Crisis: Tragedy or Opportunity?

I have heard it said that in the Chinese language the words tragedy and opportunity are the same word "crisis". I did a little research and the found that there are mixed opinions on the validity of that statement, but overall there is evidence that there is a common intermingling of the two words in the Chinese language. Talk about divergent terminology! Probably the last thing that comes to your mind when I bring up a tragedy is the notion of an opportunity. Depending on where you are sitting on the faith and trust spectrum may very well determine your perception of looking at a tragedy as an opportunity, so hopefully I can shed a little light and a lot of perspective on this mind shift.

 At first notice when we hear about a tragedy our thoughts shift towards sadness and grief. But why wouldn't they? When a tragedy hits someone or a group of someone's lives are being dramatically impacted by a negative experience. Loss of something important to someone normally equates to a tragic event in their life. The unexpected loss of a beloved family member or close family friend qualifies as a crisis that we experience, but loss of a home, or accidents that leave a person injured for life are also categorized as tragedies. Definitely not somewhere that the word opportunity usually pops up in a conversation. Yet, for the two words tragedy and opportunity to be a single word in the Chinese language there has to be an explanation worth learning more about. 

 In 1914 Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb among so many other marvels of the time, experienced one of the aforementioned crisis’s when his factory burnt to the ground. As the flames were raging and the building was disintegrating right there in front of Edison, he called out to his son and asked where the boy's mother was. It is recorded that upon learning that she was still at the family's home, Mr. Edison instructed his son to hurry and get her, because she may never have a chance to see a fire like that again. Hard to imagine anyone wanting to admire a fire in the face of a tragic event such as that. For some of us it may be even harder to believe that Edison wasn't standing there crying over the loss of all of the significant work that was being done to create items such as the light bulb. Here, it is reported that Edison told his employees that the fire just destroyed all their mistakes and now they would be able to start fresh with none of the former failures standing in the way. What allows someone like Thomas Edison to see opportunities instead of tragedies? My opinion would say it is all related to faith and trust in someone bigger than yourself. 

 We will all face challenges, losses, and failures, so it isn't necessarily the idea that some people are exempt from a crisis, but how we face those tragic events in life is where opportunity has a chance to rise to the top of your mindset and change your life which in turn changes the lives of so many others you interact with each day. Joseph's ascension to power found in Genesis 50 was draped in crisis after crisis, yet Joseph held firm to his understanding of the idea that out of a tragedy an opportunity will soon present itself. Thrown in a pit by his own brothers, sold into slavery by those same brothers, and imprisoned for a false accusation of rape, Joseph had many reasons to give in to the adversity in his life. But instead, after persevering through all of the challenges that continuously knocked him down, Joseph assumed a position as the number two man in Egypt serving directly under the Pharaoh. Joseph met with those very same brothers that had sold him into slavery, and as they stood there shaking in their sandals fearing execution for their crime, Joseph provided this clarity to his brothers, "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. An even better example of maintaining a mindset of opportunity coming from tragedy is the life and death of God's Holy Son Jesus who pleaded with His Father to "let this cup pass Him, but if not than Thy will be done." Luke 22:42. Jesus understood that even though His life would be ended through the death on the crucifix, the impact of His death would positively impact the lives of millions of people, even billions of people around the world. "Thy will be done", opportunity created by tragedy.

Where in your life do you need to build your faith to a place where faced with a crisis you need to see an opportunity for growth rather than the surface level of pain and sorrow? Trusting that your life has a purpose and that whatever has befallen you is not near as important as what God is planning on doing in you and through you as a byproduct of the supposed tragedy is where faith stands in the gap and ties tragedy and opportunity together. Got faith, faith to move a mountain? If not get some! God is the difference in the mix!

Coach Carter

Thank You.

When you pray, do you say thank you to God? I'm guessing the short answer to that question is, "yes, of course." In written text that would look something like this, "Thank you God." We thank God for our health, our family, our jobs, our homes, and our salvation, but as in the example above, does that thought end with a period after the thanks are expressed? Thank you God (period) 

Most of my teaching experience was in the content area of social studies. I taught American History, Geography, and World History for eleven years. I transitioned to teaching English Language Arts for the next five years and during that period, I became much more in tune with grammar and the structure of the written language. The most basic grammatical tool is the period. A period by definition ends a complete thought. Hence saying "Thank you God." is a complete thought and justly earns the peculation mark of a period. But is saying thank you all that is expected? Or do we need to be demonstrating our gratitude through the life we live and the service we provide to others? 

Saying "Thank you God." means we have received something and we are showing our gratitude by telling God that we appreciate what we have been given. Paul reminds us in Acts 20:35 that the life example Jesus provided demonstrated the idea that "it is far better to give than to receive". So, if giving is better than receiving then how can we balance or even justify stopping our thanks to God with a period? The answer to that question is quite simple, we can't. 

Instead of placing a definitive period at the end of our thanks to the God who created each of us, watches over us, assures we have what we need, and blesses us beyond anything we deserve, shouldn't we be extending the thought of gratitude in to actionable expressions of thanks? In James 2:17-18 we are told that, "Even so faith if it hath not works is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." As we give thanks in our prayers we are establishing our faith in God?  We are praying a prayer of thanksgiving for all He has done in our lives, but is saying thanks enough to establish our faith? Or should we be demonstrating our faith and gratitude to the God who has given us all that we have and made us all that we are through the life we live each day? 

I believe God wants our gratitude to be demonstrated in actions and not only expressed in words. What do you do that gives back to the God of all eternity that has given so abundantly to you? Does your life inspire others to desire a relationship like yours with God? Do your conversations and the thoughts you share express the love that was given to you when you probably deserved it the least? Who is your neighbor and how are you treating those that you might rather not consider to be your neighbor since they don't live in your neighborhood? Are you providing examples of gratitude in your home, on the job, as you coach, or even as you sit in the seat of your local restaurant? Does your faith equal your works or is your faith something you take off the shelf on Sundays and then place it back until you need it again during adversity or affliction? 

I'll make this challenge for us all today, don't allow your thanks to the God of all creation to end with a period after the words "Thank you God". Instead of a period, make it an exclamation point filled with gratitude for His goodness and mercy and then live out your gratitude through the life you live! "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16. What are you willing to give beyond your words of thanks?  

Coach Carter

 

Sowing Bountifully

For today's Flat Tire Ministry Thought I'd like to start out with a parable.  

 

"In his will, a father divided the family farm into three parcels, one for each of his three children. When the man died and the land had been divided the three children took ownership of their individual portion of the farm and became the responsible party for the land's use and productivity. One of the three children stood at the highest point on their section of property and dreamed of the potential that the property possessed. The child even prayed for a bountiful harvest, yet when planting time arrived this child was busy tending to other matters and failed to sow any seeds for the year's crops. Despite all of this child's good intentions and latent efforts, the only things that sprouted and grew on this child's section of the farm were weeds and plants that did not produce edible crops. The child was sorrowful, but was unable to provide sustenance for his family. 

 

The second child put together a plan on how to best utilize her portion of the family farm, but when planting season was upon her, she was busy with other business interests and did not fully implement her plan. She planted the seed, but she did so sparsely because it took so much time and effort. As the seeds began to break the surface of the soil and the heat of the day dried up the ground, the daughter was off enjoying summer vacations and the pleasures of excess. The heat and lack of nurturing care made for a mediocre crop and the daughter's harvest was limited and sparse.

 

The third child immediately began fertilizing and prepping the soil in anticipation of the upcoming growing season. She planted an abundant variety of seeds, more than needed just in case, and then continuously nurtured the seeds and sprouts as they broke ground and began the process towards maturity. This child weeded the field to assure the plants received adequate sunlight and water, and when storms threatened the third daughter's fields, she checked on her plants and nestled soil back around the tender plants after the storms to assure her plants had the best opportunity to grow and create a harvest that would provide not only for her family, but also provide a surplus to share with neighbors in need."

 

For our sustenance sowing and reaping is paramount. Our society has moved away from being one of self-sufficiency through an agrarian lifestyle to one of dependency on large scale industrial type farming and importing to provide our daily nutrition. Through that transition we as a nation have lost the relevance between sowing and reaping. Today, it would appear that ordering our groceries on-line and having them delivered to our doorsteps is only logical and time efficient. Yet, once we moved ourselves away from being a society that valued the hard work placed on sowing our own crops, reaping the harvest of our labor, and understanding that the ideology of sowing and reaping transcends seeds and crops, we have in turn lost our understanding of how sowing and reaping is God's plan on how we are to raise our families and prepare them to be the next generation of yeoman workers for His Kingdom. 

 

Although our society today has significantly moved away from the ideology of sowing and reaping, it is not one that modern society fully owns. In the Book of Galatians, Paul points out to the church there that they are at the same level of misalignment. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8). The parable above would have just as aptly resonated with men and women in that era as it should for us today. It is my hope that even though we are not a society of planters and harvesters for the majority of our sustenance, we can apply the significance of this story to whatever it is that you should be doing more of when it comes to sowing and reaping. Whether it is investing quality time into raising your children, or living out your faith at your job or in school each day, we should be sowing to the purpose God placed you on this rock to do. Demonstrating giving over seeking to always receive, pouring into the lives of those you live and work with instead of always seeking to satisfy our own set of wants and desires. Serving others from whatever position you hold is a sure-fire way to sow to the Spirit of God. Instead of asking what can I get out of this, maybe you could ask how will this help someone else other than myself. 

 

Consequently, we are all farmers whether we literally or figuratively work with our hands in the soil or not. We will ultimately each fulfill the role of one of the three siblings in the above parable. Do you as a parent, take a laziez-faire approach to parenting? Do you allow the kids you teach or coach to form their own opinions based on what they see on the internet and social media or do you pour into them the principles of right over wrong, giving over getting, and loving instead of hatred? Or are you more like the second child in our parable that gives a fair amount of effort into being a representative of God for your family and those you live and work with each day, but due to overbooked calendars and the busyness of life what really matters most gets pushed to the side so that you can "live" life? Finally, you may be sowing in similar fashion to the third sibling in the parable. If so, share your sowing skills with others. We may not be sowing our seeds in the spring near as much as we should, but if you are sowing to the Spirit and reaping the harvest that He intends for all of us to obtain, then teach, demonstrate, and lead others to a better understanding of sowing and reaping. If we do our part, then God is faithful and He will provide the harvest bountifully! "I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" I Corinthians 3:6

 

Analyze your daily life for a minute. Are you sowing to the flesh or to the Spirit? What have you reaped and what do you hope to reap? Is your investment into your garden going to provide a bountiful harvest? If you aren't content with what you see, then make the decision to reprioritize your time and invest your efforts into the garden that will provide.

Coach Carter

 

Committed?

 I was reading a devotional the other day on the topic of being committed, and the illustration that the author used to drive home the whole concept of what true commitment looks like really stuck with me. His words were, "Nails didn't keep Jesus on the cross, commitment did." Whoa, give that some thought for a second. Jesus, Son of God, the Creator of everything was crucified on a cross using a hammer and some nails. First, even that Jesus allowed that to happen is beyond our own understanding. The pain must have been excruciating, the suffering, the humiliation, but Jesus endured the it all because His commitment was set way before the blow was struck to that first nail. Was there a point where Jesus would have said enough, and gave up? Not possible. When man would have given up, Jesus stayed the course. Jesus, commitment in hand, went as far as to pray for those that had just beaten Him and nailed his body to the cross. Why would anyone endure that level of cruelty when all He had to do was blink an eye and His oppressors would have been decimated? That is where His commitment to mankind overruled what could have been a just and fair retribution. Commitment, let's dig into that concept just a little bit deeper. 

We all make commitments to do things, be places, be a part of a team or event, but in most cases those commitments are only as good as what our schedules will allow. We will be committed until there is a conflict in our already overloaded schedules, but when we reach that point we bow out. Is that really a commitment? You may be reading this, thinking "Who's he talking about, when I say I'm going to do something I do it!" Great, that is an area in your life where you have made a commitment decision and you are to be commended for that decision to stay the course in your daily life. I lean more to the thought that the bigger majority have some area of their lives that commitment might be an issue worth addressing. We commit to attend our church, and we commit to support certain ministries, but do we commit to be there regardless of what happens on our calendars? We commit to be on a team when we try out, and we commit to help a friend or family member move, but what line has to be crossed before we will break that commitment to be there? Those of us that are married, that service you attended and those vows you made, that was your commitment to your spouse, what line has to be crossed before it is okay to break that commitment? Since the divorce rate in the United States hovers around 50%, my guess is that commitment standard is pretty low. How about a commitment to your job, your neighbor, your family, or how about your commitment to God? When the going gets tough, the tough either get going, or they realize they aren't so tough after all and they "get going" out the door!

Nails being drove through the palms of your hands. Nails being driven through your feet. Already beaten near death, forced to carry your cross, the very cross you would be hung on, and then left hanging to die on that very cross. Makes our endurance look a little mild to me. What is our personal pain tolerance? What about our mental perception of where to draw the line as we commit ourselves in the various ways we encounter just doing life? Not feeling well, late night last night, heavy work load, or just really don't feel like following through, any of those sound familiar? We must realize that our commitment decisions have long term implications. The choices we make today whether to stick it out or to pack our bags will impact generations to come. In your family, the decisions you make about your commitments will impact your children's children (Proverbs 17:6)

We need to be thankful that Jesus was committed to seeing His Father's plan through to the end. If Jesus had put self first, He was human, who would have blamed Him for not wanting to endure the level of pain His persecutors were wielding? Yet He endured, Jesus stayed the course, when the easy thing to do would have seemed alright, Jesus was committed because his commitment had long term implications for each of us. Jesus sacrificed what would have felt better for Him, so that you and I could have a pathway to eternal life. 

After reading that line in my devotion I had to ask myself, what does my commitment level really look like? I can do better. In your own walk of life what are you committed to and how committed are you? When things get a little tough is it time to bow out, or is it time to dig in? If there is one commitment that you should have that is a nonnegotiable I believe it would be in our relationship with God. If you are committed to serving Him, then everything else will fall into place. Committed?

"Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established." Proverbs 16:3

Coach Carter