I heard a commercial on the radio yesterday that went something like this: "If you've been the victim of wage garnishment... give us a call." As I sat there at the stop light I was really struck by those words. How in the world can you be a "victim" of wage garnishment. I mean, wage garnishment doesn't spontaneously happen. You actually have to do something to make it happen. Typically, this means that you did something wrong or failed to fulfill a responsibility in some way. Uh, like not paying taxes.
Hearing that these tax accountants were trying to get clientele by making tax cheats feel like victims of the IRS really angered me. Having spent a few years with plaintiffs' counsel, I can tell you what a victim is. Having heard the stories from my friend who practices criminal law, I could share some gruesome stories of what real victims endure. As Merriam-Webster's dictionary states, a victim is a person that is "injured, destroyed or sacrificed under any of various conditions...subjected to oppression, hardship, or mistreatment." A victim is the little guy that is injured by someone or something else outside of his control. Thus, tax cheats, dads who refuse to pay child support, and college graduates who default on their student loans are NOT VICTIMS. As the words from the broadway song go, "they had it comin'" and the government has every right to garnish their wages.
Why do we try to make ourselves feel better about our situations by allowing ourselves to become "victims" in our minds? When the boss is upset with us, when the bills start stacking up, when our children misbehave, when we've over-committed ourselves, we like to embrace the victim mentality. So many people think that if they just use the victim method (removing themselves from the situation) then they can be happy. Our society has so completely embraced the victim mentality that parents are now attacking teachers for victimizing their children by giving the children bad grades. How in the world can we have a society of well-adjusted, happy people if they all want to be victims?
We can't. Jesus understood this concept. All through the New Testament we are warned that life is tough--especially for followers of Christ. Suffering is part of life. In 1 Peter 5:10 we are told that "after [we've] suffered a little while" then God will make us strong and restore us. Suffering builds character. Suffering makes us stronger. Suffering allows us to rely on someone greater than ourselves to get through each day. Followers of Christ are going to have daily battles to fight where we'll be called to deny ourselves and suffer.
So the next time that you think that your day stinks and that you've been treated unfairly and are in the worst possible place at the worst possible time, consider that you might be exactly where you need to be to cultivate you character. If yesterday was hard, that's ok, because we're called EACH DAY to follow Jesus and to take up our cross. Today will likely be hard too. Whether or not we have a good day depends on whether we're willing to make today an opportunity for growth and character development.
I love the words of the Puritan William Law:
Receive every inward and outward trouble, every disappointment, pain, uneasiness, temptation, darkness and desolation, with both thy hands, as a true opportunity and blessed occasion of dying to self, and entering into a fuller fellowship with thy self-denying, suffering Savior.
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