Tag Archive for: heart

YOUR RESPONSE IS YOUR SUPERPOWER

When Bruce Wayne lost his parents, he succumbed to loneliness- finding his space in solace. So much so, that he couldn’t even retain his only friend, Rachel (we all know Alfred was there for him no matter what). Now, the question is, what did Wayne really gain in these isolated times? He prepared himself, for the worst of situations, learned to face his past and come to terms with it. With every passing day, Batman was in the becoming. So, what is it that makes him stand out among the others? Response. What we see in him is his response to the criminal world: to make it a better place than what it was when the Wayne couple was murdered.

Heard someone recently say,

“You can’t control a situation, but you can control your response to it.”

We’re always stuck in a dilemma, trying to sort and work out predicaments in life that are beyond our reach. Honestly, how is it that we can respond to something that isn’t falling within our discretion?

Acceptance

 In the book of Job, we see Job’s sufferings. He loses his wealth, family, all that he had ever acquired- or rather- was blessed with. But the moment his world starts to crumble, we don’t see him complain. His exacts words are,Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? (Job 2:10). To be able to experience disorder and still stand firm is not a trivial thing to do. It exhibits courage and resilience. Job even sings praises: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21). So, we don’t just witness Job’s calamities but also his restoration in the due process of responding with acceptance: “The Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10).

Prayer

There is so much to see beyond a circumstance by seeking prayer. Hannah, Jacob, David, Jonah, Moses, I could go on and the list wouldn’t end too soon. Each one of them prayed. That was how they acknowledged their moments of crisis. Praying to question God ‘why’ is equally a response as praising God through prayer and looking forward to what greater things are awaiting.

Hope

 Paul’s trials, as we read in the Scriptures, wasn’t anywhere close to comfortable or untroubled. He makes a comparison of his hardships with the glory to come with God. II Corinthians 4:17 states, For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.What he implies by these words is that the miserable times we undergo prepare our character, leading us to be full of hope and not despair. It is this very hope of glory that keeps Paul carrying forward the mission he was appointed for. Our response determines the intensity of our adversities and that’s where our superpower lies.

Victor E. Frank said, Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Job’s wife suggested him with a response, that is, to “curse God and die,” but he chose a response that demonstrated his deep-rooted faith in God (Job 2:10). That is the growth we need, that’s the superpower we need to use. Let us have a response like that of Job- one full of hope and not just appealing words; one that challenges our faith and also strengthens it. We may not have control over our situations but we do have faith in God.

 

THE YEARNING OF OUR HEART

When you yearn to gulp a big  chocolate ice-cream, nothing else matters!

There is no disagreement about that. Okay, maybe not chocolate ice-cream for you but I’m sure you have cravings that leave you aggressively incomplete until you pacify them in some way.

To yearn means to have an intense longing for something, something that one has lost or has been separated from, for a long time.

As the world celebrates love, there are many incomplete hearts who are yearning.

If you were to pause and listen to the echo of your heart you would realize that your heart yearns…

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