One of the things my mom and I enjoy is watching “Dancing With the Stars” together. Tonight the contestant’s dance was a representation of the most pivotal year of their life. Granted, a couple of them are pretty young and the most important year to them were those when they actually became stars. I understand. But, I would say most of the rest chose a time when a tragedy occurred. There is the millionaire from “Shark Tank” who talked about the time when his mother died. The football player talked about his broken relationship with his father – particularly after he disclosed that he is gay. The actress from “Three’s Company” dedicated her dance to a co-star who passed away. Another actress talked about her battle with low self esteem. The last dance was the soldier who lost an arm and a leg and succumbed to depression and alcohol. Why would people choose “tragedy” as a decisive moment in their life? Exactly because it was “decisive”. They each talked about the unbelievable pain they felt during the difficult time in their life. But then, they decided to work their way through the agony and found themselves in a much better place on the other side. They learned things about themselves and in effect started anew. I thought it was interesting that this came on the day after Easter. I think one of the big questions people struggle with is -“If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?” I ponder this as well. But when I take a look at what we just celebrated, it is clear that God allowed Jesus to suffer and die on the cross knowing that through those actions, His resurrection – and our redemption – were made real. But can my little suffering have any effect? I know for sure that when people come through a difficult time, they can walk with someone else who is suffering and offer compassion and understanding. We all go through pain and need a loving person by our side to help us make it through.

I Found God today in stories of suffering that resulted in new life.