COPE - Jan. 12th, 2008

Most people can cope. Everybody doesn't snap. Most people don't overload to the point of breaking. Most people can cope. You might say, "Well it all depends upon what I might be coping with". Everybody does seem to have certain hot buttons that overload their circuits pretty quickly. Most have pressure points that can, if prodded long enough, quickly boil over.
Here's my point this morning though. Coping is not conquering. To cope is to "struggle with something with some degree of success." Notice the key phrase from Webster. "Some degree of success." You see...
Coping is not a virtue.
Coping is not Christ like.
Coping is not constructive.
Coping is not productive.
Coping is nothing more than slowing the inevitable. It's nothing more than a longer fuse on the same stick of dynamite. At some point, your gonna blow! Some call a longer fuse "patience". Not so. Patience keeps you from snapping.
Patience protects you in times of pressure.
Patience is a virtue.
Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, not a secular methodology of dealing with difficult people.

The Holy Spirit of God wants to lead us to a much higher lever than "some degree of success".
Jesus didn't just "cope" with the devil in the wilderness.
Jesus didn't just "cope"with our sin on the cross.
He was victorious on all fronts and He desires to lead us to new levels of victory in 2008. If your new years resolution is to merely be able to have "some degree of success", then all you need is to count to ten under your breath and grit your teeth and cope. However; if you want more, you need to get this one down. Coping isn't conquering. With that in mind, it becomes imperative to implement new, more mature methodologies. Let me simply name a few.
FORGIVENESS
PRAYER
LOVE
UNDERSTANDING
MERCY
PATIENCE
RESISTANCE
RELIANCE
FAITH

Wanna meet me here in the morning?
Sam