OVERCOMING ADVERSITY SERIES 3

The Power of Gratitude

“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Gratitude is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal to overcome adversity and create a desirable future. It is easy to be thankful when everything is going on well in your life. How about when things are not going on well in our lives?

If you are overwhelmed right now by challenges in your life, it can be really difficult to find things to be grateful for. When life seems to be dumping hardships all over you, feeling grateful may seem as something far beyond reach for anyone.

So, how can someone stay thankful when adversity visits?
Start by being thankful for what you have. You need to recognise what you have if we are to experience the victory you desire over adverse circumstances. You are never without anything...there is always something you can be thankful for. Always!

When adversity visited Job (he lost everything except his life and his wife in one day), his initial response was to show appreciation to God and bless Him. Take a read:

"Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:20-21)

When Apostle Paul and his associate were beaten and cast into prison for doing no wrong, they did not allow their crisis to put them down. They praised God in that situation and God brought them deliverance.

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed” (Acts 16:25-26).

We can use the same example (call it strategy, if you like) to experience our desired change. Complaining and blaming all other is not going to help you overcome the situation. It will rather perpetuate it. But when you unleash the spirit of gratitude you will feel empowered to take charge of your life.

When faced with adversity, decide to appreciate what you already have. Your appreciation will help you build the capacity to learn, grow and overcome, not only in the face of adversity, but because of it.

So, when you feel like things are not going the way you want, that you haven’t got what you want, that things seem not to be turning out as you intended or desire, try this: Focus your attention on what you do have. If you focus intentionally on what you have in your life that you value, you create new value. In other words, you will find new and greater significance for it. To put it simply, what you appreciate, appreciates.

On the other hand, if you focus your thought and attention on what you might have lost as a result of adversity, you will feel incapacitated and that will only serve to magnify the problem and prolong the pain. You will be robbed of the power to initiate change and thus perpetuate the problem, if not made worse.

Focus rather on things you are thankful for. As you begin to focus on the resources you have (for example, supportive friends and family, your ability to think, your education and training, etc) for which you are thankful, you open yourself up to new opportunities and possibilities.

When you cultivate an attitude of gratitude, you will not only transform your world, but also the world of those around you.

I see God do for you what he did for Paul and the others as you put on the attitude of gratitude irrespective of your circumstances. You shall experience divine help. Have a great day, and look forward to the next post in this series. (See also my blog post on "Be Thankful").
Every blessing...

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY SERIES 2

THE POWER OF CHOICE

In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Dr. Victor Frankl wrote: “...everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of all human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” So we are never without power. While we cannot choose our conditions, we are entirely free to choose our response to those conditions.

When adversity visits your life, you have two choices: to be a victim or to be a victor. Either we choose to be responsible for the life we create or we shirk our responsibility by blaming others or events for our failures and unhappiness.

Those who choose to be victims allow life circumstances to get them down, and they spend their lives asking others to redress the grievances life has dealt them. Victims are needy and demand to be served.

On the other hand, those who choose to be victors don't find life to be a struggle. They find it to be exhilarating. They don't encounter problems; they merely face things they wish to change. When they find something blocking their way, they look for a way to get around it or to overcome it. In a word, they look for, and find, solutions.

Victims are experts at looking for excuses. They almost delight in finding others and events to blame. Instead of looking for solutions, they doggedly search for excuses. They blame anything or anyone else for their problems. They refuse to get involved in finding a solution because they are, after all, victims.

People who believe they are victims say that the only way for their lives to change for the better is when other people get better, or if the socio-economic and political environment improves. They give a plethora of excuses to explain why they are in their very situation. Just listen to them talk and you will know their thinking and mindset.

The truth is, for as long as we keep thinking that it is not our fault, that it’s someone’s or something else’s, we will continue to feel helpless and powerless. By continuing to play the victim, we will completely be at the mercy of our environment or situation. We rob ourselves of so much power (the power to initiate change) by playing the victim. Most of the time the outside world will not change...not until we change first!

Victors, on the other hand, rise above the challenges they encounter. They rebound from life's hardships with newfound strength, and they use their strength to overcome their situation and serve those around them.

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them.” – George Bernard Shaw

Why do so many people choose to be the victim? The reason, I guess, is that we get lots of sympathy, don't we? We also want to feel assured that we were in the right by justifying our own actions. Though it seems beneficial, the cost of doing so is high. The fact is, for as long as people convince themselves to be the victims of circumstance, blame something or someone else, they will never be able to take charge, learn from their experiences, move on and change their lives for the better.

Becoming a victim to your circumstances or situation is a choice. It really is! You can rise up today and choose to be a victor. May the Lord empower you with divine wisdom and strength to help you rise above your current challenges. You are a Victor, and not a Victim. Every blessing...

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY SERIES 1

Triumphing Over Adverse Conditions

A crisis is an event, or a circumstance, or a situation that impacts and influences your life, over which you have no control, or you are not the cause of, or responsible for.

There are different kinds of crises – financial, family, business, personal, health, etc. Whatever crisis you encounter, you can overcome. In other words, you can succeed in dealing with that problem, or difficulty, or misfortune and effectively change your circumstances for the better. The challenge really is in knowing how to overcome those conditions and live victoriously after.

Adversity is Unavoidable
It is imperative for one to recognise that adversity is part and parcel of life. Everywhere you look there are challenging situations - pain, loss, suffering, stress, and other difficulties. Some mistakenly think that by virtue of being Christians they are somewhat exempt from adversity. King David observed that “many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 39:19).

Jesus never promised anyone a trouble-free life. He told His disciples, “...in this world you will have trouble...” (John 16:33). So, regardless of one’s consecration adversity may hit you. One’s faith in God doesn’t necessarily exempt you from adverse situations; it rather positions you for continual triumph.

Now, if adversity is unavoidable, then we must know how to deal with it when we encounter them. King Solomon reveals that, "if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small" (Proverbs 24:10). In other words, if you give in to discouragement and despair in the day of adversity (time of trial, or temptation or crisis), then your strength is small. So your ability to withstand adversity and overcome is directly linked to the measure of strength you posses.

Ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus once said: “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” I couldn't agree with him more.

In this presentation, my intention is to deliver into your hands tools you can use to surmount your present challenges and bring to pass your desired change. So, please come with me and let’s take a look in the toolbox and learn how we can effectively apply these power tools.

I will put each power tool under The Overcoming Adversity Series heading. I hope you find the information helpful. Watch out for the next post in the series on The Power of Choice. May God strengthen you to live victoriously. Every blessing...