Tired of Being Pushed Around?
“A villain’s goal is to deny the hero his,” claimed author and editor Larry Leech. I was privileged to attend his teaching on Adorable Antags at the Western Kentucky Christian Writers’ Retreat this past weekend. In stories, we enjoy larger-than-life antagonists who create obstacles and animosity for our protagonists. In real life, we rarely want to face such antagonists. Yet, as I stated in last week’s blog, life can imitate fiction.
How often do we feel like there’s a force out there whose role is to thwart our plans?
When my husband and I purchased our first home (a three-family), we planned to move into one of the units, but we couldn’t get a single tenant to move out. Despite giving ourselves four months’ leeway after the closing on the multifamily, our apartment lease ended at our current residence. My husband and I found ourselves homeless even though we owned a house. With no other choice but to pack all of our belongings into storage, we moved an hour west from where we worked to live with my in-laws.
We tried everything, including offering to pay for a tenant’s first month’s rent elsewhere if they would just leave, but they didn’t take our propositions, and the tedious eviction process proceeded. Two months turned into four, and then six. One of the tenants had bought his own place, but then he complained to us about how the tenants of his new house wouldn’t move out, and so he was staying. He didn’t seem to grasp the irony.
Sometimes we’re hit with wave after wave, pushing us backward. It can feel like no matter how hard we push back, strive, or struggle, we’re losing ground. When things go awry, we can fall into just-get-through mode, and the battle stretches into one day, then another, and seems endless.
Leech also taught how the villain must be bigger than the protagonist to make our hero’s victory all the sweeter. How many times do we feel like David going up against Goliath? Our problems may seem huge and impossible, but even though we are small, we serve a big and mighty God who created the universe, and the earth is His footstool. Compared to Him, our enemy and our problems look trivial.
The devil makes our victories all the more miraculous—all the more glorious—and allows God’s light to shine that much brighter into a dark world. The glory goes to God because it’s obvious we couldn’t endure the trial on our own or win the battle in our own power.
No one can relate to a perfectly happy life. We may think we want sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns all the time, but if that were the case, no one would be able to relate to us. It is in our weakness that God is glorified, and we are able to pour into others, so they may be encouraged. Our problems lead to testimonies that give God glory.
God didn’t call us to easy, but he has called us to rely on Him and to trust in His love for us. God will turn all things around according to His good, so we can turn our woe is me into a Wow! That’s God.
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”
~ Psalm 34:17-19