Are You Upbeat or Beat-Up?
//Kenneth W. Hagin
Christians don’t have to lie down and let life run over them. Certainly, we all experience tests and trials at one time or another. But we serve a great God Who has made provision for us to overcome them. We simply need to know how to cooperate with Him so He can deliver us from whatever might affect us negatively.
That is where many people fail to receive the blessings of God. They don’t know how to cooperate with Him and allow Him to move by His power on their behalf. They become weary in their faith and often give up short of receiving victory. Weariness in faith sets the stage for defeat.
God wants us to stay positive in the tests and trials of life. He doesn’t want us to become worn out by circumstances. Yes, circumstances are real, and they can be big. But God is bigger!
Don’t Forget About God
The Bible tells of an Old Testament patriarch who became weary in his faith.
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GENESIS 42:36, 38 (NIV)
36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”
38 . . . “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”
Jacob said, “Everything is against me.” I’m sure each of us has experienced problems that came in twos, threes, and fours! But let’s look more closely at Jacob’s situation.
Jacob was advanced in age and was experiencing multiplied family problems. He’d lost his wife and favorite son, and another son was imprisoned in Egypt. And, there was a famine in the land. Jacob was tired, lonely, hungry, and defeated.
Overwhelmed by his circumstances, he took a “beat-up” attitude. He said, “Everything is against me.”
This is the same man who had wrestled with the Angel of the Lord all night and then said, “I’m not going to let You go until You bless me” (Gen. 32:26). Jacob was a great patriarch, yet he had become distressed and defeated in his mind.
Our attitude today would be like Jacob’s if we gave in to negativity and defeat, saying, “What am I going to do?”
Many of us have had a “beat-up” attitude. No one physically laid a hand on us, yet we felt as if we’d been “run through the wringer.” We’ve felt worn out and defeated!
In the midst of his trouble, Jacob forgot one thing, at least temporarily. He forgot about his God, El Shaddai, the One Who is more than enough! He forgot about Jehovah Jireh, the God Who provides!
We need to remind ourselves that God is greater than any circumstance. He will deliver us and show us the way out of trials and adversity if we will look to him!
I have a placard on my desk that reads, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” That’s not just a cliché—that’s what God wants to do in our lives. He wants to turn bitter things into something sweet. But if we allow a “beat-up” attitude to control our thinking, God won’t be able to move on our behalf. If we wring our hands and cry, “Oh Lord, why me?” we hinder the power of God to turn our situation around for good.
A “beat-up” attitude is exactly what the enemy wants us to have. He wants us to consider our circumstances and allow them to make us feel defeated. Once we become “beat-up,” he can dominate us.
God Cares
It’s understandable why Jacob had a “beatup” attitude. He said, “Everything is against me!” And looking at his circumstances from the natural, that was a reasonable exclamation! But with God, those words become unreasonable, because when we have a “beatup” attitude, we underestimate not only God’s abilities but His love for us.
God cares deeply for His children and doesn’t want us to succumb to the devil’s tactics. He wants to turn our negative circumstances around.
The Bible says, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7 NKJV). God does not want us to go through life “beat-up.” He wants us to cast our cares, worries, and concerns on Him, then straighten our shoulders, hold our head high, and rely on El Shaddai, the God Who is more than enough! We can depend on Jehovah Jireh, the God Who will provide for us!
(Editor’s Note: This article was adapted from Kenneth W. Hagin’s book Staying Positive in a Negative World.)
