Food 4 Thought: Resilience
October: Resilience | September: Integrity | August: Focus | July: Strength
June: Health | May: Spiritual Gifts | April: Sacrifice | March: Leadership
Each month the Men's Department of Holiness Tabernacle Church Of God In Christ has been given a theme to meditate on and the Food 4 Thought section will focus on each monthly theme. We believe that our responsibility is to Provide, Protect, Prevent and Procreate and the Food 4 Thought section will consist of articles that will encourage you to think, encourage you to grow, encourage you to act and encourage each man to be productive members of the Church and society.
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Resilience
2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 8:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:18
“I’ll never give up.” “Have heart.” “There’s no quit in me.” The aforementioned quotes display the mentality of those that are considered to be resilient. In a testosterone filled world of men, resilience is a quality that is very important because of the results we are looking to achieve. If a boxer quits during a fight, he’s deemed to be “soft”, or weak. If a wide receiver tip-toes across the middle of the field for fear of getting hurt, he’s deemed to be soft. If a big man’s game is twenty feet from the basket, he’s deemed to be soft. “Softness” is not considered a manly trait, and every man wants to be considered resilient even when our resilience sometimes leads to foolish decisions. “Coach, I can’t see straight, but let me go back in the game.” “Coach, I can’t walk, but I’m ready to go back in.” “Doc, my pinky is mangled. Just cut it off so I can go back in!” Our inner “macho” man smiles at these quotes because each displays the heart of a warrior, but resilience is far more important when it comes to our spirit man. Spiritual resilience helps us to stand against the withering attacks of the enemy and helps us to grow stronger in our Christian walk.
According to dictionary.com, resilience is defined as:
- The power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.
- Ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.
The Bible is filled with scriptures that encourage the believer to be resilient because of the hope given in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. “ (1 Corinthians 15:58) “In this life ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer” (John 16:33).
One example is the story of Job. Identified as a righteous man by both God and the devil, the story of Job is the epitome of resilience. In one day, Job lost ten children, all of his wealth, and all of his belongings. When Job didn’t break and curse God, his body was afflicted, but he still didn’t give up on God. After seven days of mourning, three of his so-called friends berated and ridiculed him unjustly, but Job still didn’t give up on God. In spite of serious trials, Job’s resilience allowed him to press through the trials and tribulation and maintain his hope in God as he proclaimed “all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come” and “for I know that my redeemer liveth” (Job 14:14b, Job 19:25a).
If we as men declare that we are the followers of Christ, we should expect to experience trials just as Jesus did. Jesus was resilient. Was he harassed by haters daily? Check! Followed by people who only wanted what He could give them? Check! No place to lay his head on a nightly basis? Check! Was He lied on, talked about, and ridiculed? Check! Did He take the blame for someone else? Check! The list goes on and on, but Jesus was the absolute definition of resilience. He was willing to be beaten, bruised, spat upon, and die for the results . . . that we may have an opportunity to achieve eternal life.
Do you have trouble holding on to God when trials come your way? Are you quick to give up when things don’t go as planned? Are you willing to take shortcuts when life appears to be delayed? Do you have trouble going the extra mile for spiritual growth and a greater anointing? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then you are experiencing a lack of resilience. For us to be effective leaders and warriors for the body of Christ, we as men must be able to stand, even when we are under immense attack. Our resilience not only edifies us, but it edifies the body of Christ at large.
Job and Christ gave us two perfect examples of resilience. If you need more resilience, hide yourself in the Word of God, find yourself in fellowship with other resilient men, and ask God for strength to be more resilient. Remember, there is “no good thing [that] He will withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).