Resilience Required
Without resilience, we will never have an abundant life. Jesus told us life would have trials and tribulations. We don’t gain a get out of jail card from the world of woes, but we get something better. He teaches us how to rely on Him to become who we were meant to be.
God likes to lead us on journeys that test us. We either learn from it, or let it stop us from progressing. Before you think something is too hard to bother doing and you say no to doing it, let’s think about what could happen if a few people we know gave up.
Esther became a queen of Persia because she had learned to rely on God through life with her uncle. When her uncle heard of what Haman intended to do to the Jews, she had a choice to make. Dare go before the king without a proper invitation or let God use someone else save the Jews. It was a big deal going to face the king of Persia without an invitation. If he did not find favor with you, he could kill you if he chose. It did not matter that he made you a queen. And she did it at least twice before the truth of Haman’s persecution came to light. In the end, her courage and knowledge led to saving the Jews in Persia and Haman got his come comeuppance.
Paul, who used to be Saul and persecutor of the Way, didn’t start out preaching and setting up churches the same day he accepted Jesus. No, he disappears for a couple of years, during which he learns the truth of Jesus and this Way he used to persecute. After a literal eye opening experience, he needed training that would keep him on the path set before him. Despite all the assaults against him, by man and nature, he never gave up on sharing the Gospel. Even in a dark prison spread out in stocks, we find him singing praises to God that get the ground shaking and the confines of the prison bursting open. Paul set up churches throughout the Mediterranean because of his resilience built through his trials. His actions saved many and produced miracles because God’s power could flow through him with his obedience.
There are plenty of modern day heroes who overcame and claimed an abundant life. They made it through trials to know who they were. Their actions inspired others to not give up. If you have the chance to peek into their lives, every one of them had to train for what they did. Even in those crazy heroic saves, there is a learned courage and knowledge that allowed that person to know they could try.
That’s where many of us have been stopped. We try and fail once and give up on it. We want the dream now and we want it like someone else got it. I’m sorry. It doesn’t work that way. Each of us has a specific calling that resonates deep inside that we must do the way God made us.
I always knew I wanted to publish a book someday and I’ve been a writer of stories since age seven. I had a lot to learn. Failure happened more than once, but I learned from it. I’ve had periods where I did not write as much, but there was always something coming out of me. For a while, it was a blog and helping with an amateur gaming community magazine. Then I finally tried writing a novel from scratch and drafted one in just over four months. That one was around the fifteenth novel idea that made it to the end. I have a bunch more in unfinished drafts. All that was not a waste. It was practice and learning.
I’m still learning despite having reached the level of certified coach and published author of a Christian fantasy series that has two books out and one that should release in January with preorder available during the holidays if the next month goes as planned. This writing life is fulfilling and abundant with opportunities along with trials. I know this is what I am supposed to be doing with God. God has given me peeks into how I helped people know him via my stories. The trials and learning will definitely continue and I look forward to them. I don’t want to leave someone hanging that God meant for me to help.
When you are ready to quit on your dreams, ask yourself who will lose if you do not. Someone out there will definitely not get what you alone can give. You might say you aren’t the only one doing it, but only you can do it precisely with your style and knowledge for that particular person. I heard about Jesus several ways, but it didn’t click until it came to me just the way I needed. If those people that fed into that right way did not bother sharing about Jesus, teach that Sunday school lesson, or preach that Sunday I first went, you would have never read this or learned about me. Let that sink in a moment.
Find that resilience that helps you to keep on going for those who are waiting for the assigned time you will help them. Believe me, God has them lined up and you may never know this side of heaven you helped them. Keep going with God and the dream He planted in your heart.