As much as we often trumpet the phrase that everyone has and is going through something or is battling something external or internal, we cannot deny the fact that some of us go through something to a degree higher than others. Some have been raised without parents or some of them had an abusive childhood or some of them went through a traumatising experience or anything that made life never the same again for them. It won’t come as a surprise when we say that the pandemic has played a big role in amplifying this.

One of the common things I have heard from those who went through a traumatising experience, whether a major accident or a sudden loss or a calamity or a terrorist attack or anything for that matter is, that their view of life and life as a whole has never been the same again. You could be one of them as well. Maybe you went through something that very few people would have gone through and it has shaped you as an individual in the way you look at life. Or perhaps you have still not gotten over the hurt and the pain that is buried deep down within you. I have heard someone say, “Tragedy can either break you or make you”. Yes, I am not negating the pain nor soft paddling your hurts. What I am saying is, if you commit your hurts and pain to GOD, He can bring out something beautiful in your life. He will ensure that nothing you have gone through in your life will go to waste.

So, don’t let your negative experiences cause you to give up, lose hope and break you. Allow them to make you who GOD has created you to be. Allow them to mould you and build you up to become a stronger and more effective person.

● Your pain will not go in vain.

On May 3, 1980, thirteen-year-old Cari died in a hit and run case by a driver who drove under the influence of substance alcohol. As shattering as the experience was, her mother Candace started a movement called Mothers Against Drunken Driving (MADD) which is

currently the largest of its kind in North America intending to stop drunken driving, to help those affected by drunken driving and so on. From a time when more people died due to drunken driving than in war, MADD has been effective in reducing the number of deaths due to drunken driving in half!

Think about it. Candace had all the reasons to sit on the sidelines and give up on life due to the tragedy. But, she did what I am asking you to do. She allowed her pain to guide her to her purpose instead of allowing it to destroy her.

In the Scripture, the Apostle Paul was being taken as a prisoner by ship to Rome for preaching the gospel. But their ship met with a severe storm and they were all washed onto the land of Malta and through various miracles, Paul was able to minister to the whole place. Now, Malta was not in the preaching schedule of Paul and he wouldn’t have

been there if not for the storm. So, looking back at it, the storm didn’t come to destroy him but rather to redirect him to where he was supposed to go!

Instead of worrying, complaining and fretting about the storm that you are in, I encourage you to look at it with this perspective: Perhaps GOD allowed it to direct you towards your destiny! In all probability, Paul wouldn’t have gone to Malta if not for the storm and in all likelihood, Candace would not have started MADD if she hadn’t gone

through the loss of her child.

● Your Storm did not come to destroy you but rather to direct you to your destiny!

• An Excerpt from John Giftah's Bestselling Book, “Unveil Your Purpose”