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"'Get to' living is a radical means of throwing off the bondage with which victim thinking saddles us. 'Get to' living makes it more possible to live like victors, even when life doesn’t deal us a victorious hand."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 183.
If there is one single thing that has helped me to live like the victor God sees me as it is the transition from obligation to opportunity. It is how I am choosing to view the arduous tasks that come my way that is making the peace I so want for my life be more attainable. As I step into a lifestyle that allows me to see I have choice in all I do that victor living is something I can believe in more and more.
I'm sure you aren't this way at all, but when challenges come my way, I can react pretty badly. I really don't like it when I don't get my way. When obstacles arise that make my comfortable life somewhat of a challenge, I can react in some pretty self destructive ways. This attitude also spills into everyday tasks that don't turn out the way I'd like them to. Let me give you a pretty simple example.
I recently discovered that a set of sprinklers at my house weren't working. This discovery was made during a particularly busy time in my life. My list of "to-do's" at this time was pretty long and, frankly pretty overwhelming. Having my sprinkler system act up just wasn't part of my planning process. Due to the damage to the area this part of the system was suppose to be watering, this problem pushed all my other to-do's down the list a bit.
As I started troubleshooting the problem, I discovered that it appeared to be a break in the line under the front wakway of my house. Honestly, the problem couldn't have been in a more difficult place for me to fix. One Saturday I decided to roll up my sleeves and tackle this project. Six hours later I was wasn't any closer to making the sprinklers work than I was when I woke up that morning. Here's where victim thinking really started to creep in because of the words "Have To."
When I finally decided to stop working on this project for the day, I was pretty dejected. I consider myself a pretty competent person when it comes to figuring out how to get things working. This stupid sprinkler system was threatening to prove that, when it comes to competency, maybe I'm not all that I thought I was. To me, this is a direct affront to who I am. Anytime identity gets challenged by what we do, victim thinking is sure to follow.
For about an hour after I quit working on the sprinklers, I felt pretty victimized. I had wasted the entire day - time I desperately needed to do other things on my to-do list. My thoughts spiraled out of control. All I could think was "I have go get this sprinkler system working." What I was really thinking was, "If I don't get this thing working, people I love will think less of me." My reputation was tied to this project. My relationships were linked to getting the job done. When I put myself in that position, failure is so much more of a crushing event than it is suppose to be.
I literally had to take some time and get my head on right. I had to go back to what I have been presenting in these podcasts and let the truth God has shown me be my guiding light. My reputation doesn't hinge on getting a sprinkler system working. My relationships aren't hanging in the balance of whether I succeed at this, or any other project on my to-do list. My "have to" thinking was placing me in a bondage God and any one else who loves me had no intention for me to experience.
After going over all this, I started to see how much I loved the challenge this broken sprinkler was tossing at me. I started to realize that the process of doing this fix is what I really enjoy. I really like taking a problem and working the problem to find a solution. Though I didn't succeed at getting the sprinklers working this day, I can come back to it and give it another try. I realized that I "Get to" do this project. That way of thinking freed me up to take on the rest of my day with an attitude that didn't do damage to me and to those around me.
Even the worst of our failures can be "get to" opportunities. Even the most horrific of life events can present chances for our identities to shine. It is when we get stuck at carrying the heavy burden of obligation that can come with challenges that we face that we can let victim thinking take over in our lives.
Our reading contrasts what "have to" and "get to" living does in our lives. Check it out with me now.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (ESV)
See the contrasting views of how we can see the things that come against us in today's reading. I was crushed, in despair, felt forsaken and feeling like I was destroyed by a failed attempt at fixing a sprinkler system. The fact that I was in a position where I "have to" fix that sprinkler made these thoughts almost ruin my day and effect my actions toward others.
The fact was I was afflicted, I was even a little bit persecuted, perplexed and maybe even a little struck down. Failure to get done what we thought we were going to accomplish does this to us. It is when we put the added pressure of "have to" thinking on top of the fact that we failed that victim thinking can do its worst in our lives.
Thinking of tasks on my to do list with a "get to" attitude doesn't mean I won't ever be afflicted, persecuted, perplexed or struck down. It just means that when those feelings come, I'm not as apt to jump thinking that I'm the victim of being crushed, forsaken, destroyed and stuck in despair. Victim thinking takes a difficult station and turns it into the impossible. I can be afflicted, persecuted, perplexed and/or struck down and still be the victor God sees me to be if I can see the things coming against me as potential for God to work through me in ways I just understand see at the moment. That's what viewing our challenges as "Get to" opportunities does for us. It has the potential to set us free from the thinking that what we do has anything to do with who we are.
Challenges will always come our way. Those challenges never come at the perfect time. They will upset our best laid plans and make us feel like we just can't cope or don't measure up. It is during those times that we need to know who we are and let that identity carry us into the darkness with a light straight from Heaven itself.
The bad times we face don't define us. God does. His definition of who we are transcends how successful we are at making things happen here on earth. That is the basis for living this live as a victor when, even broken sprinkler systems seem to be saying we are nothing more than a victim of this life.
Take on your day knowing that there will be times where you will face a decision in how you view what comes your way. Are you going to take on your day with the obligation laced attitude the comes with "have to"? Or, are you going to make the best of the opportunities to let your identity shine in the darkness of "get to" tasks that will surprise you today. Let the power of who you are be what makes taking on the challenges you face something that God uses to make your victor status even more relevant in all you do today.
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