Stronger And Better Or Bitter And Broken
Stronger And Better Or Bitter And Broken
There are times in our lives when life is challenging, downright unfair, painful, even devastating, and cruel.
We have a choice: allow our circumstance or situation to make us stronger and better or bitter and broken. No one, no power, can choose our response to our circumstances. It is our choice alone.
No one would be foolish enough to say it is easy because sometimes it is not. But we are not alone. We have the Holy Spirit to guide, encourage, strengthen, and empower us. He gives us grace that is beyond our human understanding. I know; I've been there, so was the Holy Spirit.
Evil exists in this world; some people are unabashedly self-serving, and some are angry and cruel. Bad things can and do happen to good people. However, we live in a world where everyone has a God-given freedom to choose their thoughts, words, and actions. That is what love was willing to risk. God cannot take away the freedom to choose from some and not others. True love doesn't work that way, and it can't. True love does not force love in return.
When we try to take away a person's freedom to choose, we violate the foundation of God's creation of humanity. We can't legislate morals. We can't force people to love, be kind, or be just. It is not possible.
This isn't to say that we take abuse, ignore or allow people to steal, kill, and destroy. On the contrary, there is good reason for laws that say you can't kill or steal. These sound very familiar; the ten commandments come to mind. There is a reason for laws protecting people, but you cannot legislate love, kindness, grace, respect, or mercy. And even with laws, people exercise their will to violate the laws.
There is a bigger picture for us to see when we focus our thoughts, words, and actions on our creator and Heavenly Father; we find peace in the midst of turmoil.
This world is not our permanent home. We are sojourners traveling through this world, heading for our home in heaven.
Jesus tells us this:
"There are many rooms in my Father's house. I wouldn't tell you this unless it was true.
I am going there to prepare a place for each of you."
John 14:2 CEV (Contemporary English Version)
Sojourner is defined as a person who resides temporarily in a place: sojourn is defined as a noun ~ a temporary stay; as a verb ~ to stay for a time in a place, live temporarily.
We are here for but a very short time. Our goal can't be to get comfortable here in this world; we're not going to be here long enough to get too comfy on that couch. Instead, our purpose is to be a reflection of our Heavenly Father to the world around us. He uses all our personalities, weaknesses, and strengths to be God's hands, feet, and heart.
We need to remember the big picture: Adam and Eve didn't devise a plan to eat from the one forbidden tree. They had an adversary. It was God's adversary. Satan tried to cast doubt on God's character, not His love but His character. Satan was casting doubt on whether they could trust that God had THEIR best interest at heart. Satan sowed doubt using questions: "Was God denying them something pleasant, or was God withholding knowledge from them?"
The war began between adversaries long before Adam and Eve were even a consideration. Satan was a big deal in heaven until he decided he wanted to be equal to or greater than God.
Pride is the mother of all sin and conflict.
Adam and Eve gave Satan power over their lives by giving in to the temptation instead of saying, "No, not interested." As a result, they gave him control over them, the earth, and all humanity on this earth.
They trusted Satan instead of God.
They opened the door to pain, suffering, illness, disease, poverty, hunger, greed, and violence. These came with the choice of Adam and Eve to do it their way instead of God's.
Adam and Eve made their choice, but God's love would not leave them without hope.
This war is not ours, although we were born into it; it is a war between God and Satan. Jesus rising from the dead destroyed the power of Satan over all humanity, bringing us back to free will.
Who will we trust? Who will we follow?
All through the Old and New Testaments, Genesis to Revelation, the war is described, and the victory is also.
The key is to remember who the enemy is. In Ephesians, Paul tells us this:
" For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
Ephesians 6:12 ESV(English Standard Version)
Paul gives us our weapons of warfare in Ephesians 6:10–18. Our battle is not with our neighbor, sons, or daughters; the war is between Satan and God in heavenly places. Satan uses us when we let him; he uses our emotions, circumstances, and the people we know or don't know to steal, kill and destroy.
Our words and actions matter.
We need to remember we are not alone. God sent the Holy Spirit to be with us, strengthen us, empower us, and give us wisdom. So when we start our day with God's Spiritual Armor, we can see His plan and purpose for our lives for that day.
God gives us step-by-step instructions for 'everyday living' by His Word. If we forget or miss any of His instructions, we are to remember the two greatest commands: Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Love God; be a reflection of His love for our neighbor.
Not the most likely battle plans to our natural mind: 'love.' I know. But the war is to be waged with the enemy of our souls, not those around us; that is where the battle lies. We don't know the beginning from the end. We didn't create the universe and all that is within it. We didn't pay the price to win the war. He did. God is the one who understands the cost.
So, love it is. Love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love our neighbors. The nice neighbors and the not-so-nice; the easy-to-love and our enemies; the young and the old; the homeless and the well-to-do. These are the ones we are to love.
When we don't know how or don't have what we consider it would take to love, we have the Holy Spirit that will step in and up for us, especially when we believe we have nothing left to give. We simply must ask Him. We need to let go of our hurt, pain, or pride and become stronger and better instead of bitter and broken.
Jesus tells us this:
"I have told you all this so that you will have peace of heart and mind. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world."
John 16:33 TLB (The Living Bible)
Love is not the likely strategy we think of when others harm us. But it is the very thing that makes us stronger and better. We are truly free of all the ugly and painful results of being bitter and broken. God can heal, strengthen and make whole those broken places, making us stronger and better.
This way, we are not prisoners of the bitterness and the emotions that overshadow everything we do, but we are free. We are free to be all God has created us to be by empowering us to love and be loved in all its forms and facets.
Today are you willing to trust and follow the one who loved you?
