Look Up
I came across a very inspiring testimony by an African-American lady. She shared the story of how her grandfather grew up in America’s south under the Jim Crow laws which enforced racial segregation. He experienced having the KKK regularly harass his family by shooting bullets at their house. In spite of the adversities that took place, he chose not to hold a gripe against the white man and never taught his family to view themselves as victims because of their heritage.
Instead he instilled in them a love for God, family, and hard work. The young lady did stray away from some of the values for a season but eventually discovered how precious his outlook is.
Stories like these of how extraordinary people rose against the odds and overcame their hardships are not only inspiring but can even be transformative. I have many times in my life wanted to adopt the victim mentality and place blame on other people for my failures or more accurately, my refusal to take ownership. It really held me back in different areas of my life. However, when I accepted that many times “you cannot control the situation but you can control your reaction to the situation,” I started experiencing all kinds of small and big successes.
When you look at incredible individuals like the grandpa, he could have easily stopped, wallowed in self-pity, and believed that nothing positive could come out of their situation. He could have been resentful and hateful but instead he rose above the adversity.
I have been enjoying the Sabbath School lessons this quarter focusing on the book of Daniel. Daniel and his friends were many times in circumstances that were very unfair and it would’ve been understandable if they felt sorry for themselves and started blaming the oppressors and even God. But they knew who their God was and chose to rely on Him when they were powerless.
There are so many verses in the Bible to keep us focused on our God instead of the unfavourable circumstances we face in this flawed world that we live in. The following are a few of my favourite reminders.
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37
Let’s take advantage of all this goodness available to us!
