Storms Made to Change Us

"And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in." -Haruki Murakami

When I first saw this on Facebook, my first thought was "That's why they exist." The storms of life were given to us to challenge us, to strengthen us, to change us. If we go through life without changing, without any kind of personal growth, we will have failed. God sent us here to Earth so we could become more like Him. That requires us to change from the way we were to the way He is. We have all already experienced part of that change by gaining bodies, but to become like God, our change must go much deeper than that. We must change our very natures. That kind of change isn't easy, and it always requires strong motivation. The storms of life can provide that motivation. Our challenges encourage us to grow strong enough to face them. The greater the challenges we are required to overcome, the stronger we become by facing them.

The storms of life will change us. We must make sure we change for the better. Some people let their challenges drive them away from God. We must us our challenges as opportunities to draw closer to Him. When we return to the Spirit World, none of us will be the same way we were when we left. Hopefully, by the end of our lives, the trials we were forced to endure will have refined us, strengthened us, and made us more like God.