Boker tov! Good Morning! And what a glorious morning it is!
I am sitting here on the balconey of our room in Karei Desche – the hostel, hotel, or whatever you may call it. It is an inexpensive place with the feel of a luxury hotel, situated right on the Sea of Galilee (also referred to as Lake Kinneret). The sun is rising and the birds are soaring, calling to one another with their morning song, it’s another beautiful day in the Land of Israel.
We are on the last leg of our trip, though we still have four more days in God’s precious place. This morning I am reflecting on the events of our experience thus far, and realized we sometimes need the bad with the good. By bad, I am referring to challenge of finding the hostel yesterday – going up the extremely steep streets; the physical challenges some of our group is having; and the not-so-nice hostels. If it weren’t for these, we wouldn’t appreciate the nice places.
I’ve done a lot of traveling in the States, mostly for work. I’ve stayed in luxury hotels, 4-star hotels, and (on rare occasions) 3-star hotels. In my younger days, I’ve stayed in places I wouldn’t likely visit again if you paid me! So just think about this for a moment. We are staying at a place situated right on the lake. Is it a luxury hotel? No. But it would be rated a 3 to 4-star hotel in the U.S. Yet to me, it feels like a luxury hotel. Why? Because of the not-so-nice places we’ve stayed.
Now, each of the places had their benefits, yet would I do it again? Probably not. (Though I’d be hard pressed to find another affordable room in the Old City Jerusalem.) But for this trip, each of these rooms served their purpose. And each of our experiences – good and bad – served their purpose. Some were revealed right away. Others (I’m sure) after simmering in our hearts for a while, will be revealed.
God knows us best. He knows exactly what we need to grow into the men and women He wants us to be. So we can either fight against the bad, wanting only the good, or we can trust that Father knows best.
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