2 Corinthians 4:17

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

Have you ever felt stuck? Trapped? I remember when I was in army boot camp I met a young female soldier on crutches. she told me she had been stuck in boot camp for months and months because she was injured. They called it being “recycled.” These recycled soldiers would sit there, stuck and injured, and watch their buddies graduate and move on with their lives while they remained in boot camp! Well, I bet you can imagine that boot camp is not the environment you want to stay stuck in. Injury and especially crutches were a major fear, not only because of the pain involved in being injured, but because you could get stuck in a bad place.

Thankfully, I moved on to AIT and kissed good bye to boot camp. But soon after arriving I started to feel sharp pains in my right leg and knee when I would put pressure on them. I went to the doctor and found myself face to face with those dreaded crutches. I completed my photojournalist class as planned but was unable to graduate until I recuperated and passed my physical fitness test which involved running, sit-ups, and push ups. The problem was I was not recuperating fast enough. Everytime I thought I was getting better the pain would seem to come back in a cycle and I would find myself in square one. This was a problem. There I was. Stuck. I watched my fellow classmates graduate and I was left behind. Injured. Forgotten. And becoming more and more bitter.

New people came but I was not interested in meeting them because I pitied myself. I lost motivation. I was grumpy. Then, one day, a tall sergeant came into the room mispronouncing my name but clearly looking for me.

He asked if I could pack my bags and be ready to leave in the next two hours. I was confused. What did he mean? He explained that I was going home. Since I was a reservist, it was decided that I would be able to go recover at home and do my test there. I felt relieved and overjoyed. It seemed too good to be true.

But I also felt guilty. I felt my heart reproaching me. Why didn’t I behave better? Why didn’t I trust God? Didn’t I know that he would get me out of this? When we find ourselves in these difficult times, it is easy to feel like it will never end. But, in the whole scheme of things the sufferings are just for a moment. And we can keep our hope and stay positive knowing that it will pass. And, yes, God is good and will get us through it.