Don't Let Your Tragedy Go To Waste

As we were talking I noticed a small tattoo on the wrist of her right arm. The tattoo was in a different language so, being the nosey person I am, I asked what it meant. She said the writing meant hope. I thought that was pretty cool so like any normal person I asked to hear the story behind it.

Like anyone who gets a tattoo, I assume that she had been asked about the story countless times. I could tell she was prepared to answer. But at the same time, it wasn't easy for her to answer. This tattoo story was like none that I had heard before.

The spot on her wrist with the tattoo was the same spot where a bruise was left after she was raped by someone she thought was a friend. She went on to talk about the struggles she has had following this horrific experience. The main struggle being with feelings of worthlessness. Though she was still working through these issues, her tattoo was a reminder of the hope that we have in Jesus no matter what we go through in life.

Her story was incredibly sad, but inspiring at the same time. Instead of letting the tragedy destroy her, she uses it as a reminder of God's goodness and to give hope to others.


A Choice
When I talk to my wrestlers about the hard things they go through on the mat, be it an injury, a loss or something else all together, I tell them they always have a choice to make. They can either use the experience to improve or they can let the experience make them worse. They will not stay the same after a trial. They will either get better or worse. I have yet to find an exception to this rule.

I believe the same is true in life. Whenever something bad happens to us, we are faced with a choice. Get better or get worse. There is no in between.

I have an unproven theory that this phenomena is what explains why many elderly people are either mean, bitter and angry or they are the nicest people ever. The mean, bitter and angry elderly people have spent most of their life choosing to let their bad experiences make them more mean, bitter and angry. While the super nice elderly people have chosen to use their bad experiences to grow and help others.

Again, this is just a theory. But it makes sense if you think about it.


The Great Reversal
If you are over the age of six, chances are something bad has happened to you in life. If not, be patient, something bad will happen eventually (it's one of the few guarantees in life).

I believe that tragedies are one of the weapons Satan uses to try and bring us down. And it usually works. But on the flip side, I believe the same tragedies that Satan wants to use to bring us down can become our greatest victories.

The ultimate example of this is Jesus' crucifixion. When the sinless Son of God was murdered on a cross, I'm sure Satan thought he had just achieved his greatest victory. It was the worst crime ever committed and Jesus was the victim. What more could Satan want?

But that is not how the story ended. Three days later Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death, destroying Satan's victory party and saving all of humanity in the process.

What Satan thought was his greatest victory ended up being his greatest defeat, and ultimately the greatest victory for good in the history of the world!


What to Do With Your Tragedy
If you let Satan win all of the pain that you went through or are going through will be for nothing. Satan's ultimate goal is to destroy you completely.

In the case of the girl at the beginning of this post, she could have gone into deep depression and chosen to reject God. But she didn't. She did not allow Satan to win. She took the terrible thing that happened to her and used it for good.

I don't want to make this sound like an easy thing, because it's not (if it was, we wouldn't have any mean old people). But I really do believe it all boils down to a decision. Will you let your tragedy take you down? Or will you use it for good? The choice is yours.