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“But while they may not have been responsible, they were response-able.”

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book, Play the Man: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be (p. 43). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

And it is the little things in life that really can make the difference.

Mark says, “And that little hyphen makes all the difference in the world. There is no situation under the sun in which your ability to respond can be taken away from you. You may not control your circumstances, but you control your reactions to them.”

He goes on, “Taking response-ability doesn’t mean admitting fault. It means making the most of any and every situation you find yourself in. And that requires tremendous willpower in difficult circumstances.”

He asks, “What do you do when your marriage is falling apart at the seams? When your work environment goes from bad to worse? When an addiction spins out of control?"

He says, “First of all, take heart.”

John 16:33 says, “In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  So, take heart.

Then Mark says, “Take response-ability!

“George Bernard Shaw, the great Irish playwright, and political activist said, ‘People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, make them.’ [George Bernard Shaw, Mrs. Warren’s Confessions (Seaside, OR: Watchmaker Publishing, 2010), 49.]

Mark goes on, “Fear is letting your circumstances come between you and God. Faith is letting God get between you and your circumstances.

So, will you have faith and let God get between you and your circumstances?  Will you?

Yes, yes!

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