It was church night at the gymnasium.
We had a hot game of basketball going, and I was bringing the ball down the court.
The big guy in the middle decided to come out and challenge me. I thought I could drive past him, but he threw his big body right in my path.
I tried to make a quick cut, and that’s when my ankle gave way. I crumpled to the floor.
As embarrassing as it was, I had to be helped off the court.
I sat on the sidelines, hoping the pain would go away and I could get back in the game.
It didn’t.
They helped me get my shoe and sock off and, oh, this was not good.
As church people surrounded me, staring at my foot, one woman spoke up. With all ears tuned in, she announced, “Well, it just proves to me once again that almost everyone has unattractive feet.”
What? I am in agony, and this woman is dissing my feet in front of everyone. What’s up with that?
And besides, what’s wrong with my feet? Not too big, not too small. Not too hairy. Not too wide or too narrow. My toes are straight, my nails are cut. No unsightly bumps or calluses. Not even a minor case of athlete’s foot.
What is this woman’s problem with my feet?
Now I am at a fork in the road. One path is to become acutely aware of my feet. I can keep them covered up from now on. No more sand between my toes. No fresh air, because these babies will never see the light of day. Why not? Because this woman dissed my feet in front of everyone.
In college, I minored in Public Relations. Though I never worked in the industry, I still keep up with it in books and journals. In one of those I read a fantastic quote. I don’t remember who originally wrote it, and a Google search turned up nothing. But here it is:
“In business, claim everything as victory.”
In other words, no matter what misfortune befalls your company, there is some way to get good publicity out of it.
O.K. So now I have this woman dissing my feet. How can I possibly claim this as victory? How can I keep from sinking into despair? How can I keep from lashing back or holding it against her? “Let’s see your feet, honey. In fact, let’s just take a good hard look at your whole existence. How about we run you through the shredder, what do you say to that?”
That would be a natural reaction, but certainly not Christ-like. So how should we react to such a slight?
The first step is immediate forgiveness. To live in forgiveness is like having a protective force field around you. Negative comments can’t get through to you, because as soon they are aimed your way, they are dissolved in the force field of forgiveness.
How do you turn on that force field? By deciding now, “No matter what is said about me, I will forgive. Jesus has forgiven me a much greater debt, and to honor that, I will forgive others - immediately.”
But those words will want to linger in your head. Then what?
Then I go back to Philippians 4:8, which tells us to think about good things. We are to dwell on the good, not on the negative.
Like I said, the negative will want to linger in your head. So here is what I do. I try to flip it upside down and look for the positive, which I know is something God wants me to do, based on Philippians 4:8.*
So what positive thing could I possibly find in that woman’s comment? Well here is how I claimed that one for victory. I don’t think she would have made that crack about my feet, if she thought I was ugly. She would have expected unattractive feet. So the positive flip side to her negative comment is that she must not think I’m ugly!
Of course that could be just shallow flim-flam; positive, but good for nothing. So we have to go back to God’s word, which says I am His “workmanship,”** fearfully and wonderfully made.***
So it’s not just that we think positive thoughts. We think positive thoughts based on God’s truth. There lies the true power in positive thinking.
So what kind of negativity is beating you up today? Flip that around and replace it with God’s positive truth.
With the Lord in your corner, and His truth in your head, then no matter what anyone says, you will be able to claim everything as victory.
(As heard on Wave 94.1 FM)
* Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
** Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
*** Psalm 139:14 – “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
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