Living With A Permanent Shrug

Paul strikes you as someone who was living with a permanent shrug. I wonder, can anyone describe me as a believer who lives with a permanent shrug? Before we go too far into this, allow me to explain what it means to live with a permanent shrug. For that, we start by considering examples of those who are not living with a permanent shrug.

Take, for instance, the European multi-billionaire who committed suicide during the most recent great recession. He was worth six billion – that is with a B – US dollars. Unfortunately for him, the recession wiped out an entire billion dollars. He lost 16% percent of his net worth. You might say that I am saying that tongue in cheek and you would be right. Who commits suicide for a 16% loss? Well, it is the one who does not understand living with a permanent shrug.

For those folks, everything is a big deal. A 16% loss was too big a deal for his life. He took it, rather than live with the remaining 84%. One could wish that he had learned the art of living with a permanent shrug. He would then have shrugged off the loss and gone on with his life. And since we are talking money, he would have recouped that loss by now. But no, he had to kill himself, leaving his remaining five billion dollars to some fool.

Avoid Suicide By Living With a permanent Shrug

The late Selwyn Hughes referred to such an inability to move past a past hurt or tragedy as awfulizing. You recognize such people by how often “oh, how awful” crops up in their speech, a whole lot. The headache is awful, as is his empty wallet and the traffic situation. Going off in a huff because someone spoke to him one way or another, he alleges that person is awful. And if you try to help, your counsel simply makes the awfulness of their situation worse.

And when his car fails to start in the morning, he makes it sound like it is the end of the world. He is awfulizing because he is yet to learn the art of living with a permanent shrug. Nevertheless, for the believer, there is only one scenario that is awful, one concept that he cannot shrug off. And that is the thought of spending eternity away from God.

That would certainly be awful. But for the one who knows how to avoid a pity party, everything else can be shrugged off. That is how you may find yourself daily living with a permanent shrug. On the other hand, one who has not mastered the art will live in depression. His environment will be permanent self-indulgence. Poor me, my lunch is cold and oh, my dinner is too hot.

From depression to suicide is but one short hop. And it does not matter if you are a commoner or a celebrity. Gender has nothing to do with it either. Unless you are living with a permanent shrug, you are vulnerable to depression. You can take that one step further and read it as suicide. That is the reason you must take this post to heart. You do not want to become a suicide statistic.

Paul Was Expert At Living With A Permanent Shrug

Three times he prayed that the thorn in his side should be removed. Three times, God refused. But as soon as God told him the thorn would have to remain, he accepted sufficient grace from God. And he moved past the thorn. For him, yesterday was in the tomb, tomorrow was in the womb. All he had was the day and he consequently learned to live in the present. What about you and me? Do we live in the past or in the future?

Paul also acknowledged that he had done a lot of arm to the people of God – in the past. With that acknowledgment over, he moved on, past the pain. The Apostle reckoned that he had too much work on hand to dwell on that past regret. He shrugged it off. What about the past hurts? He learned how to shrug those off as well; even present hurts.

But it was in shrugging off accomplishments that the Apostle shone brightest. He counted all the scintillating achievements on his impressive resume as dung. What a concept! With him so busy shrugging off so many aspects of life, Paul was living with a permanent shrug. In spite of all that he had accomplished, he did not believe that he had apprehended. Keep in mind, his achievements spanned both the secular as well as the spiritual.

A Permanent Shrug Is A Sign Of Christian Maturity

Why! A majority of what we read in the New Testament today is attributed to the man. And yet, he believed himself not to have arrived. He had the capacity for living with a permanent shrug, even of such achievements. Not only did he not have time for a pity party, he actively denuded himself of any kind of glory. His entire policy revolved around this statement. “one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.

Please note that Paul did not start off by living with a permanent shrug. Nobody is born with the capacity for living with a permanent shrug. Some grow up still without being able to shrug off glories or regrets or hurts. For them, everything is a big deal, spending their entire lives awfulizing.

But, as he spent quality time with God, Paul received grace to see the invisible. He was able to state that he did not lose heart at the afflictions of his life. He intimately knew God, who helped to renew his inner man even as his outward man was perishing.

Learn The Art Of Letting Go And Letting God Be God

You and I have a choice to make. Live with a chip on our shoulder or replace the chip with a shrug. Naturally, we all start with a chip. Consider the child throwing a temper tantrum if you need to verify that last statement. With proper upbringing, the tantrums gradually diminish and when the man matures, his shoulder chip is replaced with a shrug. Happy is the man who successfully undergoes that transformation.  

As it is in the physical, so it is in the spiritual. With proper divine upbringing, you lose your shoulder chip. You learn to replace it with a shoulder shrug. As the Holy Spirit helps you, that shrug has a chance to become permanent. But since the Holy Spirit is a gentle Spirit, you have to submit to Him for Him to help you.

With the Spirit’s help, you gradually learn the art of letting go. And before you know it, you are living with a permanent shrug and a sweet life. This happens even if your particular situation remains unchanged. Go for it.

Maranatha!