the second conversation and took place in just about a minute.  The comment was made, well, I'm not sure why, but it was something I should have known about this person a year ago.  That one little thing made more of an impact than I can even find words to explain and almost brought me to tears.

Why?  Because for all the intellectual understanding I had, I just didn't get something.  Thanks to one little statement, I understand more about more things than I did when I woke up this morning.  I have new prayers for the person I talked to.  I have a new understanding for that person's choices, situation, outlook, and feelings.  Why?  Because that one very small thing is something I share with that person and it opened doors for me that I didn't even know were there.

God may not always give us everything we want, but today, He used another person to give me just exactly what I needed.  

And for that, ALL the glory and praise belong to HIm.