Whatever your opponent gives you to work with, use it.
For instance in wrestling, if your opponent gives you only one vulnerable arm to
work with, use it to your advantage. If your opponent aggressively
attacks you, use his own momentum to bring him down.
I think you see this same kind of technique in the lives of people
like the apostle Paul. And it’s the reason why he was so effective. He
used whatever was given to him. He saw the potential in every situation
and this allowed him to be adaptable and useful in every situation.
If he was put in jail, he converted the guards.
If he was executed, he saw it as gain.
If they let him live, he’d preach the gospel.
If he was given a thorn in his flesh, he’d use it as an opportunity to let God’s power shine in his weakness.
This made Paul the freest and most powerful man on the planet. And
there’s no coincidence that he walked in a level of joy and intimacy
with God that most of us fall cosmically short of.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. The same technique that worked for him can work for us too.
The circumstances, struggles, and attacks you face are not the ultimate determining factor of the kind of life you live. How you use them is. And there isn’t a single situation in your life that can’t be used for your good and God’s glory.
If you’re facing adversity, use it to develop patience and endurance.
If you’re in a place of financial scarcity, use it to display God’s sufficiency.
If you’ve failed, use it to learn.
If Satan is exploiting one of your past failures, use it to display God’s past faithfulness on the cross.
Whatever you do, refuse to be a victim of what’s thrown at you.
Whatever you’re given in life, use it. And God will use you.
is absolutely nothing in your life that isn’t good or beyond God’s
ability to work for your good. Yet it is absolutely essential if your
faith is going to remain intact in the midst of the difficulties in
life.
by Pastor Steve Furtick
