Suffering and Sorrow

"'Much-Afraid,' said the Shepherd, in a tone of gentle but firm rebuke, 'why did you let Pride come up to you and take your hand? if you had been holding the hands of your two helpers this could never have happened.'

For the first time, Much-Afraid of her own free will held out both hands to her two companions, and they grasped her strongly, but never before had their hold upon her been so full of pain, so bitter with sorrow."

Again, I bring to you Much-Afraid, if you don't remember who she is, look at my previous post for some more of her story.

I think that the biggest lesson that God has been teaching me of late is that of trusting. I trust God, with as much as I can give, I lay my life before Him praying that His will would be done in my life. I know that I will be taken care of, but I can only go so far without trusting other people. Don't get me wrong, I trust a lot of people... unfortunately some I don't trust completely, and others I don't trust with much more than telling them my story and leaving it at that (not to worry, I do have many friends who I trust completely). :)

God has been telling me that I must trust people, that I can't just sit in a hole in the ground not trusting people or letting myself be vulnerable. To put it in the way Much-Afraid would understand it is that the Shepherd has given me the guides of Suffering and Sorrow, and these are to guide me through my journey to the High Places, and when I let go of their helping hands, I can easily be distracted and lose my way. I must grasp firmly onto what they have to offer, no matter how much pain there is in their grasps for they are the guides that have been given to me. I must embrace the trials and hardships in my life and let them guide me in becoming a better person, one who learns from her experiences, and does not shy away from their affect on my life. To make my journey all the better, God has given me an amazing human help and guide to assist me in growing through this. This makes this learning process much more fun and enjoyable. I only hope that I will one day be able to serve him in such a way as he is serving me.

so, much easier said than done. But with God's help this journey is being taken, my guides are in hand, and because I am lame and weak, this will be a long, slow journey. be patient with me. there is light at the end of the tunnel!