CAN TRIUMPH

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

If we are going to learn to trust God in adversity, we must believe God will allow nothing to subvert His glory so He will allow nothing to spoil the good He is working out in us and for us. - Jerry Bridges

I was half-awake/half-asleep very early this morning.  On the TV which I still need to leave on at night, there was a Pastor being interviewed by the folks from TBN. 

He was commenting about ADVERSITY.

He was sharing a very difficult time in his life when his integrity, his work, his marriage, and his life were under some intense scrutiny. He talked of his troubles making national news.  And while some of the accusations and implications were unfounded, the ever-ready to “criticize and take a side” minority, media, public, twitter-bots, etc. were in full-throat lambasting him.

And yet, his response?

To continue to verbalize OVERTLY AND PROMINENTLY, “I am BLESSED”. He INTENTIONALLY stayed out of the fray, stayed above and out of the things he could not control and reminded himself that regardless of the swirl, the misinformation, the perceptions of the misinformed, biased, and jaded, he was STILL blessed; GOD still was worthy to be acknowledge and HE WAS TRUSTING that passage eluded to by Bridges above.

And we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan to bring something good into our lives…

Romans 8:28 (TPT)

I was on the phone yesterday with a dear colleague.  And we were talking about how PAST adversities sometimes shape our responses to present ones.  We both have had a little history of the traumatic.  And both of us have very visceral responses to adverse situations. 

If you didn’t know, there are psycho-physical responses our bodies engage in when under stress, adversity or when traumatized.

And those feelings, those apprehensions, those fear-filled responses can often resurface when we are faced with similar or like circumstances. 

And sometimes those responses are un-welcomed and even debilitating.

Yet Bridges and Paul remind us today of the FAITHFULNESS of the FATHER when adversity strikes.  That we don’t need to succumb to our hippocampus’ replies.  Rather we can like our Pastor, BELIEVE, and KNOW that WE ARE TOO BLESSED to BE STRESSED as my good friend Bryce Johnson likes to say!

Og Mandino once remarked,

Always seek out the seed of triumph in every adversity.

That is good counsel.

I also like what Ventimiglia said:

If you have your mind in the right direction, and your heart is full of the right kind of stuff, you'll succeed and you'll triumph over adversity, over really anything.

And we my friends, most certainly can put our minds in the right direction -(Colossians 3:2).

Fill our hearts with the right stuff - (Romans 15:13).

And TRIUMPH because WE ARE BLESSED!

Be blessed today!

I love you all.

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE