I have worked with many people who are in transition after something suddenly throws them off track in their lives. When that happens, it is easy to get stuck, possibly staying hurt or struggling longer than necessary. Following a disruption in my own life a few years ago, I did a study on resiliency which is the ability to bounce back when life deals a hard blow. Through the disruption, God has taught me how to become a more resilient person.
Resiliency requires perspective. In other words, when trouble comes, resist judging the situation. Resist saying, “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me” or “I’ll never get over this” or “My life is ruined”. If you start with this kind of negative thinking, you will end up extremely discouraged, programming yourself for a bad ending. Instead, allow the process to unfold and watch for God’s gifts.
A STORY
This story captured my attention because it provides us with an excellent illustration for keeping perspective in our life:
There was an old farmer who wanted to give his only son a horse. He was a poor man, so it took years for him to save up enough money to buy the horse. One day, when his son arrived home, his father proudly presented him with the horse.
As he watched his son excitedly mount the horse and gallop down the road, the old farmer smiled and said, “It has been worth it all. This was the best day of my life. It is a good thing that I bought my son a horse.” A month later, the horse threw the old farmer’s son. The son’s leg was broken. Then the old farmer sadly shook his head and said, “It is a bad thing that I bought my son a horse. The horse threw my son. Now his leg is broken. This is the worst day of my life!”
The following week, the army came to take the son to war. Of course, the son could not go because he had a broken leg. As the army rode away, the old farmer cried in relief saying, “This is the best day of my life! It is a good thing that I bought my son a horse. The horse threw my son and now his leg is broken. Now he will not have to go to war!”
RESILIENCY
That is the way life is. Something bad happens. In my case, it was a back injury, and things looked really bad. I was given many discouraging reports. I decided not to place my faith in those negative reports. Inwardly, they did not resonate with the Holy Spirit’s telling me to “press on toward the goal to win the prize…” I sensed that He was asking me to wait and to stay open in the process. He instructed me to resist judging the outcome and to instead look forward with faith-filled eyes. No matter what anyone said, I turned to God’s Word and listened for His voice. In fact, I recorded myself reading Scripture about peace, perseverance, and healing. Each night, with earphones in place, I went to sleep with His words penetrating my mind and building me up. No matter how discouraged I might feel when I went to sleep, I emotionally rebounded the next morning.
After enduring many temptations to despair, the path to recovery opened up for me. Within a few months, I was completely pain-free. God had turned my “horse” into a victory, into good!
Too often we think we have all the time in the world to trust God. We look at Him as our last resource, so we delay our own progress by avoiding reality, digging in, and prophesying doom over our lives, carelessly tossing our faith away by our own thoughts and words.
As a result of my study on resiliency, I have been able to cut out many effects of trials that might cause me to get stuck. Like Job 42:5 says, “I had heard only by the hearing of the ear, but now my spiritual eyes see you.” I now know that all things do work together for our good, if we are willing to withhold our judgment of the outcome, stay open to how God might work, and if we are patiently waiting for God to work out His bigger plan. Throughout the process, what I perceived as bad did turn out for good.
Perhaps this story is simply a verbal photograph of Rom. 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Hold fast, and believe for the best! That’s being resilient.
