When Disaster Strikes | The Worshipper's Thought of the Day

I was listening to an old message preached by Bishop Jakes, in which he shared something to the effect of, "Isn't it amazing how one person's disaster can be another person's normal?"  This question struck me because I couldn't ever recall seeing my own life's "disasters" in this light.  (Honestly, my coping statement of choice when experiencing disappointment has been, "Worse things have happened to less deserving people."  Hey, it's not the the most profound statement, but it gets the job done in my world.)  However, Bishop Jakes introduced me to another perspective that I felt the need to explore.

When disaster strikes, one hardly imagines their current state of shock as another person's state of normalcy.  Personally speaking, my disasters resulted in me being consumed by what I lost and the changes that disaster had brought to my life.  I can't remember considering that someone may have never had what I lost or that the changes I had to make were the only living conditions someone else may have known.  We get so accustomed to our lives at their best that it seems far-fetched to even think that our lives at their worst are what someone else knows as normal.  When I realized how spoiled and ungrateful I had been acting, I couldn't help but to say, "GOD, I'm so sorry for how I acted. I apologize for taking so long to see things Your way."

In handling life's disasters, we can't focus on our losses and the changes we have to make in order to move forward.  The best thing to do is to simply adapt and adjust so you can advance.  You've got to learn how to live off of what's left.  It's not about how much you have because the value is not in what you have.  The value is in the power that's at work inside of you to make use of what you have.  I guess that's what the senior saints meant when I would hear them say things like, "If I lost everything, I've got more than enough to start over again as long as I've got Jesus."  Life sure has a funny way of teaching you these things.  But I now know for myself that, as long as GOD's Spirit dwells in me, I have everything I need to make it through any disaster life sends my way.

It's this reassurance that makes life's tough spots the launching pads for impactful ministries.  Don't feel like GOD can only use you when you're on top of the world.  Even in those disastrous times during which you may have less than ever, GOD can effectively use you beyond your wildest dreams.  Just as worse things have happened to less deserving people, GOD has accomplished much more with much less to work with.  Be encouraged, my friends...Disasters don't signify the end, only the beginning of something new.