“Your crisis is only part of the picture.”

—Bill Nichols

If you met Jack, you might notice he only had four fingers on his left hand. I grew up in a town that was so small practically everybody knew everybody. But some people stood-out. Take Jack. He lost that little finger  playing junior high football. He got the nickname, 4-finger. When kids at school talked about him, most of them called him Jack, but they usually added,  “You know. He’s the guy with four fingers.”

What Determines Who You Are?

We often get defined by our crises. She’s the lady who lost her husband by cancer. He’s that fellow who uses a wheelchair. She’s a widow. He’s jobless.

Don’t let your crisis label you. If you do, you will let your crisis be your life-focus. You’ll see everything you think, feel and do through that event. You are much more than what’s happened to you.

We all have crises and heartbreaking tragedies, but they are just things that affect us. Primarily, at your core, where people  cannot see, you are a person who is loved and valued by your heavenly Father.  You have a purpose in life to love and serve him. No matter how challenging your crisis, you can put it into perspective.

Here’s how it works. You’re called into the doctor’s office. He says you have prostate cancer. You have surgery to remove the prostate gland and cancer. After months of recovery, you say to your family, who has begun to see you as a cancer survivor, “I appreciate all of your love and support. But it’s time to remember that I’m still the same Bill I was before the cancer. I had cancer. But, it didn’t have me. We will continue to deal with it like we deal with everything else in our lives. Just like you, I am still our heavenly Father’s child and I will continue to serve him the best I can with what I have until he’s ready to take me home.”

Bingo! You have a handle on reality.  You’re living a healthy faith. You don’t have a soul. You are a soul.