Bouncing Back with Resilience — Morning Devotions

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Transcript

Every now and then in life we come across a situation that we were not expecting, bad news from your doctor, sudden redundancy from work, you think, where did that come from? It can cause all sorts of problems, struggling for answers, and somehow you know that you have to keep going, if not for your own sake, then probably for your family who depend on you. Here’s a word for you today, the word resilience, bouncing back from the obstacles of life with resilience.

Now it’s true that life is complex. Our minds can get very confused, especially with unresolved issues that keep us awake at night. So what’s the best way to withstand adversity? I think with a can-do attitude. One writer puts it very simply, resilience is doing well when you shouldn’t be doing well. You might hear stories of incredible achievements when someone struggles and eventually overcomes. How did they do it? Well, probably by putting resilience into practise.

It’s standing firm when you feel like giving in

They can reframe their thinking and adjust to a new way of doing things, especially when they have to. The rough and tumble of life expects that from us now and again. Failure does not mean the end of the road. There are many people who show this, and one comes to mind to me very easily, Mother Teresa. I admire her courage, compassion without worrying about her physical health, and she had struggles about her own faith.

She embraced serving the most vulnerable, choosing to find the sacred in every person.

What a remarkable woman. I think it’s easier to run away from fearful situations, especially when you get criticised and condemned as you want to achieve your goals. Instead, stand up and care about others, not just looking after yourself. But to do that, you’ll need to focus on gratitude, compassion, acceptance, meaning, and forgiveness, all tremendous qualities to have in our lives.

So I’m talking about resilience. It’s been described as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress. But there is a dimension to all this that matters most. It’s resilience and faith. It’s the spiritual concept which can be easily lost in our quest to bounce back after a bad time, faith in a loving God.

Jenny White is an author who’s written a blog called The Resilience of Faith. She says faith can best be understood in the way which a person draws on and enters into the life of God.

You’re not expected to battle through life on your own. God created you to have fellowship and friendship with Himself. So what have you learned about yourself and life generally as you bounce back? Now, of course, I don’t know your situation and life may never be the same after a trauma.

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But it’s not all bad, you know, God has some plans for your life.

If you stay close to him, he’ll give you wisdom and strength to deal with any situation, no matter how horrible.

With Jesus Christ as the centre of your life, you’ll have a higher motivation to live every day with a renewed purpose that’s motivated.

By God, and that will affect the way you live with yourself and the way you interact with others, no matter what else is going on. And sometimes we’re spiritually short-sighted, we don’t see what’s going on. God is doing a work in our lives, and we may see that later on. We beat ourselves up, we judge others unfairly, but we should never write anyone off for being weak and useless. That’s really not your business. God is able to give strength to anyone to make them resilient.

So what’s the agenda for your life?

Is it to place God first in everything? If so, even the biggest difficulty can be overcome. God is gentle and loving. He doesn’t want to see you burdened down. Psalm 23:4 has the remarkable words, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Leslie Belinda was a nurse working for Tear Fund in Rwanda when the dreadful genocide broke out in 1994. It was, you might remember the news, murder and atrocities. Her husband and friends were murdered, she lost her home. But years after that, she wrote this about the experience. It was like being in the tiny pinpoint of calm at the centre of a massive whirlwind. I had been stripped in one foul swoop of so much that made up my life.

But she said at the bottom of it all, God is still there. I know He is in control and that He’ll bring good out of all this. It is inexpressibly painful, but in a way it’s a mysterious and awesome privilege. Leslie Belinda, one very resilient woman.

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, today we do acknowledge we need resilience in coping with day-to-day experiences. We need to bounce back, and we can only do it really well with your help, and I thank you in anticipation. Amen.

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