Volume 91: Rest in Resilience
Middle school is the best age! They are funny, creative, goofy, and willing to be themselves.
But at the same time, middle school can be a hard time.
As a 7th grade math teacher for 2 years, I had a front row seat into the life of middle schoolers, recognizing that in the midst of the time of trying to figure out who they want to be, they have a lot of outside pressures - school, sports, friendships, family, etc. A lot of things at once!
For me, I loved middle school! I had great friends and we had many adventurous sleepovers full of true childhood activities and a lot of laughter.
But I also experienced some challenges as well.
I grew up playing softball at the rec league in town and awaited my time to shine on the C-Team at school! Until my dad scheduled our family vacation on the same dates as tryouts so I missed a day and didn't make the team, even though all my friends from travel team did.
I took a risk and ran for 6th grade representative, even creating pencils and foam pins to pass out at school. But I lost the running.
My mom and Tom broke off their engagement, which felt like the 3rd divorce I went through. I didn't know what to do with my emotions or how to handle my mom's hurt.
We all face challenges! And sometimes we don't get what we want / thought we deserved!
Tonight we are talking about RESILIENCE. As we focus on "New Me," we become new as we learn more about Jesus and want to become more like Him, in which we begin to change.
Resilience is being able to withstand difficulties.
Resilience is being able to recover quickly from difficulties.
Resilience is being able to overcome adversity.
Some challenges we face may be big. Some may be small. Some may be harder than others. But the one thing for sure is that we all face challenges.
But we are not alone! As I was thinking about this topic, I found comfort in the fact that there are so many characters in the Bible that faced difficult things.
To just pick a few out of the many, here are 4 characters that set a great example of resilience.
1. Joseph. Joseph had a dream that he would be ruling over his brothers, and believed that it would be true. However, his brothers did not like him and sold him into slavery... Then he was thrown into prison... and accused of things he did not do... Despite the dream he had, he did not receive what he expected!
But Joseph had resilience.
He trusted God's plan.
He relied on God during the difficulty.
Then, he became Pharaoh's right hand man, helped Egypt during a great famine, and his family was restored! He didn't get what He expected, but what God had in store was even greater!
2. David. At a young age, everyone doubted David as a young shepherd boy, never imagining that he would be able to defeat Goliath. After defeating Goliath, he was told he would be king. And even though he befriended King Saul, Saul soon felt threatened by David so he chased him for 13 years, wanting to take his life. That was not quite what David had expected his kingship to look like!
But David had resilience.
He remained faithful to God.
He trusted God's plan.
He relied on God during the difficulty.
Now, we read David's writing al the time in Psalms. And he became a very successful and victorious King! And even has family line that leads to Jesus! He didn't get what He expected at first, but what God had in store was even greater!
3. Paul. At first, Paul was a terrible person. He was killing Christians. And then God met him where he was and changed his heart (the perfect example of new me!). Yet, then he was persecuted for telling people about God... He was beaten, put in jail, stoned. When Paul began his relationship with God, that was not the life he had expected.
But Paul had resilience.
He remained faithful to God.
He trusted God's plan.
He relied on God during the difficulty.
Then Paul wrote almost half of the New Testament and has played a HUGE part in the spread of Christianity all over the world. He is now seen to be very important! He didn't get what He expected when He decided to be a Christian, but what God had in store was even greater!
4. Jesus. Our ultimate example! If anyone should have been exempted from difficulty, it would have been Jesus, the literal Son of God in human flesh! But He still faced difficulty... He was misunderstood, betrayed, mocked, made fun of, falsely accused, rejected, and even killed as an innocent man. This was not the life we would expect Jesus to have lived!
How did Jesus overcome these difficutlites?
He remained faithful to God.
He trusted God's plan.
He relied on God during the difficulty.
Even thought not what we would expect, what God had in store was SO MUCH GREATER!
And now, because Jesus overcame these challenges, YOU also can have resilience and overcome hard things with hope!
How do we develop this New Me Resilience?
We TRUST God!
Instead of our grades.
Instead of our social media status.
Instead of our friends.
Instead of our performance.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in ALL your ways submit to Him and He will make your path straight."
Joseph, David, Paul and Jesus all trusted God, even when it was hard. They all could have decided to run from God when they didn't get what they wanted/expected.
Even when it may not feel like it, He has a plan for you!
But.... I tried out again for softball the next year and made the team every year after!
I ran again for government and later became the Student Body President!
My mom is now remarried and happy!
Sometimes, it's hard for us to see the good. But we can have resilience and trust God because
HE IS GOOD AND HE LOVES YOU!
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