There is something to be said about the trials we go through in our lives.

They paint with colors and shades all their own.  There is a beauty in those who chose to embrace the trial, the false accusations, the pain, and instead of shying away from the cup they are handed, chose to trust the hands that bled for them, and walk forward.

There is a love for the dawn enjoyed only by the few that have seen the darkest of the night.  There is a love, an appreciation, a hunger and thirst for those first rays of sunrise that only those who’ve fought through the night know.

Trials make us, they change us, they alter our lives and force our lives to become altars.

We were never promised a road free from trials.  Actually, the exact opposite was promised.  We would have trouble in this world.  We would see pain, we would see heartache.  We would know tears.  But we would also know in the very core of who we are, that our tears are not the end.

Yes, pain is real.  And yes, horrible things happen to people who do not deserve it.  And no, I do not understand it.  But I know it’s not the end.  I know that it’s not the final chapter of our stories.  And if you’re reading this, it’s not the end of your story.

Because we know the One who is has given us then pen, and who holds the blank pages of our lives in His hands.  And we know that He has seen the last chapters, He knows the end.  And because of that, through the trials, through the pain, through the ache of losing a loved one or the heartbreak of a relationship shattered, we know it’s not the end.

And if it is not the end, then something better is.

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
-C.S. Lewis