Rising above

This notion of ‘rising above’ is not one of superiority, or greater spirituality. It is one of surrender. It is one of trust, and of letting go. 

We learned in the Awakened devotional that sometimes the circumstances that we might be fighting against had been given to us by God as his rescue plan. But even if we have come to accept that we must walk through these circumstances, we often cannot find peace, clarity, vision or refreshment in this storm.

We are conditioned by the world to be unafraid of telling people that we are struggling or suffering. We encourage openness and honesty about where we are at. I have no problem with this, unless it leads to a victim mentality. The two can go hand in hand - we acknowledge that we’re struggling, the world congratulates us on our willingness to share, and we are given a free pass to self-pity, playing the victim and collecting sympathy from those around us. This cycle encourages us to stay there, so much so that we no longer know who we are without the struggle. It becomes part of who we are, and a burden. We try to fly with it, but it will eventually ground us and prevent us from being able to rise up.  

I do not believe this cycle reflects the values of the Kingdom. Our verse for the day does not line up with victimhood. I believe that we must arrive at a place where our trials, fires, difficulties, and heated situations lead to greater release, peace, joy and rest. 

As we saw in yesterday’s devotional, thermals - the perfect conditions for resting and soaring above - are created by heat. And yet we tend to take the human route - looking down on the fire below. We use up energy with our aimless flapping; our direction isn’t intentional because we’re staring down on the situation below, flying desperately close to the flames, because that’s where we feel most in control.

What we haven’t understood is that this heat is intended to elevate us to a place of rest where we can look ahead, and find direction, clarity and vision. In God’s natural order, heat has been created to rise upwards. 

So, are there any victim mentalities that we need to acknowledge and no longer entertain? Think today about whether you have been moving through life without direction, focussing on problems instead of using them as an opportunity to rise above and see new perspectives.