Post # 45 - The Gift of Resilience

 Post # 45 - The Gift of Resilience (Written early November 2023, but sent out November 23, just the day before going Home)

Here's a word that's been tugging at my mind recently: "resilience."  What is it? where does it come from? How does one get it? I'm calling it a "gift" --but is it? Or do we develop it? How does having resilience help us thrive?

These are the questions we want to explore in this post.

What is Resilience?

The dictionary defines resilience as "the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness."

The word resilience comes from two Latin words: Re, meaning "back" and Salire, meaning "to jump or leap." So, the literal definition of the word resilient basically means "to jump back" or "to bounce back".

We all face those unpleasant or unfortunate situations in life when we've said something or committed a really stupid error that we regret--the sort of thing that almost makes one want to find a quiet, dark corner and hide. The question is: Will we bounce back, learn from the mistake, grow from it, and continue to enjoy another day?

But then from time to time, we also face all kinds of much more difficult situations that cause us severe anguish--situations like a job-layoff, a family crisis, a serious illness, a major financial set-back, a betrayal by a best friend, etc. Can we recover from situations like these?

Each of us bounces back differently from these crises. For some, it happens quickly; for others, it's a much more difficult process and takes longer. Plus, it seems that one's ability to bounce back can change with time. As I get older, the bouncing-back recovery time seems to be getting longer.

In "The Gift of Perseverance" (Post #43), we looked at what is involved in staying on course even when one's circumstances are especially difficult. We saw that the ability to persevere helps us keep going when every fiber in our body wants to stop. I deeply praise God for the ability He gives us to persevere.

It has been suggested that “perseverance” and “resilience” are synonyms. Frankly, I’m not sure about that as I think there’s a subtle difference between the two terms. I’m using the term “perseverance” in these posts to describe the active process of hanging in there long term and not giving up when the journey seems too tough and too long. In contrast, “resilience” is being used to describe the ability to bounce back into fruitfulness after a particular, often short-termed, difficulty or disaster of some sort on that journey. To say it another way, “perseverance” enables us to successfully traverse the pathway of life comprised of many potholes, whereas “resilience” helps us climb back out of one of those potholes, should we happen to step into one.  

I have not been able to find the term “resilience” in Scripture, but the concept of it is certainly there. Here are several examples.

•  “For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again” (Proverbs 24:16 NIV). The old saying goes, “You can’t keep a good man down.” King Solomon, thought to be the writer of Proverbs 24, believed this. A good person throughout his life may trip and fall again and again, but he won’t stay down. He will overcome obstacles and challenges by God’s grace and strength, dust himself off and rise again.

•  “Stalwart walks in step with God; his path blazed by God, he’s happy. If he stumbles, he’s not down for long; God has a grip on his hand” (Psalm 37:23-24 MSG). Here’s hope for the weary traveler. If we stumble and fall, God does not let us stay down long. He has a firm grip on our hand and will lift us up!

•  “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4: 8-9 ESV). Paul never sugar-coated the Christian experience and neither should we. If we are to speak honestly about what it means to be a committed follower of Jesus, like Paul, we won’t cover up the difficult facts of the journey. Some days we might feel afflicted in every way, but we still survive; we are perplexed but not lost; we are persecuted but never alone; we are struck down but not destroyed. With God’s help, this can be a win-win journey.

•  “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV). We might stumble and fall. But, praise God, Psalm 103:5 talks about God redeeming our lives from “the pit” and crowning us with love and compassion—and also about the reality that He is the one who satisfies our desires with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagles. What an encouragement it is to know that we can get back up out of “the pit” and really live!

As followers of Jesus, we have His promise that if we become weary and fall on our face, He will not leave us there. Resilience is being able to quickly get back on our feet again! 

WHAT ENABLES US TO BOUNCE BACK?

Explore the Internet for thoughts on how to bounce back and you’ll find all kinds of self-help suggestions, like self-efficacy, optimism, self-compassion, emotion regulation, etc.

Admittedly, there may be some value in some of these suggestions, but they seem to be missing the very important truth that real power is available to us only through a strong faith, a relationship with Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Paul made this very clear in Romans 15:13 (NIV): “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NIV). 

He is the one who gives us the strength to overcome the potholes in our pathway.

Jesus tells us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV). Even though the world may push us down and scatter us, He reminds us that He has conquered all, and that nothing can keep us down. Now, that’s resilience!

HOW DOES LIVING WITH RESILIENCE HELP US THRIVE?

Each of us has invariably experienced the agony of a distasteful setback of some sort, whether it be a small nuance or a major life crisis. That setback inevitably tempers how we look at life—and especially how we view God. Life can quickly spin out of control and we lose purpose, hope, and even in some cases, a reason for living. But as we enjoy a strong sense of resilience in our lives, our perspective changes and we sense the power of God empowering us. We again begin to enjoy the fulfilled life— even in the midst of chaos. Life looks different; our attitude is different and we can then THRIVE. For this we deeply praise God! And even as my pulmonary fibrosis appears to be worsening, I can still experience an internal sense of resilience and still praise God … regardless! Even if my days on earth may be coming to an end, I can still thrive! Hallelujah!