Victory in Defeat

I was recently visiting with a very good friend of mine and she made the comment that our family has really been put through the trials this last year.  She commented on how she is amazed at our positive attitude and ability to look for the good.  "Wow," I thought, "If she was only a fly on the wall in our house some days."  It took me back to Christmas eve, when we learned of our daughter's cancer and how we walked around in a daze.  At points it felt like a dream, somebody elses life.  We were the ones usually attending the benefits, cooking food, offering up prayers, but for others. 

I talked yesterday about choosing defeat or choosing to fight.  Looking back on this past year, I can say that many times I would have chosen defeat, were it not for Christ in my life, and the prayers of many faithful people. 

I recently came across a statement in a book I'm reading:  "From a supernatural point of view there is nothing, absolutely nothing, which cannot be turned to God's glory.  Every defeat can become a victory, every humiliation a precious jewel in one's crown, every suffering a glorious mark that makes the sufferer resemble his Savior." (1)  These words have spoken to me in a powerful way-not just from reading them, but as I looked around at different friends that are also going through difficult times, they have been examples of this very statement. 

Many times you will hear people say, "Why is it the good ones who have to suffer?"  No one likes to suffer and some denominations have even gone as far as to say that if you are suffering, you must have some sin in your life.  While when we choose to sin, yes that can bring suffering, but I believe that some suffereings are allowed by God in our lives to bring us closer to Him and to grow in our faith.  We need to be reminded at times of our weakness and helplessness without God's grace(as said by St. Therese of Lisieux). 

None of us are immune from sufferings or trials in life. How we weather them not only impacts us, but also those around us. As I grow in my Christianity, I realize more and more how we each have a role in the spirituality of others-it's not just "me and Jesus," that we are the Body of Christ. 

Benedictine monks pray seven times a day: "Deus in adjutorium meum intende; Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina," translated means: "God, come to my aid; hasten to help me."  We must remember that if we seek Him in prayer that we will always be victorious!  Pray for one another and seek Him in all things. 

Blessings,
Rebecca
(1) "The Privilege of Being a Woman," by Alice von Hildebrand