I heard it again today— “Statistics say…So, don’t be a statistic!”
I get the spirit behind this, but the fact is, we are all statistics. The only question is, which one?
When Donna and I were married we literally had a statistical likelihood of divorce within the first year of appx. 99%.
We’ve all heard that the divorce rate is 50% in the US (which is false—it has never been that high, but that’s another article). So, we’re told one of two marriages end in divorce (also false, but you’ve heard it too). So, I have a one in two chance of divorce, right?
Absolutely 100% wrong. Aside from the statistics being falsely quoted, there is another dynamic people aren’t talking about.
You see, what people citing these statistics don’t tell you is that you get to decide which statistical part you will be.
Some of you have heard this story before. Three months after we married, Donna and I were sitting in a room at a retreat center. We looked at each other and both said, “I don’t even like you anymore.” Then we both said, “But I don’t believe in divorce!”
So, I looked at her and said, “I guess that’s it.” At that moment we both committed to being miserable the rest of our lives.
Fortunately, there were people around us who were willing to get involved—to force themselves into our misery and say, “Maybe you don’t have to be that way.” (Marriage counseling was virtually unknown in the mid ‘70s). We began seeing a marriage counselor, and he basically walked us through the next two years. He didn’t describe it this way, but we basically both had to learn to live faithfully to the Lord in whatever situation we found ourselves in with no expectation of repayment.
As we did this, we gradually grew up. We grew in our relationship, and one day we realized we actually did like each other again—even loved each other now and then😊.
In a way, discipleship—growing in our faithfulness to the King—is simply decided to live faithfully in whatever situation we find ourselves. When we do this, we are no longer at the risk of statistics. We defy them. We decide who we are.
We all fit into statistical charts somewhere. Business. Education. Relationships. Even our relationship with the Lord.
We will all be a statistic. But we aren’t helpless! Life doesn’t happen to us. We will be a statistic, but we get to decide which one!
Know Jesus. Be Faithful.
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