Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday January 7, 2009

Sunday evening past I preached what I thought to be a grand sermon on the importance of properly facing the "events" of our life. The idea being that "time" is mentioned 578 times in the Bible, often referring to history, the sands of time, meaning minutes, hours and other measurements of the stuff of life, and that the preponderance of mentions has to do with "events" over which we have no control, other than a proper, godly response.

This truth was known by the ancients and is taught throughout the Bible, so why is there so little mention of our response being so important. Take Daniel for instance. There is precious little said by Daniel of a complaining note, but much is made of his response to being a captive in Babylon for his entire adult life. His response to God's judgment of Israel was a positive response by trusting God in spite of circumstances and making the best use of his God given gifts. No whining, no placing blame, simply serving the Lord in the best way possible.

Epictetus stated:

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."

A brief glance at the earthly ministry of Jesus will burn into our mind and heart the importance of proper response. Are you insulted? Do you react as Jesus taught to insults? Does someone do you very, very wrong? Do you forgive them? Are you maligned? Do you malign in return?

If you are the victim of an earthquake, how do you respond? Do you become a professional victim and spend the rest of your life whining about it? My long time friend, Dr. Tom Wallace, often tells of a man who survived the Johnstown Flood. He chose not to be a victim, but to travel and tell vast audiences of the experience. He was very successful at this. In the course of time, he died. In heaven he worried Peter out of his mind for permission to tell of his surviving the Johnstown Flood. Having received permission and while enroute to the Heavenly Dome, Peter whispered to our survivor, "Just remember, Noah will be in the audience."

I know and have tried to help one man who lost a foot in the Vietnam War. He managed to finagle disability from this war injury and has lived the life of a whining victim since 1968. I have friend who lost one eye, an entire leg and his right arm at the elbow, who instead of launching a whining program started a business, trusted the Lord and is successful, enjoys a long happy marriage and has employed his Christ like spirit to replace the physical parts that were given in service to our nation. I often tell people, "No matter what tragedy you are using for excuse, I can name someone with the same or worse tragedy who reacted to it in a Christ like way and they are going on in victory."

This life event like all events is a good one, if I know how to respond and do so.

Larry Lilly Copyright � 2009 Use with credit.
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