FROM THE PASTOR
RESILIENCE
Resilience is the ability to bounce back. We’ve all seen it on one form or another. We’ve all experienced resilience more than once; in different ways and stages in life. Studies have shown one of the best things, or one of the most important characteristics, you can teach a child, is resilience. And its needed in our own lives too; the ability to bounce back; to keep going. No one goes through life with an unbroken chain of success. Everyone has failures and we all make mistakes. We all have problems. We all have pain. We all have pressures. There is not one of us who hasn’t felt like giving up and walking away from it all – whatever that means.
The people who make it through life, have resilience. You and I hear stories of people who face unimaginable difficulties and are still able to face them with a degree of calmness, those who seem to be able to stand strong in the face of whatever life throws at them. And how many times are we left wondering, “Where do they find that strength?”, or inner peace, or calmness. Some people may simply brush it aside and say, “Oh! It’s just a maturity thing”, or self-control issue – something to that effect, like: “I’ve learnt life from the school of hard knocks, so toughen up and deal with it”.
Many of us have learnt resilience at a young age, when say, a pet or a family member dies – yet each and every generation will learn resilience one way or another. We learn that life is not always fair; and there is such a thing as win, lose and draw, and not everyone gets a prize. Self-control and learning to control your feelings, actions and reactions to difficult and unexpected situations don’t come naturally to young people; it’s something that needs to be learnt and nurtured.
One of the results of a growing faith is resilience. St Paul put it this way: “We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair, we get knocked down, but never abandoned by God” (2 Cor 4:8-9). And a quote from Pastor Rick Warren: “Faith (given from the Holy Spirit, italics mine), shows us the power of God and gives us the power to hold on in tough times. But faith doesn’t always take you out of the problem; it takes you through the problem. Faith doesn’t always take away the pain, but gives you the ability to handle the pain. Faith doesn’t take you out of the storm. Faith calms you in the midst of the storm”.
God gives us grace through it all: gives us Jesus who died on the cross who has the power to save and it’s from the cross of Jesus Christ where our faith comes from – this builds up our inner resilience. It’s nurtured through God’s word and worship; it is found and nurtured in Holy Communion and our baptism and in the encouragement of our brother and sister in the Christian faith. Where and how does God give us strength and build us up? That we find our feet in this world and in his kingdom? In God’s love in Jesus Christ; our living hope. Where do you get the resilience to keep going? Faith. It’s believing God graciously uses moments in our lives to keep moving forward. God gives exactly what we need when we need it as we learn to rely on God. All praise be to God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We Pray For:
† The poor in spirit.
† The pure in heart.
† The peacemakers.
† The merciful.
† All who witness to God’s love in Christ.
The people who make it through life, have resilience. You and I hear stories of people who face unimaginable difficulties and are still able to face them with a degree of calmness, those who seem to be able to stand strong in the face of whatever life throws at them. And how many times are we left wondering, “Where do they find that strength?”, or inner peace, or calmness. Some people may simply brush it aside and say, “Oh! It’s just a maturity thing”, or self-control issue – something to that effect, like: “I’ve learnt life from the school of hard knocks, so toughen up and deal with it”.
Many of us have learnt resilience at a young age, when say, a pet or a family member dies – yet each and every generation will learn resilience one way or another. We learn that life is not always fair; and there is such a thing as win, lose and draw, and not everyone gets a prize. Self-control and learning to control your feelings, actions and reactions to difficult and unexpected situations don’t come naturally to young people; it’s something that needs to be learnt and nurtured.
One of the results of a growing faith is resilience. St Paul put it this way: “We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair, we get knocked down, but never abandoned by God” (2 Cor 4:8-9). And a quote from Pastor Rick Warren: “Faith (given from the Holy Spirit, italics mine), shows us the power of God and gives us the power to hold on in tough times. But faith doesn’t always take you out of the problem; it takes you through the problem. Faith doesn’t always take away the pain, but gives you the ability to handle the pain. Faith doesn’t take you out of the storm. Faith calms you in the midst of the storm”.
God gives us grace through it all: gives us Jesus who died on the cross who has the power to save and it’s from the cross of Jesus Christ where our faith comes from – this builds up our inner resilience. It’s nurtured through God’s word and worship; it is found and nurtured in Holy Communion and our baptism and in the encouragement of our brother and sister in the Christian faith. Where and how does God give us strength and build us up? That we find our feet in this world and in his kingdom? In God’s love in Jesus Christ; our living hope. Where do you get the resilience to keep going? Faith. It’s believing God graciously uses moments in our lives to keep moving forward. God gives exactly what we need when we need it as we learn to rely on God. All praise be to God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We Pray For:
† The poor in spirit.
† The pure in heart.
† The peacemakers.
† The merciful.
† All who witness to God’s love in Christ.