Will You Break or Bounce?

Will You Break Or Bounce?

       Haven’t you noticed?

Many of your problems don’t disappear overnight.

Your pimples don’t disappear overnight. Your dandruff doesn’t disappear overnight.  Even your husband doesn’t disappear overnight (and reappear as John Lloyd).

Here’s the truth: Life isn’t a straight road. It isn’t a smooth path. In fact, life has many potholes. Small potholes, medium potholes, large potholes, and super, extra, mega, ultra, gigantic, humongous, massive, nuclear-bomb-crater potholes.

And when you fall into one of these gigantic potholes, you have a choice. You can either break. Or you can bounce.

       I’ve got news for you: God created you to bounce.

Some people don’t know this. So when they fall, they break. They stay down.  They give up. They throw in the towel. They quit.

Perhaps you’re having a hard time in your life right now. Perhaps you’ve been experiencing excruciating trials.  Perhaps you have many problems bullying you now.

Here’s my message—The harder you fall, the higher you bounce! Let me tell you why…

      

Dark, Dirty, and Dangerous

  

       Last year, I was studying about gold mines.  One guy told me, “A gold mine has 3 D’s. A gold mine is dark, dirty, and dangerous.”

       First of all, there’s a lot of darkness. You can’t see a thing. He said, when you mine for gold, you have to go down as much as 3000 meters deep into the earth.   There’s no sunlight down there. But that’s where you find gold.

       Second, there’s lots of dirt. That’s why when you mine for gold, you won’t look pretty. You won’t look neat. You won’t look hip. Instead, you’ll sweat like a dog. You’ll smell like a horse. You’ll look like a pig. But that’s where you find gold.

       Third, there’s lots of danger. He said, when you mine for gold, you may get hurt.  You may get burned. You may get sick. You may even die. But that’s where you find gold…

                      Your Pothole Is Really A Gold Mine

       I’ve got an announcement to make: If you feel like you’re in a super-mega-extra-ultra pothole, then I’m sure it’s also dark, dirty, and dangerous. Then that means it’s not a pothole. It’s also a goldmine.

       In a goldmine, you’re surrounded by gold! The problem is that you can’t see the gold because it’s covered by darkness, dirt, and danger.

       I remember my friend Roy Pasimio. He was in a pothole/gold mine a few years ago.

       He was describing to me that moment when he learned that his daughter Gemma had cancer. At that time, he was on a mission trip in a foreign country. Away from his family and friends, he walked alone to a church, sat down in front of the altar, and just wept. Roy—a dedicated missionary for 20 years—couldn’t even pray. At that moment, he felt thick darkness envelope his life.

        If you feel like Roy right now, if you feel like your life is covered in darkness, and everything doesn’t make sense, don’t be afraid. The darkness and dirt and danger in your life only means you’re in a goldmine. 

       And that means you’re surrounded by gold.

       Roy Pasimio discovered his gold. The cancer of Gemma brought them together. Today, the entire family now serves God. And yes, Gemma is now healed of her cancer.

       Do you have a lot of problems today? Here’s my message: The more problems you have, the more gold you have. Every problem that you have will transform into gold.

       That is why we can say, “All is well…”

                                      All Is Well!

       This story happened many years ago in Africa.

       A King had a friend whom everyone called Sunny because he had a very sunny outlook in life. No matter what happened to him, whether good or bad, he’d always say, “All is well!”

       If the sun was too hot, he’d say, “All is well! This sun is a blessing.”

       If rains fall like cats and dogs, cows and carabaos, triceratops and t-rexes, he’d still say, “All is well. The rain is a blessing.”

       One day, the King and Sunny went hunting. And in the hunting trip, Sunny’s job was to load the rifle and give it to the King. Sunny loaded the gun in a wrong way because when he gave it to the King, it fired by itself—and blew off the King’s thumb.

       The King screamed in pain. And in his rage, he sent his friend Sunny to prison.

       Many months later, the King was hunting again. But he hunted in a dangerous jungle where cannibals lived.

       True enough, the cannibal tribe captured the King, tied him up, and hung him in a tree. And they lit a fire beneath him.

       That was when one of the cannibals noticed that the King had a missing thumb. These cannibals had taste: They didn’t like to eat leftovers. In their minds, someone ate his thumb—and didn’t like it—and so didn’t eat the rest of his body. 

So they released the King and he walked away unharmed.

       As the King walked home, he remembered his friend Sunny in jail—and regretted sending him there.

       When he visited his friend in jail, the King told the story of how having a missing thumb saved him from the cannibals. He then said to Sunny, “I’m so sorry for sending you to jail….”

       Sunny smiled and said, “All is well! Prison was a blessing.”

       The King was shocked by his answer. “How could you say All is well? You got stuck here in jail for one year!”

       Sunny said, “If I wasn’t in jail, I would have been hunting with you today. And I don’t have a missing thumb!”

       It’s so difficult to say, “All is well” when trials come upon our lives. But that’s the truth. No matter what happens, believe that all things will work for good to those who love Him. (Romans 8:28)

                                     Jesus Bounced

I love the Easter story.

On Good Friday, Mary Magdalene fell on a gigantic pothole—and in her mind, even when it was a Sunday, she thought it was still Friday. On Good Friday, she saw Jesus die—and all her hopes died with him.

Perhaps you’re like Mary Magdalene.   You’re grieving right now because you’ve lost something. Perhaps you’ve lost a loved one. Or you’ve lost your health. Or you lost your job. Or you lost your hope.

On Easter Sunday, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb to grieve. The Bible says, Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

She went to the tomb because the reason for her grief was in the tomb. But that was because she thought it was Friday. She didn’t know it was Sunday. Because on Sunday, the reason for her grief was gone.

Let me speak to you: Today may be Friday in your life, but your Sunday is coming. A day will come when you’ll go to the tomb to grieve as usual, only to find out that the reason for your grief is gone.

On your Easter, God will remove the reason for your grief.  God will remove that lack in your finances. God will remove that pain in your relationship.

What am I saying?       On Easter Sunday, Jesus bounced.

       He was supposed to be finished. Dead. Lost. Failed. Defeated. 

       But Jesus was unbreakable. From the grave, He bounced.

       The Bible says that the same power that caused Him to bounce is the same power that is at work in you. You too can bounce from the grave. You too can bounce from your defeat. You too can bounce from your failure.

       My dear friend, Bounce.       Shout it out: All is well!      

 May your dreams come true,      

Bo Sanchez