DEFINITIONS

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.

… remember that your difficulties do not define you. They simply strengthen your ability to overcome.

Maya Angelou

True.

Hard to keep that in mind when the difficulties come.

I mean when we pray how often do we pray, “GOD thanks for the day and for life and if you are not too busy send some trouble my way.”?

We don’t.

But what Jesus did promise is that adversity was inevitable.

John 16:33

But it doesn’t have to define us.

Yesterday I was leading a meeting with some of the Miami Valley’s FINEST folks in the field of recovery.  Faith folks, social workers, public health executives and the like.  And we were TALKING about the MESSAGE of RECOVERY.  

You see sometimes we DEFINE people by their DIFFICULTIES.  In fact, in my line of work we use their DIFFICULTIES to not just define them but IDENTIFY them.

Greg the alcoholic.

Casey the addict.

Tina the trafficked.

But we don’t do that with other challenges do we?

We don’t say Jim the “Cancer” or Sally the “Bankrupt” do we?

Friends, difficulties shouldn’t define us. 

We will go through them but even at the zenith they don’t strip us of WHO we are and often they do advance us into what WE CAN BECOME!

Lord Byron once remarked that,

Adversity is the first path to truth. 

That is good. At least it is for me. My adversity led me to NEW TRUTH about the LORD and our relationship that is for sure!

The Bible says it this way…

after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in his eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever.

1 Peter 5:10 (TPT)

So, friends never allow your difficulties to become your definition.  

They are temporary.

And while they do have purpose they will and do pass.

Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option. We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (TPT)

REMEMBER...

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. - Ventimiglia

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

LOVE YOU ALL

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE