Radio Ruhaniyat: February 25, 2017

When a baby is born, within the first few months, we take the baby to get his or her shots for immunization. Even though we know that the baby will cry and experience pain, we still make him go through the process, because we know that it is for his own betterment. How immunization works, is that we take a certain type of germs and inject them into the body so that those germs can develop antibodies inside to create immunity against the disease caused by those germs.

Similarly, God makes us go through pain, because He knows that the end result would be for our betterment. He injects germs into our lives in the form of pain and suffering, so that we can develop antibodies against problems. These antibodies are: internal growth and spiritual strength. It is only when we have developed these antibodies, we will have the immunity to fight diseases like Problems, Sorrow, Pain & Suffering. Just like how our body needs food and water for it’s physical growth, our soul needs spiritual knowledge for its nourishment. And God: being God, finds a way to feed us the soul food that we need in our lives.

Pain forces us to grow as human beings. Pain is our greatest teacher. Regardless of where the pain comes from, there are always lessons to be learnt. Physical pain alerts you to a problem in your body that needs attention. Emotional pain does two things: it'll either make you a stronger and a better person, or it will make you bitter and worse. Wise are those who make the best of each situation and use pain and suffering to make them stronger and better.

When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.

There was a couple who went to England to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. On this trip, they went to shop in a beautiful antique store. They both liked antiques and pottery, especially teacups. They happened to see an exceptional cup. They asked, "May we see that cup? We've never seen a cup quite like this one before. As the storeowner handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand," the cup, said, "I haven’t always been a tea cup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me, pounded and patted me over and over, and I yelled out, 'don’t do that. I don't like it! Leave me alone.'

But the potter only smiled, and gently said, "Not yet!!"

Then, WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. "Stop it! I'm getting so dizzy! I'm going to be sick!" I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, quietly, "Not yet." He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then...then he put me in the oven. I never felt so horrible. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door.

"Help! Get me out of here!" I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, saying: "Not yet."

When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Ahhh! That felt so good! …Much better, I thought. But, after I cooled, he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. "Oh, please; Stop it!!" I cried. The potter only shook his head and said. "Not yet!"

Then suddenly he put me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged! I pleaded! I screamed! I cried! I was convinced I would never make it. Just when I was about to give up, the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf again, where I cooled and waited...and waited, wondering what he is going to put me through next? An hour later he handed me a mirror and said, "Look at yourself," and I did….and I exclaimed: "That's not me. That couldn't be me. It's beautiful... Oh my God! I…….am beautiful!"

The potter now spoke: "I want you to remember this," he said, "I know it hurt to be rolled and patted, but had I left you alone, you would’ve dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now, you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you."

In the same manner, God knows what He's doing with each one of us. He is the potter, and we are his clay. He will mold us and create us. He will expose us to just enough pressures in life, so that He could turn us into a finished spiritual being that He had in mind, when He first brought us into this world.

So, when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to be so unfair, then...Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup.

Sit down and ponder over how the teacup in your hand was made, and then.………
Have a little talk with the heavenly Potter!

Until next time, this is Preet Sahi reminding you to Stay Spiritual!