Lemons into Lemonade

15 Apr Lemons into Lemonade

 

 I will never forget March 14, 2020, the day we were asked to go into confinement in Spain. Overnight, we were locked in our home without really knowing what we were hiding from, where the virus was and how we could fight it. 

It has been more than a year since that happened and we are still living the restrictions that the pandemic has brought us. For many it has meant fear, for others, insecurity, and for others, mourning. 

For me it has been a mixture of feelings, some positive and many negative. However, Romans 8:28, “And we know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose for them,” has been an answer to my lowest moments. 

In this verse, God reminds me that he is sovereign to give me comfort and strength in the midst of all trials. He rules and I can rest in his good, pleasing, and perfect will, and those of us who love God can be sure that God is carrying out his purpose in us. 

Difficult times are times of new opportunities, of new challenges. These are times when God shapes the character of Christ in us. And we can say like the apostle Paul: “Brothers, I myself do not pretend to have already achieved it; but one thing I do: Forgetting what is left behind and reaching out to what is ahead, I press on to the goal, to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3: 13-14. 

I believe that if we change our focus, if we learn to live “extending ourselves to what is ahead”, we will be preparing the ground for better days, we will be stronger, our vision will be sharper, and our horizon will expand. We will recognize the opportunities. Our spiritual senses will be more sensitive. 

In the midst of every difficult situation, God is going to provide us with unique opportunities, but if our eyes are not looking ahead, we will not recognize them, they will pass us by and we will not take advantage of them. In the Bible, there are many examples of men and women who in the midst of their difficulty seized opportunities: 

Ruth, being a widow and a foreigner, knew how to take advantage of the opportunity to work in Boaz’s field. 

Joseph, while in prison, took the opportunity to interpret a dream. 

David, in the middle of the war, seized the opportunity to kill the giant. 

They all focused on what was in front of them and that opportunity changed their lives forever. 

I have discovered two enemies of vision: The first is complaint. Complaining keeps us walking in circles around our difficulty, does not allow us to take our eyes off the problem and prevents us from recognizing opportunities. 

Another enemy is memories, good and bad. The bad memories discourage us and undermine our faith; the good ones entertain and distract us. Let us learn to “certainly forget what is left behind”, the past should only remind us how far God has brought us and how he has sustained us, but let us not allow the past to prevent us from seeing the horizon that God is drawing before us. 

Everything we are experiencing will pass and better times will come, but those who have seized the opportunities will be enjoying the fruit of their vision. 

THE AUTHOR