A cheerful heart is good medicine

.... but a crushed spirit dries up the bones (Proverbs 17:22). I am told that the first part of the proverbs is rendered better as “works a good healing.” The  proverb confirms something that I have observed.  I particular I  noticed that when someone is diagnosed with cancer,  they either give up and die almost immediately,  or they fight to the death. In fact I told myself and others,  that attitude  is essentially life or death. It's like this in all of life. As I meditated on this Scripture this morning,  I was reminded of the  “Stockdale paradox.” Admiral James Stockdale was a prisoner of war in Vietnam from 1965 to 1973. He  was tortured  over 20 times, had no  prisoner’s rights, no release date, and no idea of whether he would survive to see his family again. 


He survived when many of his fellow prisoners did not. I quote “I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.” He says that paradoxically may of his fellow inmates were optimists. They would tell themselves “We'll be out by Christmas.” Christmas would come and go with no release date, and they would proceed to set deadline ofter deadline. In the end they lost hope and essentially died of a broken heart. Stockdale again “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

Peter admonishes us “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to test you, as though some strange thing happened to you”  (1Pet. 4:12). Likewise Job could declare “He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). There is nothing that befalls us that He does not either send or allow, the only question is how are we going to respond?  These things are crossroads. Will we respond in faith, or will we allow the Evil one to defeat us.  James again tells us to count it all joy when we meet such trials know that these things produce the character He desires to produce in us. We can choose with His help to have a cheerful heart, or we can allow Satan to crush us. This is not just the power of positive thinking. With Stockdale we must confront the brutal facts of reality, and with  the power of positive thinking can actually be actually be telling ourselves lies!  We can't do it many times without Him, I can't,  but God gives more grace when we draw near to Him and refuse to give in to despair and despondency (James 4:6-8).

Father, Stockdale's sustaining thought was this was this life's defining event, which, looking back, he would not trade.” I know firsthand that on the other side of my most significant trail (so far), though I would never have chosen it, neither would I now change it. In other words  our  trails only come to make us strong, fruitful and more like Jesus (Romans 8:29). I pray this morning Lord, that You would give us a revelation of the sustaining hope of our calling (Ephesians 1:17, 18), and the grace to endure with a cheerful heart,  and to never, never, never give up,  in Jesus Name Amen