Defining Moments Are A Truth You Cannot Escape
If there is one truth in life that you cannot escape, it is the fact that we all will encounter difficult moments. There is no avoidance of life’s struggles and disappointments. Heartaches and disappointments do not show preferential treatment based on race, socioeconomic status, or political connections. There is one thing that you can be certain of; the ups, downs and never-ending changes of life will eventually roll into your paradise.
Defining Moments Are A Force To Be Engaged
If hardships and difficult moments are a certainty in life, how are we to engage them? Do they have purpose, or are they simply the result of the random and wayward forces of life that have no meaning? The truth is that there are no insignificant or random occurrences in our lives. Everything has purpose and power. The way we engage the forces that enter our lives will have a massive impact on the outcome; not only in that moment, but in our destinies as well.
At some point, you will lose a loved one or fail at a relationship. You will miss the mark academically or fail at a business endeavor. You may be hurtfully attacked without provocation. There will be things that happen that fail to provide any true reasoning on the surface level. Yet, it will be your mindset that determines how these negative forces will impact your life.
If you examine the course of history you will find that man has fared in the manner in which he has engaged his adversity. Those that engaged their adversity with faith, perseverance and character, were elevated and they found that their most devastating encounter was actually the defining moment in their lives.
Defining Moments Are Designed to Test Our Character Needs
When you unravel the complex nature of human development and personal growth, you will find that it requires momentum and momentum requires a catalyst. You may be wondering why positive impulses and forces in your lives cannot be the catalyst for momentum and progression in the way of personal growth. The truth is all things we encounter have the ability to propel us in a particular direction; however, it is adversity that provides that best testing of our character, thereby defining who we are.
In the Bible, the story of Joseph provides the perfect illustration of the point presented. Joseph was the 11th of 12 sons born to Jacob. Joseph was favored by Jacob because he was the firstborn from his second wife Rachel, whom he loved dearly. As you can imagine, this did not go over well with the older sons.
One night Joseph has a dream that reveals that he will hold a position of great power. Now for a teen age boy, that can be extremely exciting. Understand this dream that Joseph had as more than a simple night thought. It was real to him. The fact that it would happen was never in question. The problem is that the dream did not reveal the fact that his brothers would beat him and sell him into slavery. The dream did not reveal that after loyal and impeccable service to his master, a lie would cause him to be thrown into prison. The dream did not reveal that while in prison a man that could have told Pharaoh of his unique gifts chose to keep silent.
Joseph seemed to experience nothing but heartache, disappointment and difficulty following that dream. How many of you have experienced something similar. There was a time when your dreams were vivid and clear, but they have become colorless as the ups and downs of life have invaded your sanctity. You are trying to find the sense in it all, but clarity seems to evade you.
Defining Moments Are NOT Designed To Destroy You!
Joseph’s story doesn’t end with him in prison, but with him being elevated to the second highest position in all of the land. Joseph was 17 when he first received the dream and he was 30 when the dream was fulfilled. The thirteen years that Joseph had to endure disappointment and hardship were not empty. The truth is that Joseph’s destiny was inextricably bound to the manner in which he chose to engage the delay and difficulty he faced. The delay did not break him, it helped develop him. The horrible attacks he encounter did not embitter him, it revealed his character.
Defining Moments Are Revealing
Not only did those moments of darkness reveal the current state of Joseph’s character, integrity and strength, but they also served to build him, and mature him as man. The young boy that received the dream was not yet ready for the responsibility that the 30 year old man assumed. Each negative encounter for Joseph was a defining moment.
The negative forces that invaded his life were there to identify who he was.
Defining Moments Are Empowering
When we learn to engage difficulty with the understanding that its power is actually neutral and it is our energy that determines how it will impact us in the interim and long term phases of our emotional, psychological, and spiritual maturation, we will find that what we once feared is actually our defining moment.
