If you don’t define them, they will define you …

A common reason many people come in for counseling is because they feel overwhelmed with their current circumstances. As hard or challenging as some circumstances may be, they are just circumstances, they do not have to be a source of defeat for you.

The gifted Chinese pianist, Liu Chi Kung, who placed second to Van Cliburn in the 1948 Tchaikovsky competition, was imprisoned a year after that performance during the Cultural Revolution in China. Kung was denied use of a piano during the entire seven years he was held captive. Soon after his release, however, he was back on tour. Critics wrote in astonishment that his musicianship was better than ever.

“How did you do this?” one critic asked, “You had no chance to practice for seven years.”

“I did practice, every day,” Kung replied. “I rehearsed every piece I have ever played, note by note, in my mind.”

It is during those times when it feels like your back is against the wall and defeat is sure that you need to remember these are just circumstances. The Apostle Paul shares an example form his own life, telling how he had experienced an array of circumstances — some good, some so bad they were life-threatening — and yet he writes:

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength,” Philippians 4:11-13.

If you don’t use this strength from Christ to define your circumstances, they will define you. It’s your choice.

Scotty