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I was thinking about some friends today. I have a couple different families I'm close to that just can't seem to catch a break. If it wasn't for bad luck they wouldn't have any luck at all. When it comes health, finances, jobs, cars, home problems - you name it, it seems like these friends have a sign on their back that says, "Kick Me!"
Both these families are amazing examples of being followers of Jesus Christ. They are also perfect examples of what I have been talking about all these times with this podcast. These families are victors even though victory seems to be so far from their reality it isn't even funny.
I have to admit, I wouldn't trade places with either of these families for just about anything. I don't know how they do it. Well, maybe I do. That's what I want to focus on today. I want to explain what I think people who have decided to live like victors do when victory just isn't happening in their lives.
For both of these families, I have seen one trait that they exhibit in powerful and unmistakable ways. That trait is that they seem to be able to live in the moment in ways I admire. They don't look too far down the road when it comes to their situation. They are just able to focus on the here and now in ways that make what they are going through something they can do their best with at that given time.
I'm not saying that this strategy makes what they are going through OK. It isn't! I have been with members of both these families when they were at their wits ends. And, why wouldn't they be? If I had to deal with 1/10th what they do, I'd have checked out a long time ago.
I believe that's why these families are so good at dealing with life in the moment. It is simply impossible for them to look ahead because of the distinct possibility that their current condition will actually get worse. This isn't negative thinking. It is realistic thinking due to how things have gone in the past. They aren't dreading the future, they are just doing their best to thrive in the moment. The hardships in their lives make it so that they have no choice but to live for this moment. I want that kind of attitude without having to go through the pain of the craziness that they deal with each and every day.
It isn't victim thinking that is making them live in the moment. It is that they just don't have the mental or physical energy to worry about tomorrow. Today has enough worries for them to have to contend with. They don't have the luxury to think about tomorrow like you and I do.
Even though times are tough, there is a peace in the lives of these families that I want in mine as well. I believe that that peace comes as they simply be in the middle of living out what is in front of them at that moment. That's the epitome of victor living if you ask me.
So much of the mental anguish you and I suffer from comes as we try to project ahead when it comes to what our lives will be. This is a self imposed suffering that my friends with their plates full right now don't have the luxury of bringing into their lives like we do.
Anthony de Mello, Jesuit priest, author and speaker put it this way. "The present moment is never intolerable. What’s intolerable is what’s going to happen in the next four hours. To have your body here at 8 pm and your mind at 10:30 pm, that’s what causes us suffering."
It doesn't matter if times are good or bad, trying to live in the future, even one second in the future, is a torment that we just don't need to endure. Yet, victim thinking is the result as we try to ignore what it happening now and live for what we hope will come in the not so distant future. It is when what we hope will come next doesn't materialize that victim thinking threatens to take hold in victimizing ways.
So much of the mental anguish you and I suffer from comes as we try to project ahead when it comes to what our lives will be. This is a self imposed suffering that my friends with their plates full right now don't have the luxury of bringing into their lives like we do.
Anthony de Mello, Jesuit priest, author and speaker put it this way. "The present moment is never intolerable. What’s intolerable is what’s going to happen in the next four hours. To have your body here at 8 pm and your mind at 10:30 pm, that’s what causes us suffering."
It doesn't matter if times are good or bad, trying to live in the future, even one second in the future, is a torment that we just don't need to endure. Yet, victim thinking is the result as we try to ignore what it happening now and live for what we hope will come in the not so distant future. It is when what we hope will come next doesn't materialize that victim thinking threatens to take hold in victimizing ways.
My friends have been forced to deal with this reality in ways that has changed their lives. In spite of the horrific things they face, their ability to stay in the moment makes victor living happen without all the trappings of victory being in their lives. These friends are living with a different foundation. That foundation is summed up in today's reading. Check it out with me now.
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2 (NIV)
These friends can't trust their lives to be the foundation for who they are. There has been so many challenging times in their lives that they have decided there has to be something more than a comfortable life from which to build off of. My friends can't rely on their tomorrow to bail them out. They need something more substantial from which to build their lives. That foundation is God Himself.
I use to pity these friends. In this light, I envy them in some pretty significant ways. I have the luxury to build my life on what I think I can do. I can let my identity be based on actions because my actions seem to turn out positively more often than not. I can look to the future with a longing that gets me off track in so many ways because tomorrow seems to always be better than today. What if all that changed? What if my tomorrow didn't turn out better than my today? My foundation would be rocked. When our foundations crumble, victim thinking can't help but to be there to take over.
Look, I'm not saying that we have to ruin our good life in order to live in the power of the victor status God has given us. What I'm saying is that this trait of living in the moment is a powerful way of letting the foundation of God take over more and more in our lives. It is when we live in the moment that we see things for what they are worth. The good times can be enjoyed even more and the bad times might not have such a negative impact on who we are as it does when tomorrow is all that we have.
If times are good, it is perfectly acceptable to do what you can to maintain that goodness in your life. It is when we come to expect that goodness be a proof that we mean something to this God that made us that troubles start to happen. Circumstances don't prove a single thing when it comes to who we are and who this God is that loves us. Enjoy the good times, but don't expect them to be the proof of anything about who you are or who this God is in your life.
If times are bad, it is perfectly acceptable to hope for a better day tomorrow. Just like the good times, don't let what happens tomorrow be proof of anything when it comes to identity. You are who God says you are. God is who He has always been in your life. Those two identity driven realities don't change based on whether what we expect comes to fruition or not.
What ever is happening in your life today, live in the moment. Even in the worst of times there is plenty to be thankful for. My friends are living testimonies of that fact. Live in the moment and let God's power of identity fuel your victor status in all that comes your way today.
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2 (NIV)
These friends can't trust their lives to be the foundation for who they are. There has been so many challenging times in their lives that they have decided there has to be something more than a comfortable life from which to build off of. My friends can't rely on their tomorrow to bail them out. They need something more substantial from which to build their lives. That foundation is God Himself.
I use to pity these friends. In this light, I envy them in some pretty significant ways. I have the luxury to build my life on what I think I can do. I can let my identity be based on actions because my actions seem to turn out positively more often than not. I can look to the future with a longing that gets me off track in so many ways because tomorrow seems to always be better than today. What if all that changed? What if my tomorrow didn't turn out better than my today? My foundation would be rocked. When our foundations crumble, victim thinking can't help but to be there to take over.
Look, I'm not saying that we have to ruin our good life in order to live in the power of the victor status God has given us. What I'm saying is that this trait of living in the moment is a powerful way of letting the foundation of God take over more and more in our lives. It is when we live in the moment that we see things for what they are worth. The good times can be enjoyed even more and the bad times might not have such a negative impact on who we are as it does when tomorrow is all that we have.
If times are good, it is perfectly acceptable to do what you can to maintain that goodness in your life. It is when we come to expect that goodness be a proof that we mean something to this God that made us that troubles start to happen. Circumstances don't prove a single thing when it comes to who we are and who this God is that loves us. Enjoy the good times, but don't expect them to be the proof of anything about who you are or who this God is in your life.
If times are bad, it is perfectly acceptable to hope for a better day tomorrow. Just like the good times, don't let what happens tomorrow be proof of anything when it comes to identity. You are who God says you are. God is who He has always been in your life. Those two identity driven realities don't change based on whether what we expect comes to fruition or not.
What ever is happening in your life today, live in the moment. Even in the worst of times there is plenty to be thankful for. My friends are living testimonies of that fact. Live in the moment and let God's power of identity fuel your victor status in all that comes your way today.
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