Unique like snowflakes!

Recently, quite a few of my friends announced their engagement, nine couples to be exact within 2 months. Majority of these couples have been dating for a long time, and majority are marrying their first love. I am so happy for each of these couples; I love hearing their stories of how they've met, fallen in love, and getting married. I am so thankful for all the wedding invitations, and I feel so blessed to to be invited to take a part on their special day.

Now out of these nine engaged couples, more than half are marrying their first boyfriend or girlfriend. They've met in high school or university, dated for a few years, now they are taking the next step in life together. As happy as I am for them, I can't help but wonder why some people fall in love just once and that's it, while other people have to go through heartbreaks and grieving before finally meeting the right person? I wrote a blog a while ago about how God uses heartbreaks to mold us into the person we need to become so we could fit with the person He has set aside for us... but it just seems like some people are not molded with these experiences and they are already in that particular shape to fit with the person they are to be with. They haven't gone through the pain or the frustration of a heartbreak. It just doesn't seem fair... 

God reminded me that He doesn't just use breakups to shape us into the person we need to be, He uses all relationships, circumstances, trials to mold us. For some of us it takes the pain of breakups for us to learn and grow, for others, it takes other trials to teach them what they need to learn. Sometimes we become so fixated on our own trials that we fail to see what others are going through. Or we compare what we've gone through to what other people are going through and think less of their trials. God is fair, He allows each one of us to experience different circumstances because each one of us are unique. Each one of us are like snowflakes, no two are the same. In order for a snowflake to be a particular shape, it depends on temperature, humidity, and air current. A combination of these factors at different times cause different shapes and sizes. This is the same for us. Different trials at different times affect each one of us differently. It will depend on many factors such as our maturity, our current circumstance, our resilience... we will never be able to fully understand the effect of a trial on a person, but God knows. In fact, He knows us better than we know ourselves. David wrote in Psalm:

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord." Psalm 139:1-4

Because God knows us so completely, He allows different trials to happen to us at different times to mold each one of us to His likeness. Therefore, we can't compare different trials to each other, because they are all effective in their own ways. I find it so amazing that God cares about us so much that even our trials are unique only to us. I don't know about you, but knowing that a trial is tailored to me gives me some peace and comfort. I know that when I persevere through, I am one step closer to His likeness and His glory.

"Bless is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." James 1:17 

"Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying 'this is the way; walk in it'." Isaiah 30: 20-21