Dear All.,
Last time, I shared that all of us have tough times. I want to let
you know that there is another one that we cannot escape, let’s call
it “opposition.” I believe it is unavoidable. Opposition is an
inevitable reality of life. There is intellectual opposition, physical
opposition, relational opposition, and of course … spiritual
opposition (“we wrestle not against flesh and blood.” –Ephesians
6:12).
Just recently, someone dear to us got a physical opposition when he
learned that his mother got diagnosed with cancer. Last week, I
learned of a dear family who was forced to move out of their lovely
home. Today I learned of someone who got sued unjustly. While some of
these oppositions may offer compromising alliances, or they may
attempt to discourage and intimidate us, or accuse us, and treat us
unfairly, yet we MUST move on.
I believe opposition comes for a reason. It may come as an
opportunity to test and show the strength of our faith and character.
Actually, I learned of people who are not intimidated by opposition,
they actually thrive on it! It wakes them up. It energizes them. It
calls them to battle. It causes them to mobilize their thoughts and
energy. It’s been observed that Teddy Roosevelt needed opposition in
order to be fully energized. Even Winston Churchill, when Hitler
appeared, he found the opponent he’d been waiting for his whole life.
Churchill finest hour was the courageous fight against a truly evil
adversary!
I remember of a successful story of this wonderful woman. Her first
career was in direct sales, and she was quite successful. But she also
found that it was difficult for a woman to progress in the corporate
world, in the 1950s and early 1960s, so she decided to retire. But her
retirement didn’t last long. She was ready to start her own business.
She decided on a cosmetics business that would give every woman who
worked in it unlimited opportunities. It didn’t take long for her to
hit her first opposition. When she visited her attorney to make legal
arrangements for the corporation, he insulted her and predicted her
failure. He said, “If you are going to throw away your life savings,
why don’t you just go directly to the trash can?” Sadly, even her
accountant spoke to her in similarity. Despite their attempts to
discourage her, she moved ahead. She threw in all her life savings
into her new business. Then she put her husband in charge of the
administration while she worked on the development of the products and
in the recruitment. They were making progress. But then a month before
she was to open for business, her husband died of a heart attack right
at their kitchen table. Most people would never have been able to go
on after that. They would have accepted defeat and faded away. But not
Mary Kay. On September 13, 1963, she launched her business. Today, the
company has more than $1 billion in annual sales, employs 3,500
people, and empowers 500,00 direct-sale consultants in 29 markets
worldwide!
Bottom line, I know that we don’t like oppositions. BUT personally, I
begin to appreciate opposition in a different perspective. When it
comes, I learn to check my attitude. When it comes, it gets to test
my courage and motives too. When it comes, it reveals my limitations
and even my humility (or lack thereof!). Importantly, when it comes,
I know that I am given the opportunity to grow strong…
YET there is one opposition that will stand out, I call it the
opportunity to forgive. The opportunity to forgive opponents because
“they do not know what they are doing.” Here’s what I learned: even
in the midst of a steep opposition, His grace is available!
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
–Hebrews 4:16
