"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
I often feel regretful when I think about the period I was in high school. At that time, I was affected by too many influences that pulled me down, they made me depressed, self-conscious and unsure. However, now that I can reflect on my past, I wished often that I had more confidence, that I could have stood up for myself, speak to adults and teachers without feeling they were belittling me (even though they never would have done that). I wished that I could have dealt with my 'weight' issue better, to not believe in the comments of how I should lose weight or how I was 'fat'.
However, a past is a past. It cannot be changed. In 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10, Paul speaks of his weaknesses and how God can meet weakness and fill it up so there is no brokenness anymore.
I was talking to Eleanor about my regrets. In reply she mentioned that God can use our past experiences for his plans, for his works. I was thinking about it and there was a lil revelation.. that yes, I can turn my bad experiences to learn how to encourage others who might be in the same situation as I was when I was in high school. That was a great encouragement to me.
