Skip to main content

“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!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Lie 2: The more you worry about it, the better your odds of avoiding it."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book,   Winning the War on Worry    (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Here is another lie that the Enemy uses with us. And Louie says, "This is a tricky lie. Yes, we often have cause for concern and preparation. But the Enemy wants you to believe that if you worry or fret over a certain outcome long enough, you can keep something bad from happening." But this is so important to realize. He says, "The reality is worrying has never once prevented something negative from happening. Planning might. Prayer has. But worry never will." He continues, "The Enemy tells you that by worrying about a situation (or every situation) you can make your tomorrow better. Really, worry just robs you of today. Jesus implored us: 'I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body mor...

“God does big things with small deeds.”

A thought by Max Lucado (2011-05-02) from his book, Cure for the Common Life (p. 115). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I don’t know how you feel about what you are doing and how it can make a difference.   You may feel that it is so small and not even worth the effort. Max says, “Begin. Just begin! What seems small to you might be huge to someone else. Just ask Bohn Fawkes. During World War II, he piloted a B-17. On one mission he sustained flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. Even though his gas tanks were hit, the plane did not explode, and Fawkes was able to land the plane. “On the morning following the raid, Fawkes asked his crew chief for the German shell. He wanted to keep a souvenir of his incredible good fortune. The crew chief explained that not just one but eleven shells had been found in the gas tanks, none of which had exploded. “Technicians opened the missiles and found them void of explosive cha...

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...