Flip The Script

Philippians 1:12-24

Everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. (Philippians 1:12)

NORMAL PATTERNS OF LIFE IN the hills of rural Southeast Asia are interrupted by the rainy season, and plans for travel and trade are often put on hold until the weather is more predictable. But Canadian missionary Isobel Kuhn, who worked among Lisu tribal villages in the mid-1900s, decided to take advantage of the poor weather and begin the Rainy Season Bible School, a program to teach new believers the basics of the Christian life. The project was extremely successful, and many trainees eventually became leaders in village churches. Kuhn flipped the script to turn what appeared to be an adverse situation into an opportunity.

Scripture is full of similar examples: the twelve tribes of Israel crossing into the Promised Land despite the Jordan River being at flood stage; Gideon’s tiny army winning a huge battle; Jehoshaphat turning his army’s vulnerability into an occasion for proving the power of praise; David defying Goliath and the Philistines; Esther turning the tables on an evil plot against her people and seeing them saved; Paul declaring that his imprisonment was actually a great platform for sharing the gospel; and especially a cross and tomb turning into the ultimate victory in a cosmic battle. God is a script-flipper by nature, and he invites his people into the same dynamics. Threats are often opportunities; defeat is never really defeat; and victories come from the unlikeliest heroes.

If that’s a new pattern for you, welcome to life in God’s Kingdom, where adversity is rarely what it seems. You are invited to be a living, breathing participant of unexpected turns of events; the overcomer who isn’t fazed with his or her back against the wall; the weak, humble, or foolish person who proves the power and wisdom of God. Your life is a potential showcase for the exploits of your Father, who loves to make nothing into something and call things that are not as though they are (see Romans 4:17, NIV). You demonstrate his creativity just by letting him work in your life. Trust him to create opportunities for you that work out for your good and serve his purposes.

{Lord, it is incredibly difficult to retrain my thinking about adversity, but faith can always turn it into opportunity. I invite you to speak to me, to remind me of adversity’s opportunities, and to showcase creative victories through me. Amen.