By Mark Maher
“The best thing that has happened in my life has come from handling the worst.” Dick Hoyt
This is the story of a father’s incredible devotion to his son who was born with cerebral palsy. Despite this, they have competed together in over 1,000 athletic events around the world with the simple motto, “yes, you can.”
“I made up my mind that we’re not going to be discouraged. We’ve come a long way and we’ve been able to break down a lot of barriers along the way and that’s because we never gave up and we never take no for an answer. You can’t get discouraged. You’ve got to be very, very brave.I look forward to every day and the challenges that may come ahead.” Dick Hoyt of Team Hoyt
“One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is love.” Sophocles
Joseph had quite the journey. Thrown into a pit. Tossed into a prison. But near the end of his life, after his life came full circle, he proclaimed, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)
Some people declare Romans 8:28, their verse of hope because no matter what happens to them, they are proclaiming that God’s going to work it out for good because they’re called to live for “His purpose” and not their own expectations. It’s the verse of strong faith. It’s the verse that says no matter what you do to me, I’ll make it work for God’s good with God’s help.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” C.S. Lewis.
No matter what you’ve gone through, you have to make the best of it. We all go through things that shatter our dreams and our expectations and you’ll be left with how will you choose to respond. So I encourage you to respond with courage. To get back in the game and make the best out of whatever you’ve been dealt. It’s not the end because you’re still in the process. Your story is still getting written so choose to make it a beautiful story, nevertheless.
Speak life into your own situation. Encourage yourself if you have to. Remind yourself that this life is short and to be grateful for every second. Don’t dismiss the 50 great things over the one thing that went wrong.
Don’t have a small threshold when it comes to dealing with adversity because you’ll always have adversity. Get a fortified resilient faith. “But we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)
“It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.” Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Some people know how to parlay pain. They know how to allow it to catapult them into a deeper and richer faith. The one that helps other people when they’re going through tough times. The one that gets out of self and into purpose. The one that decides you can’t break me.
The faith that embraces struggles and adversity because you know it now allows you to empathize with others who are going through tough times. I know we want God to use us without having to go through any challenges, but life will often break us and then God restores us so that we can become His hands and feet.
You can choose to sit on the sidelines, but time will drift by. God will still love you. It’ll just be missed opportunities, but years can go by and you could miss 100 opportunities or 1000. What’s your God given purpose?
Do you just want to go through it or do you want to allow God to use it? Will you let Him use you for His purpose?
Nick Vujicic was born with no arms and no legs. He could’ve given up on life and in fact for a while he sort of did, but then he came to the realization that he can be used by God to reach millions, which he has. This is how you take the worst thing that happens in your life and make it the best.
“If you can’t get a miracle, you can still be a miracle.” Nick Vujicic
