“Please come with me to the
conference room,” the voice said above my cubicle.
I swallowed hard. My hands began to moisten and my
heart drummed. Days prior, I’d fought a lump in my throat when my closest
co-worker was escorted to the parking lot. With purse in hand, she exited the
premises, leaving behind a couple of decades of dedicated employment. Looks like
I was about to follow the same pattern.
“Sure,” I said as I walked behind the manager to the
conference room. It might as well have been a gas chamber.
With a few minutes of “We’re very sorry,” followed by
other clichés too empty to consider, my job ended.
A friend related the above scenario, which mirrors
thousands of other situations all over, on all levels and in all industries.
So, what do you do when a change like that spins your
head with shock? The change affects the family, everyone’s routine, and disturbs
your frame of mind. Discouragement jabs while the bank account threatens to dry
quicker than a puddle in Orlando’s summer.
This writer tasted the unfairness of a similar loss.
When a retinal disease robbed my sight, the resulting darkness ushered
self-pity, anger, bitterness and disbelief at the misfortune. All people around
me were affected. But then, a crazy thing happened--eventually those negative
emotions drained enough out of me to begin to look beyond what I’d lost and
focus on what I still had.
True, my choice would have been to live a life with
sight—not an unreasonable request. But God paved other paths for me. The paths
that would strengthen my character stir my creativity; teach me to see the
positive side of all situations and the determination to persevere. These
attributes have enriched my life in ways that 20/20 vision could not.
The trauma of losing something lies in the fact that
we grow accustomed to a certain way of life, a specific routine and a
comfortable pattern. When that’s disrupted, a sense of protest threatens to
explode within us.
And when that happens, “Dear friends, do not be
surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange
were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of
Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:
12-13)
Although we don’t know the exact timing, glory and
triumph is a promise, guaranteed and certain. That’s why God created us with the
ability to withstand, to endure and to overcome. And it’s those survival
instincts—a gift from God’s grace-- that keep us going, readjusting to new
patterns and even finding a bright side to the change.
Although they might bring on a bit of discomfort, they
nudge us to do things we never entertained before. And that brand new change is
like clicking the “refresh” button on the computer screen of our lives.
There’s no reason to have a party when adverse events
occur in our lives, but celebrating in some way should still follow. With a deep
sigh of acceptance, we need to focus on what we still have rather than on what
we’ve lost, and adjust the lenses of life to see a new horizon. But a new
beginning waits around the corner, with vibrant sites to ponder and new
possibilities to consider. A renewed sense of adventure stirs in us each morning
as we swing those feet off the bed and face a brand new day.
Janet Eckles jeckles@cfl.rr.com http://www.janetperezeckles.com/
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.