It is funny when you assume something and it just does not quite turn out to be what you expected.  Then, I listen to my boss who says, “You know what happens when you assume?”  Yes sir, I know exactly what happens.  It is almost like being a weatherman.  We take an educated guess (depending upon how educated we are), and then we are welcomed to reality.  Sometimes it is an “I told you so moment” or it is one of those that leaves our mouths wide open wondering where our thought process went awry.

Life throws us a curve sometimes.  Health wise we face issues that come up all of a sudden that we must deal with.  Each day, Emergency Rooms all across the world fill with unexpected illnesses and curveballs that take us by surprise.  How do we prepare for these issues?  What can we do to obtain some kind of sense that we will be ok with whatever comes our way.  Yes, we can blow it off with the abhorred “It is what it is” statement, acting as if it does not bother us in the least.  We can also make ourselves feel better with just smiling and doing whatever we believe Jesus would do, but the disappointment is still there.  A minor scar left behind with a memory of what happened and however we reacted to it.

This past Saturday my football team lost.  We were 4-0 going into this game with high expectations.  Surprisingly, after the last several years of losing seasons, we had beaten two top 25 teams and had moved into the top ten ranked at number eight.  Saturday we played the number two team in the country and they took us to the woodshed.  They took no enemies and left it all on the field.  We were humiliated on national television and came home with our tail tucked between our legs.  We had such confidence.  We went into this game with our heads held high.  We cheered our team on with a belief that we could win this game, but in the end, it was not quite was we all expected.

We all have these times in life.  We are faced daily with times of adversity.  Yearly, world class climbers have to turn back just before the mountain summit for one reason or another and then have to wait another year before another attempt.  You take that special vacation to your dream-hiking destination only to turn your ankle in the first mile.  It happens.  These things are coming.  You cannot prepare, you cannot get ready for this no matter what you do mentally or physically, but what matters, is how you react WHEN (not if) it happens.  

How we react when that tire blows out shows our character.  How we react when that favorite camping spot is taken when we arrive shows our maturity.  How we react when we are excited about an upgrade on our vehicle, yet facing critics on social media shows who we are, and our level.  Are you rising above the critics or are you stooping to their level.  Do you listen and move on or do you “one up” them and send it right back? 

In today’s age, everyone seems to want to be argumentative.  There are those out there who stir the hornet’s nest, poke the bear, and leave to sit in the stands and watch the fight.  Adversity is coming.  It may not come in the form you expect.  In fact, it most likely will not be what you expect or turn out as if you thought.  That is not questioned.  It is coming.  It will happen, but what really matters in the whole situation, is how you react to it.