You’re Stronger Than you Think!

Hello!

Years ago, when I was in primary 5, which is how we would refer to 5th grade in my home country, a boy classmate (I’ll refer to him as Kelan here) from my neighborhood said he heard that I had made up some negative things about him. With some encouragement from his friends, he ambushed me on my three-mile walk home from school. Those who know me now can only imagine what my stature must have been like back in 5th grade: I was TINY! I became afraid when I saw him and his friends approaching. He began to yell that he was going to beat me up if I didn’t apologize for what I had said about him. My friend, who was walking home with me, begged me to apologize so we could go in peace but I refused to apologize to him for what I didn’t do. While all this commotion was going on, I think one of his friends must have pushed him, or maybe he tripped, because he stumbled towards me. Right then, I saw an opportunity and grabbed it as a strange boldness came over me. I went for his foot, causing him to lose his balance. Before I knew what was happening, he had fallen and hit his head on a small rock, When he clambered to his feet, blood was running down his forehead, all of us got scared and ran off, including him.

Kelan was so embarrassed and later that day his mom, accompanied by Kelan, came to my house to inform my parents that I had “beaten up” her son. Naturally, my parents were dumbfounded because they just couldn’t believe that my tiny self had beaten up a boy, particularly given the extent of his injuries, all the while I was feeling sorry for Kelan. For the following few weeks, he walked around the school downcast and embarrassed, and so eventually I felt that I had to go and apologize to him. From that day on we remained good friends.

I would like to share with you three lessons I learnt from this experience:

1. Never allow fear to define who you are. With boldness you can defeat any problem that seemingly looks insurmountable. The story of David and Goliath in the Bible has always resonated with me since my Sunday School days. Even now, I still find David to be a great example of a fearless young man who, because of this attribute, was able to defeat Goliath, the Philistine giant, as well as go on to do great things afterwards. Even faced with the invincible giant, David was courageous and did not waver, casting fear aside. While the so-called warriors were hiding, he, a young shepherd boy, stepped up to the plate. So my advice to you my friend is be bold and be fearless to take on challenges and explore new endeavors.
2. There’s always an opportunity in a challenge. Many times when we are faced with a difficult situation, we focus solely on the problem without taking note of the opportunity that may exist even in the midst of the problem. In the story I shared about Kelan, I “won” the fight by recognizing an opportunity and going for it. I want you to always access the situation carefully, find that option that gives room for an opportunity and go for it.
3.  You are stronger than you think. Don’t look at your stature (big or small), your circumstances or the stories going on around you. Your “bigness” or “smallness” will not solve any problem or take care of any confusion. Your faith in God will. Let your strength be in God. With a fearless spirit and with God on your side, you are definitely stronger than you think.

“Anyone can run away, it’s super easy. Facing problems and working through them, that’s what makes you strong”.         —Anonymous

If you are struggling with the spirit of fear, you can ask God to give you instead the spirit of boldness and of power to do great things and to overcome challenges.

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