What May Prove To Be

In all the land—oracle of the LORD— two thirds of them will be cut off and perish, and one third will be left. I will bring the one third through the fire; I will refine them as one refines silver, and will test them as one tests gold. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them; I will say, “They are my people,”and they will say, “The LORD is my God.” Zechariah 13: 8-9

Many of those about whom I care deeply have recently been some issue or another with which they are struggling. It has been a time of prayer and compassion in my world as my heart has been breaking along with their own.

The challenge in tough moments is that they can come to define who your are. I am the person who has experienced the heartbreak of divorce. Definition. I’ve had so many political setbacks that I cannot go into a meeting without having already define where the “win” is for me. Definition. That sorta stuff. Yea, that sorta stuff that really is not helpful to you.

But, challenges are meant for refining, not defining. Our challenges are opportunities for us to bring our very best qualities forth to assist us through. We have choices to whimper about “Poor Me” or to remind ourselves of Blessed Me and what skills and resources we have already been Grace-d with to Just Keep Swimming, even if it is only a Disneyfied chant.

In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials,so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1: 6-7

D. Scott Miller

D. Scott Miller is the dean of Catholic Youth Ministry bloggers which is a polite way of either saying that he is just plain old or has been blogging for a long time (since 2004.)

Scott recently married the lovely Anne and together they have five adult young people and also grandparent three delightful kids (so, maybe he is just plain old!) Scott presently serves at Saint John the Evangelist in Columbia, MD as the director of youth and young adult ministry.

He has previously served on the parish, regional, diocesan, and national levels as well as having taught within a catholic high school. He is one of the founders of RebuildMyChurch and has returned to posting regularly (keeping regular is important to old guys) at ProjectYM.