Touch Of Hope

The other night I was playing a game of ‘Would You Rather’ with a group of people.  If you have ever played this game, you know it can be a stressful and thought provoking game!  You pick up a card that reads: “Would you rather”, and you MUST choose one of the two options presented.  For example, would you RATHER:

• be ugly and poor and live to age 90 OR beautiful and rich but only live to age 45?
• be married to someone who hums constantly OR someone who repeats everything you just said?
• eat a cup of live worms OR a cup of sand?
• lose your glasses (you are legally blind) OR your prosthetic leg while hiking a mountain?
 
I can see you cringing with me as you audibly say, “Neither!”  None of these options are desirable. In fact, some are downright unthinkable. But ‘neither’ is not an option. Thankfully it’s just a game. Or is it? I can think of many times in my life when I have been in situations I did not want to be in, but felt like I had no choice. Everything within me was protesting “No thank you!” “Are you serious?”  Perhaps you can think of some too. Maybe you are in the middle of what feels like one big ‘Would You Rather’ game, where every day you get another dose of undesirable options that you don’t know how to handle. The truth of life is that we don’t always get to choose our situations, but we always get to choose our reaction to them.  You always have the option to turn each circumstance in your life into a choice to change your attitude about it.  This is where the ‘rather than’ practice comes in.  Each time ‘rather’ shows up in your life, instead of thinking of it as a ‘rather/or’ situation that you have no power over, think of it as a ‘rather/than’ option. Here are some examples you may recognize:  
 
I would RATHER:

• Live in the wilderness for 40 years being instructed by Jehovah THAN spend one more day in a comfortable palace with a pagan king who enslaves my people - Moses
• Be a doorkeeper in the house of God THAN dwell in the rich tents of the wicked –David
• Fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell THAN those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul – Jesus
• Walk across the water to Jesus THAN stay in the boat and fear the waves – Peter
 
Now let’s try this 21st Century style. I would RATHER:

• Step out of my comfort zone and do something challenging that I have always dreamed of THAN stay where I am and keep dreaming for another year (or ten).
• Believe what God’s word says about who I am and who I can become THAN accept and live within the confines and labels society puts on me.
• Shine brightly and give those around me that can’t handle my shining, a pair of sunglasses THAN hide my light because they don’t feel comfortable with my success.  
• Take time up front to invest in my spiritual, mental, and physical health THAN be unhealthy in those areas and let the domino effect wreak havoc on my life.
 
What is your personal ‘rather/than’ statement? Write it out, put it in a place where you will see it often, and repeat it daily. 
Reject the ‘rather/or’ mentality today, and begin living your ‘rather/than’ with the empowering words of Paul in Romans 12:2 and Philippians 4:11-13, who was another excellent example of living out ‘rather/than’.

- Jeanetta