Finding the Strength To Overcome Anything
By Lee Warren, B.A., D.D.
(C) 1998 PLIM REPORT Vol. 7 No. 6
Feel free to copy and circulate this article for non-commercial purposes provided the Web site and author are mentioned.
See Related Articles: PERSONAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
In life's journey, one has to obtain the principles of "strength" and "resilience" in order to face various challenges and adversities. This strength is not physical, based on muscular power obtained from lifting weights and performing strenuous exercises, but is psychological and spiritual in nature. This strength can only be obtained from life experiences and one's belief system.
Now Webster New World Dictionary defines strength as: "1 the state or quality of being strong; force; power; vigor; 2 the power to resist strain, stress, etc.; toughness; durability." Here strength is defined as the: "power to resist stress; durability," which means the ability to overcome adversity or bounce back from a crisis. Proverbs speaks of the relationship between adversity and strength. "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small (Pro. 24:10)." According to the scriptures, strength can only be determined when confronting adversity, just as courage cannot be determined unless one confronts a dangerous situation.
The word "resilience" is defined as: "the quality of being resilient; esp., a) the ability to bounce or spring back into shape, position, etc. b) the ability to recover strength, spirits, good humor, etc. quickly; buoyancy." Now resilience is defined as the ability to bounce back and to recover strength from various adversities that seem to take our strength. Thus, psychological strength is the ability to cope with the psychological stresses and adversities of modern life.
What is the purpose of this article?
The purpose of this article is to show the psychological factors, that inner strength within humans, that aid one in overcoming adversities in life. They are faith in Elohim (God), belief in one's self and one's ability, courage to seek outside help, and wisdom to recognize one's strengths and set goals. According to Psychology Today, researchers identified these factors during various psychological studies of humans reacting to some form of adversity. This article will show that these factors are universal and have been laid down in the Bible since its inception.
Now this article will also explore how one obtains these positive, psychological attributes and answer the question of whether these elements can be taught as one can learn to read. This article will show that neither education, race, or income has anything to do with an individual's resiliency, as many have believed.
In short, the strength of the individual lies in the mindset (i.e. belief system). Basically, this was the message of the Master Yahshua the Messiah's ministry. He said it was the Father within (Jn. 14:9-10) that did the work and one must have faith therein. Yahshua (Jesus) also pointed out to Israel the importance of faith when He said unto them: "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mk. 9:23)."
What are modern psychological views on strength?
Psychologists have known for years that the environment shapes an individual's personality. A toxic environment results in the individual being dysfunctional where the individual can not function within the rules of society, as the result of conditioning or trauma. For example there are soldiers, such as the Vietnam and WW II veterans, that can no longer function in society after combat experience.
Within the last 20 years psychology researchers have found that some people who have experienced bad situations, such as inner city violence, war, broken homes, physical and sexual abuses, etc., have discovered the strength and resiliency to overcome or rebound. For example, they found that one-third of all children in America who suffer from neglect, poverty, and abuse are capable of rebuilding their lives by the time they are teenagers, according to Psychology Today (6/98; p. 35). These new findings have altered the views of psychologists on survivors' coping skills and the inner strength they possess.
Rather than emphasizing the power latent in humans to overcome adverse situations, psychologists, since WWII, have emphasized the psychological damage the individual suffered in this environment. This is called victimology, according to Martin Seligman, Ph.D., and President of the American Psychological Association. He also states in Psychology Today that there has been a "sea of change" in psychology away from this victimology of people to understand what makes them strong psychologically, which has occurred in the last 20 years.
Edith Grotberg Ph.D. from the University of Alabama states that everyone has the capacity for resilience. However, certain situations must be presented to a person before the individual can develop resilience. She goes on to say that there must be some support for the individual.
Does inner strength exist within the individual?
Even though the origin of ALL strength is Elohim (God), this potential has to be developed within each individual. Some may doubt that every person has this capacity. However, proof that the strength and resilience potential exist within man can be seen in the muscle and skeleton systems of the human body. Resiliency in the physical body is its ability to heal itself. (See "Spontaneous Healing," begin with section on "How Does Physical Healing Work?" in the 1997 Vol. 6, No. 5, issue of the"PLIM REPORT.") Bones that are broken, mend and muscles that are torn, repair themselves.
Now the physical body is a reflection or shadow of the soul and spirit. Remember that man was made in the image of Elohim (Gn. 1:26) both physically and psychologically. The human is made-up three-fold: a physical body, a soul-inner body, and spirit. This means whatever is found within the physical body is just a reflection of what is within the soul. As the physical body has the principle of strength and resilience in the skeletal and muscular systems and the healing of the body, then the soul or mind must also have the strength and resilience principles within.
How does strength exist in the mind?
Now the soul or mind is composed of principles, such as intelligence, wisdom, knowledge, love, strength, etc.
These principles are potentials that must be developed through life itself (i.e. interaction with the world and other humans). Hence, the purpose of adversity is to develop these attributes in much the same fashion as stress aids in the development of the muscular and skeletal systems. What this means is that the soul has the innate ability to bounce back from adversity provided certain principles are embraced such as faith, hope, love, etc.
Yahshua the Messiah in His ministry repeatedly demonstrated that these principles work, by the many miracles He performed, which modern psychology is now confirming through various studies.
What were the results of the studies?
Modern psychology, through various human group studies, has identified some of the factors that help individuals bounce back and regain strength from various adversities. Now laboratories with sophisticated instruments are not needed to determine these factors. People's testimonies are the source data.
Before looking at these factors, an examination of the findings of various psychological studies would be helpful. All of these studies were a part of an article entitled Finding Strength in Psychology Today (6/98).
Did children of depressed mothers recover?
Norman Garmenz, Ph.D. of the University of Minnesota studied children of depressed mothers. He found that about one-fourth of the children were healthy and normal. This was a shock to him because of his previous belief about victims of trauma being unable to recover without terrible mental scars. His initial response was that he had misdiagnosed the mother's condition. Michael Rutter, Ph.D. later verified his findings in another study.
Dr. Michael Rutter, of the Institute of Psychiatry in London did a study of children of drug addicted mothers. His finding showed that approximately one-fourth of these children was normal and confident. Both of these studies serve as foundations for studying resiliency in humans.
Do children born into poverty ever succeed?
Emmy Werner, who is nicknamed "Mother of Resilience," is credited with doing the initial groundwork in this field. She did a 30-year study of the inhabitants of the Kauai Island. There were 505 people in this study born in 1955. Half of the children of workers of the sugar plantation were born into poverty.
When the sugar industry fell upon hard times, it almost guaranteed that these children would remain in poverty. The conditions of these children's environment included fear, abuse, and alcoholism.
Werner states that if one uses the victim-theory to predict what would happen to these children, one would say that by the time these children are in their twenties, they would be destined to live a life of crime, alcoholism, unemployment and life of despair.
Her findings showed that one-third of these children did not fall apart at all. In fact, they all did well in school and began promising careers. All of these survivors defined themselves as being competent adults. Werner published a book entitled Overcoming the Odds, which is considered the definitive work in the field of resilience in children.
Norman Garmenz said this study's finding shows that one's upbringing does not build a lifelong prison. Other studies throughout the world and throughout various cultures verify the finding that people do overcome various adversities.
Do abused children prosper?
Another study that John DeFrain, Ph.D., professor of family studies at the University of Nebraska, and his colleagues Nikki DeFrain, Linda Ernst, and Jean Jones, conducted was based on the abused childhood of forty adults. They wanted to know if these adults had any childhood scars. Every adult interviewed said they had childhood scars.
Now the study showed that 11% considered themselves bare survivors, but 83% said they had transcended their childhood experiences and were building a better life for themselves. Now 57% of the people in this study said they had no one to talk to, but God during this year. This isolation forced them to rely on themselves and God.
What principles can be seen in Israel's migration?
Now the Children of Israel's migration out of Egyptian bondage to the Promised Land is a metaphor to all these psychological studies. The problem here is that psychologists are not conscious of the fact that universal principles are in operation. Finding the strength to overcome adversity is simply a resurrection. The Messiah said: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (Jn 16:33)."
What are some factors in developing strength?
These psychological studies furnish the data necessary to determine what factors are responsible for people overcoming various adversities. These factors varied for each study. Now the factors are listed as follows.
 |
Faith is the most common principle found in all studies although it takes on many different manifestations. It is not always found in a religious sense-as faith in God. Some people had faith in the future that things would not always be as bad as they are. This allows them to "hang in there" in the face of the storm. Faith in God was found to serve as a tremendous confidence booster. This gave the person perseverance and hope to endure in what appears to be a hopeless situation. DeFrain stated that 56% of the people in his study said they had no one to talk to. They held unto "the idea of guardian angels and or a God who will always love and forgive them (Psychology Today 6/98, p. 67). |
|
Support systems are another factor that helps people overcome adversity. Having the courage to find strength from an outside agent is empowering in itself. From most of the above studies they show that very rarely were individual able to overcome adversity alone. No human is an island; they are social creatures. In short, the person must have some kind of support system: the family, a friend, or a teacher, who gives one encouragement. Now the Big Brother/Big Sister Program verifies this in a study done in a 1996 analysis. Violent behavior was down 33% among participating children from single parent homes with poverty and violence ridden neighborhoods. There was also 52% lower school absenteeism and 46% lower first time drug users. DeFrain's study shows that where the person has no one to talk to as in the case of children in abusive situations, they talk to God or angels. |
|
Believe in Self is another trait that was common in most studies. One has to be able to visualize oneself overcoming an obstacle or adversity before it physically manifests. To pick oneself up from a bad situation is done in the mind first. In a depressing or challenging situation, one has to draw from within oneself and say: "I will not allow this situation to overcome me psychologically." This is what belief in self will do. |
|
Coping skills are developed in severe trauma cases where the individual has been physically, sexually, and mentally abused over and over again. These individuals, usually children or abused women who have no one to talk to, learn coping skills to deal with the situation. For example, many use dissociation or detachment. The individual learns to let go of the situation. This means the individual may go numb or transport his mind to another place and time. While being abused, the child may imagine himself out of the body or in meadow somewhere far away. DeFrain said in his study that "if the a family situation is insane, most people will build, within, their own sanctuary and sanity (Psychology Today 6/98; p. 67)." This shows that the principle of peace exists within. |
Can these principles be taught?
Spiritual principles, such as faith, self-confident, cannot be taught in the literal sense, as in the case of a parent teaching a child to ride the bike or read a book. This is because these principles are spiritual in nature. Basically, parents, teachers, or friends must give encouragement, which is how the principles are imparted. One can discuss these principles and show how they operate, as in the case of faith in the placebo effect, which shows forth the power of a belief in the mind.
But the principles of faith can only be exercised in face of some type of challenge, or adversity. Usually there are some traumatic situations that result in being overwhelmed by some emotions, such as fear, despair, doubt, grief, etc., that will not allow the person to exercise these positive principles of faith.
Conclusion
All of these principles are universal. Thousands of years before the birth of modern psychology, Yahweh-Elohim had revealed to mankind the spiritual principles that must be exercised in this life journey if one is to grow and develop. What these psychological studies prove is that these principles do exist and, if they are exercised, will help people overcome all types of adversities in life. This is even though most had no knowledge of the operation of these principles. Now this implies that if certain principles are exercised, the person can overcome trauma without many scars. Thus, it is the mindset of the individual that matters, which is what the Bible has emphasized. The scientific community is proving that these principles actually work and are not fanciful myths. Yet many have not come to understand the operation of these spiritual principles.
The birth of the Master in you (Gal. 4:19) demonstrates the power of these spiritual principles, such as faith, by showing Israel this is the power that brings about miracles. A blind man begs the Master Yahshua to heal him and the Master replied: "&Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee (Lk. 18:42)." The Apostle John said "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (1 Jn 4:4)."
Finally, 80% of the people interviewed in DeFrain's study said they hated their childhood, but they all said that they had become stronger, kinder, and quicker to care for and help someone because of their experience. In another study people said the following about their adversity. "I have been tested and have prevailed and I'm better for it." Testimonies from these studies pointed out an important point about the purpose of adversity, which is laid down in the scriptures. The apostle Paul under the New Covenant said: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with Elohim through our Lord Yahshua The Messiah:& And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of Elohim is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom. 5:1-5)." Clearly, we can see that Elohim set up tribulations as the only way one can be strengthened and develop resiliency.