Hurts and Highs… we all experience both… what do we do with them, how do they define us? Will you look life squarely in the eye and say… actually, what will you say? You do realize that both highs and hurts give us opportunities to learn.? We never seem to stay in one place long… for every high, there is a low just as for every low there is a high. I believe it’s what we do when we reach the pinnacle or reach the seeming bottomless depth that makes the difference. Do you believe we can enhance our highs and diminish the lows? The answer to that question will explain a great deal to you about your perceptions, mindsets, and actions.
Lows often are distinguished as our hurts in life. While these are rarely pleasant, they don’t need to be compounded nor avoided. This appears to be another one of those ‘is’ in life. I realize that the ‘antidote’ to this is to accept that we can learn a great deal from our ‘negatives’. True. But the learning doesn’t always translate into evading these times. So what are we learning… just how to escape? That appears to be the least effective way of dealing with these times.
From the other perspective, when we consider our ‘highs’, do we learn from them? Or do we simply savor these times. Again… if the answer is the latter, then we are diminishing the influence these times can have. There is much we can learn from our successes and not just how to replicate them. These times can allow us to learn a great deal about ourselves as well as our interactions. It can aid in understanding what behaviors enhance and detract from what we do.
All of this can be responded to with a … and your point? I am a great believer in that we CAN live the abundant life. That we can experience those ‘things’ that enhance and those that diminish our experiences. Abundant is a mindset as much as it is a status. When we consider ‘abundant’ we typically go to John 10:10 when Jesus is explaining why He came and what He brings. But we rarely take the time to study what this word means and how it relates to who we are.
Matthew 6:33, AMP gives us our focus for abundance:
“But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.”
That should be our focus – seeking His kingdom. If we do, it’s not that we won’t experience the ‘hurts’ but they won’t control us. We will be able to view our hurts so that we learn and don’t repeat. Now look at verse 34:
“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Worry can rob us not only of what happened… but our now… and our immediate future. The Lord never said that hurts, problems, obstacles, troubles, temptations wouldn’t come. But He did say He would be with us and help us through these times (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Just as a quick check… do you also invite Him into your highs, your accomplishments? If you don’t then it will be more difficult to experience and learn from them. Hurts and Highs are a way of life… it’s how WE deal with them that leads us to abundance or grief.
