There are two ways to solving a problem:
1) God's way (The way it should be.. the way that God intended it to be)
2) Man's way (The way that man has devised over years of experience to make life more bearable for himself)
The world is not an easy place to live in. Well, perhaps it can be quite easy for a baby, but you must admit that life gets tougher and tougher each day. As you grow older, you get more and more exposed to the harshness of this world. You start to learn that people are not really the kindest of all beings... That most of the times, doing the right thing takes extra energy while doing the wrong thing comes so easily... It is as if you were born to do the wrong thing...
That is the brutal truth of this world.... Anything apart from that, is just a padded and cushioned version of the truth to make life simpler for our vulnerable young ones... Unfortunately,the natural order of this harsh reality is also very true for children in school... And to cope with bitching and discrimination, children can either learn to deal with it with their own wisdom and power (man's way) or to deal with it God's way....
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Example 1:
A child is being bullied in class... His entire class discriminates him and makes fun of him every single day of the week... He feels left out and lonely... He starts to realize that the quickest way of being accepted is to be mean to others and act cocky... To bitch about others behind their backs and discriminate the weak ones... He has two options now:
Option 1 (Man's way)
He starts picking fights in class and spewing vulgarities... He challenges the teachers and bullies the newcomers. The students in class starts becoming afraid of him and decides to stop bullying him... He thinks that his classmates respect him and believes that he has done the right thing...
Some students even being to admire his 'courage' in speaking up to the teachers... and they decide to befriend him and join him in behaving badly in class... Together, they form the gang in class and any student who refuse to conform to their bad behavior will be bullied and discriminated by them...
Option 2 (God's way)
The child knows that bitching about people and bullying the weak is a very bad thing to do... As we should all treat others the way we wish to be treated... He, of all people know the pains of being ill treated and how lonely it can be... He decided that no matter how harsh the circumstances get... he will stand firm on God's word and not conform to the patterns of this world just to fit in... Though he knows that it is the fastest way to fit in, he will not hurt others just to fit in...
When the new student comes, instead of discriminating him, he chose to befriend him... Slowly but surely, the class starts to realize that you don't have to be mean to be accepted... Eventually the class is touched by his efforts... and by God's supernatural grace.. this culture of bullying is removed...
Of course the child persistence on keeping to God's way has caused him much more suffering as compared to the scenario 1 where he chose to do it 'man's way'.... but in the long run, it solved the problem... not by transferring the suffering to someone else, but by genuinely solving the problem of class bullying...
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God's way is definitely not the fastest way... It is also not the most pain free and easy way... In fact, it takes loads of determination and courage to execute God's plan and purpose in your life... Sometimes it gets so hard that you begin to doubt that the way is even effective... But fret not, God does not leave you with a difficult situation and not provide the solution... He will bless you with everything you need to overcome it... Your only job is to hang on and not give up...
Because you do not conform to the patterns of the world, people will find you strange... And your persistence on doing good will cause them to feel uncomfortable because they feel inevitably small and immoral beside you... You will probably end up being ostracized... And when people realize you are patient and kind, they will take advantage of you and criticize you openly, knowing that you will not retaliate...
But persist because you have a weapon the world does not have. You have God's grace! All this pain and suffering you are going through now is really not what normal humans can bear... It leads them to depression which eventually leads to all kinds of cancers and illnesses... But not for you, because this hardship will not overcome you... By God's grace, instead of becoming weak, you will be stronger, wiser and more Christ like...
You are God's child and he will help you through this with his super abounding grace and favour... When you align yourself with the plans God has for you in your life... you can't help but succeed... So persist in doing good and not listen to the counsel of the ungodly.. They might be doing it with good intention but exercise discernment... Choose the right advise to listen to... Of course some of the advise is good... but be sure to cast out the bad advise and not be tempted to follow them...
I am firmly aware of my identity in Christ... I am God's child... And God's child does not do something wrong and hurt others just to succeed... I know that my ways and silly persistence may seem annoying and strange to the people around me... But eventually one day when I succeed, I can boldly say that God's way is indeed the most effective way... My life would be a pure testimony... As opposed to.. yes, I did do it God's way 90% of the time but I also bitched and back stabbed 10% of the time....
That 10% taints everything...
With that said, I do make a multitude of mistakes... Whether as a teacher, fighter, friend or daughter... I do make many mistakes... But none of them were intentional... and none of them were done with the intention of hurting anyone... I am only human... And worse still, I am a young and inexperienced human... That's all I can do... I make mistakes... but I trust that God can use my weakness and mistakes and turn it around for good eventually...
That's what God's grace is all about... Living life fully aware of God's good opinion of you... and trusting that God's power is perfected in your weakness...
Lastly.. Quote of the day - You got to be tough minded, but soft-hearted
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