From pain to purpose

Hills and the valley, desert and the forest, day and night, calm and storm, faith and fear, through it all God's been so kind and faithful in my life. My heartfelt thanks to my readers who invested their time in reading my words and your feedback have encouraged me to keep my hand penning. Thank you all.

Que sera sera

If you have ever read the initial pages of your school book, you find that they have clearly mentioned that the chapters in the book have been selected and purposefully kept for the particular grade to help the child learn those things at his/her age. Our life is also like a book and our creator has purposefully written some lessons which we cannot skip. Skipping those chapters ultimately distract us from reaching our purpose. We always expect to read an awesome story but most of the time it never happens. We wish to walk on a smooth surface still God knows we cannot walk until there is something to oppose the motion. Thus he includes the rough chapters in our lives. Believe, every chapter has got the purpose to serve along your way.

I always love to turn back my page and recapitulate the amazing works of the almighty.

Continue reading. Firstly you will land on a story of an 8 year old Evangelin.

Little Evangelin was brought to this world like a grace in disguise. Though she knew the story of her miraculous birth, she didn't realize certain things about the divine. A little village girl, fond of speaking, chit chatting with friends and people along, living lively believing that people around her love her like she does until one day the school announced a school trip. She didn't take the chance to miss the fun and hence decided to take a trip along with friends. She also put her efforts to make sure her closest ones were also part of it. She was excited till Monday morning when she arrived at the school bus, the excitement story got twisted. She got onto the bus, all her best friends screamed, don't sit beside me. Despite being hurt, she took it easy and went to sit at the back, hoping that her friends would catch her when she got down. But the story had got another stone to hurt. All were asked to walk in two. The life of a little girl grieved when there was no one to hold her hands and walk around the tourist city. Everyone whispered, don't hold my hands. She walked silently, her heart was grieving, questioning, "Am I human? Do I look different? Are my hands worse than not holding to just walk around? No one to hold hands, who will hold life then?"

The previous day, there was no one as excited as she was and the next day there was no one as annoyed as she was. A complete silence. No one to talk with. Cried hard, no one listened. All I heard was the bullying voice.

God is near to the broken hearted. God said, "fear not, I am with you." (Isaiah 43.5) Though I have read the bible multiple times till then, I have never felt that peace within me. That encounter with my God, made me feel loved and peaceful. People may leave you, your loved ones may leave you but there is a God who created this universe and he says, Fear not, I am with you. He is faithful and his words will never fail.

If you are feeling alone, let me remind you that you are not alone, the God who created you, is with you and he loves you unconditionally. He will give you his peace and joy. He will heal your broken heart and give you a new life filled with his abundant mercy and love. And there began the divine journey of Evangelin.

People asked me about my ambition and I gave them the big list and the reply I heard was, being born and being in a village, you cannot achieve your goal. You will not do it. Other people said, you don't have any knowledge and wisdom, you cannot excel in life.

All I could reply and believe was that, if God can make a shepherd boy David, a king of Israel, he will bless my life too. I kept going seeking his kingdom and his righteousness.

Moving to the 15th life chapter of Evangelin. She stood before an ocean, trying to rescue a soul from getting destroyed in the sea. She was almost successful but a tsunami hit her holding the soul she wanted to rescue. Her life seems to have ended. She couldn't breathe as every breath she took was painful. The power of pain was very much that was unbearable for a 15 teen girl. This story was long and it took 1 year and still continued. Did God leave her alone?)

Amidst the pain, she secured a rank of 5 in the English Olympiad, conducted by Lido and they offered her a teacher from an Oxford University to teach her. Looking at her skills and talents the teacher commented. ( see the picture below).

Confident orator and an expressive writer, this seemed funny to her. She was in the deep ocean, she couldn't realise those words. It was far beyond her imagination.

The beautiful part of the story is that the God who was with her, commanded the storm to be still. He put forth his hand and lifted her up and made her walk on the waters to reach the shore. The other end of the ocean is where her purpose stood.

God erased the old things and made all things new. Through the storms, God made her experience some of the hardest miseries youngsters go through. Many more experiences and wisdom. Satan wanted to destroy her life but God made her come out of the problems victoriously.

The words her teacher said were true and they exactly happened in her life. Almighty writes the story in such a way that in the beginning itself, he knows and sees the end. When she was in the waters, she couldn't realise it but when she reached the shore she didn't just realise the amazing writing of her author but also experienced it in her life.

Your story isn't meant to end in the middle. It is meant to end victoriously at the seashore. Be patient. It might be dark now, you might be confused, feeling stuck in deep waters, hold on, you will reach the end.

What amazed me was, the words you see in the above image weren't said now. They were said 4 years ago when I was at the lowest point of my life.

God has greater plans for your life as well. Trust him with his timings. It may get delayed but not denied. God still speaks when you are at your lowest point of your life and if you keep your faith in him, he will fulfill your words. What kept me going amidst all the chaos was the word of Jehovah. He gives beauty to ashes and one word from him transforms your life.

When I was through the darkest season, God promised me, Isaiah 49:6 I will make you a light. After a year, I heard and hear from people, there is a light in you that shines brightly. ( see the comments I post). Praise be to God alone.

What was spoken in 2021, came true in 2024. The journey was long and hard but it was all worth it. The ocean that was meant to swallow me became a path to walk and reach the other end.

Satan tries hard to crush your life in darkness and pain. He doesn't want you to be a light in this dark world. Yet know that you are called to be a light. Don't believe in the lies that say, you aren't enough, you are worth dying, you are a failure, you cannot be what you are created to be.

Believe the truth that say, you are a masterpiece, you are worth living, you are called to be a light, you are created to shine, your life is not a waste, your life has got a purpose to live. The pain you are experiencing today is preparing you to find and fulfill your purpose.

This dark phase is temporary. A season will come where you will jump with joy. Every tear you have shed will never go in vain. God can still use the broken pieces of your life.

2024 might have been your hardest year. You didn't want those wrong things to happen yet they happened. Your dream might look like it is never going to happen, you failed, you feel crushed with no clues about the future. Stand strong, if my 2021 have ended, your 2024 will also end but remember if I'm living my calling today, you too will.

Look at the dark sky, the star looks tiny in front of the long dark sky yet the star shines and its light never gets hindered by the darkness. You are a star. Hope that the 2024 which was a dark sky cannot hinder your light in 2025. The star looks tiny but its shine make the dark sky look beautiful. You are just one, but when you shine, you look beautiful and your bright light will bring hope and light in others life.

As I have mentioned in the introduction, the chapter included in your page aren't by accident. Some chapters are just to pass by, some are meant to teach you, some are meant to correct you, some are meant to direct you. You might see the index of all chapters in the beginning but to reach that chapter many pages have to be turned. You might know the index of purpose of your life but to reach there you have to pass many pages. Henceforth, it requires faith, patience, learning, correction, focus.

It's not just the faith. It also requires correction to reach your destiny. We are humans and we do commit mistakes but they shouldn't be left uncorrected. When you land in 2025 do not undo the mistakes you have made in 2024.

The world is full of attractions, and the attractions cause distractions and the distractions cause diversion. The negative distractions can never direct you in a positive direction. Get directed in the right path, never be distracted.

Meditating on formal things cannot make you experience the joy of later things. Sometimes, we have to let those wrong thoughts go out of our mind. Do it.

My target was to write 2024 words. This blog contains 1800 words (excluding this paragraph). If I remove 0 from 2024, there remains 224. I've written the major portion that 0 holds in 2024. I request you to write 224 words about your life by turning your page backward. Write and read it and you will realize, you have come so far. If God has led you so far, he can lead you further. 2025 will never be ordinary. If you wish to read your 224 story with me then share it with me at evangelinpatil4567@gmail.com