The Punches part 4
I'm not saying you should just accept everything that happens in life. But basically you have two choices: You can either change THE THING, or, if that's not possible, you can change YOUR ATTITUDE about the thing. There will always be things. Because it rains on the just and the unjust alike. Life will take it's shots at you. The world will try to define you, and knock you down, and keep you down. But remember my Rocky quote. It's not about how hard you can hit. It's about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward. It's about rolling with the punches. Taking life as it comes. And, again, if you come up against something you can't take... either do something about it, or do something about your attitude about it. I try to teach my son that "problems" are really just opportunites for creative thinking. A problem gives you a chance to be a problem solver. It's when we take the hit and stay down that's the REAL problem. The only real way to fail is to fail to try. "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief" (Proverbs 24:16). And notice-- both of them fell. One of them got up every time. Seven times, to be exact. And seven is the number of perfection, right? It's not about not falling. Perfection isn't about your actions. It's about maturity. It's about what happens WHEN you fall. It's about getting back up. A setback is just a setup for a comeback. And who doesn't love a good comeback story? Let me say it another way: If you never make a mistake how can you learn from your mistakes? Most of the time you have to do something wrong before you can do it right. That's called learning. On the job experience. Falling... and getting back up. Wiser. Stronger. Ready to try again. Don't let mistakes define you, just learn from them and keep moving forward. My dad always says, "I made a lot of mistakes growing up... got in trouble for a lot of things... but never the same thing twice." And I'm kind of the opposite of that because I like to make the same mistake over and over again until I REALLY get it. But the point is... if you learn from a "bad" experience then maybe it wasn't really "bad" at all. Maybe it was just part of the long and winding road that is the never-ending everlasting life-long journey that is Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life! So don't be too quick to judge by appearance. Let the journey unfold. And if you find yourself facing something that you absolutely cannot stand... move! Do something about it. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of eternal life. Don't just mindlessly accept what the world has to offer. Because your heavenly Father has given you something much greater. "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). What gives God pleasure? Giving YOU His Kingdom. Giving YOU His Spirit. His Son. His life. His love. And whatever the world has to offer pales in comparision to that. So trust that Daddy's got your back. That all things are working together for your good. (Whoops! Got ahead of myself. That's where I want to end this Rant series tomorrow.) But let me end today with this thought: If God is holding you up (and He is) nothing can knock you down. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24).