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"It might just be that the fact that we didn’t receive what we needed was because it was so much more important in God’s Plan for salvation for us to feel the pain of less stuff so that the world could feel the pleasure of more of Him."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 95.
I recently met with a friend who just returned from a three month ministry trip to China. I sat in amazement as I listened to the stories he and his wife told of their adventures sharing the Father's Love in such a different place than what we are use to here. I've come to believe that my friends and those called to minister in places that aren't as open and free as here, fully get the quote I opened up with today.
There are way to many Christians in the US that just don't believe that God would ever allow bad things to happen in their good life. Way too many sermons have been preached that tickle our ears in a way that make us think we, somehow, deserve the good life we have been blessed with. Most of the rest of the world just doesn't believe like we do when it comes to God and the life that they have been given. It is when we think that God owes us a good life that victim thinking can really take hold in victim making ways.
Scriptures, like our reading today, are so foreign to many of us. Check out what God has to say about a good life for the believer.
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 1 Peter 4:12-14 (ESV)
"Don't be surprised..." by the trials that will come your way. This isn't an "if" statement, it is a "when" reality. Challenges are going to come our way. I don't for a minute believe that God causes all the evil behind the badness that happens in this world. I do believe that God will use that badness to make His plan for salvation happen in the world around us. Sometimes that means our desire for a good life takes a back seat to God's plan. Those are the times victim thinking can really slip in if we aren't grounded in who we are in this God's eyes.
Satan would like for us to think that God is mad at us. He wants us to believe that His Goodness can't be trusted. That strategy is so easy to implement when we think that following Jesus means our life will always be good and easy. Satan loves it when victors think that their status depends on God giving them the kinds of victories that make life good and acceptable. Satan is desperate to make us think God is a victimizer and we are the victims of His attention.
Bad news is that Satan's strategy works really well for those of us who are blessed to be able to worship God any way we want. I find it totally amazing that Satan has a really difficult time making this strategy work in places where the Church is persecuted so badly. It is when we are given the power of choice, like we have in this country, that victim thinking is so easy to allow into our lives.
I think that's why our nation has become such a Victim-Based Society. The vast number of choices we have has made it so easy to think that goodness is to be expected. No wonder we feel like victims when bad things come our way. Those who have been blessed to walk as Jesus did, find it so much more difficult to let victim thinking rule in their lives.
It is time we all live more like Jesus. He didn't go out of his way looking for challenges but wasn't crushed when challenges came along. Jesus knew that God's light shines brightest when dark times are around. Since we are brothers and sisters of Christ, isn't it time we live with that realization as well.
The world needs God's light more than it ever has. That light might be needed in some pretty dark places around you today. Maybe that's part of the reason why the challenges you are facing right now are happening. Satan wants you to think like a victim. God wants you to live like a victor. You do that as you step fully into who He says you are. Let your victor status change your world today. You do that as you let God's light shine brightly in the good times of your life and your bad as well.
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