A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers     

1 Peter 2:20, “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.”  Charles Goodyear went to jail for a contempt of court citation in a matter regarding one of his creditors.  While imprisoned, he went to work in the kitchen.  Shortly thereafter, he began working on an idea in which he developed the method for vulcanizing rubber.  Martin Luther was forced to stay in Wartburg Castle, for his own protection, during the early days of the Protestant Reformation.  During his sequestration, he translated the Bible into the German language.  Charles Kettering broke his arm on the starting crank of his automobile.  As a result, he developed the self-starter for engines.  While serving in the army, Jacob Schick was assigned only to the colderclimates of Alaska due to his recurring bouts with dysentery he had contracted in the Philippines.  Fastidiously clean-shaven, Schick regarded daily shaving as a mark of civility and self-respect.  But since shaving with a blade, soap, and hot water was difficult at Arctic temperatures, Schick subsequently invented the electric razor.  Instead of these men allowing their difficult situations to dominate their lives, they used, instead, their difficulties as incubators for new ideas, new inventions, and new opportunities to impact their world.  They all made the most of a bad situation.  When faced with similar challenges, the choice we have is to cower in fear and resign ourselves to ignominy or use the very forces that attempt to dissuade us to provoke our creativity, tenacity, and resolve.  Whether we are a victim or victor is not contingent upon our circumstances, but it is dependentupon our reaction to our circumstances.  By not allowing unfavorable situations to drain our lives of victory and vitality, we can learn to operate in the most restrictive settings while maximizing our God-given potential, to reach the world around us, for each new day.