A Soul Surfer Finds Grace

I'm looking forward to seeing the Bethany Hamilton bio-pic "Soul Surfer" now in theaters.  One reason is that I wrote about her in my book How Healed Do You Want to Be?   I quote from the chapter below.  Enjoy! - and, thanks, Bethany for the gift of faith and steadfastness of spirit you share through your life.


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“But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when
you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22: 32).

            Bethany Hamilton was thirteen years old when she lost her left arm during a Tiger Shark attack off of the North Shore of Kaui, Hawaii.  At that time, Bethany was already becoming known in the world of amateur surf competition as a true up-and-comer.  The road (or shall we say wave) ahead looked golden for the young woman whose parents, Tom and Cheri Hamilton, had her on surfboards from the time she could walk.  But on Halloween Day, 2003, the attack Bethany endured from an aggressive fourteen foot shark threatened to crush her dreams forever. 

            After multiple surgeries, the young surfer successfully recovered from the physical damage of the attack.  Next, she would have to face the question of whether she would, or even could, surf again.  Less than a month after her ordeal, Bethany was back in the water.  She was determined to develop a new technique for herself that would allow her to compete in the surfing world again.  It wouldn’t be easy, but Bethany was determined to get back in the game. 

            Throughout her childhood, the young surfer had nurtured a strong personal faith in Jesus Christ.  Her maturing faith inspired Bethany to treat the shark attack as something God allowed her to go through—something that could be turned for His glory.  Of course, news of her attack placed her in the worldwide media spotlight.  But somehow Bethany seemed ready.

As her story became known, her indomitable spirit and positive “can do” attitude began to inspire people everywhere.  "I don't pretend to have all the answers to why bad things happen to good people,” she later wrote.  “But I do know that God knows all those answers, and sometimes He lets you know in this life, and sometimes He asks you to wait so that you can have a face-to-face talk about it”.  Such characteristic honesty endeared Bethany to a host of people around the world who had become aware of her challenges.  Could a young person like her really make a comeback from such devastating circumstances?

            As it turned out, Bethany’s comeback was stunning.  After only a few months, she began to win and place in prestigious surfing competitions in spite of her lack of a left arm.  Over the next several years her amazing accomplishments and personal testimony opened doors for her to communicate her story to millions of people.  Along with newspapers and magazines, Bethany’s story was also being featured on television news segments and talk shows.  “I guess they see me as a symbol of courage and inspiration”, she said.  “One thing hasn’t changed—and that’s how I feel when I ‘m riding a wave.  It’s like, here I am.  I’m still here.  It’s still me and my board in God’s ocean.”

            Ever since the attack first took place, Bethany has continued to turn her tragedy into a triumph.  She was appointed chairwoman of Beating the Odds Foundation and has served as a spokesperson for the international compassion ministry of World Vision.  Her autobiography, Soul Surfer, was published as well as Christian devotional books for teens.  A film version of Bethany’s story is also in the works. Speaking of his daughter’s outstanding example of faith, Tom Hamilton observes: “Somehow God gave Bethany an amazing amount of grace in this.  I am in awe.  She never says, “Why me?”’  For Bethany, the “whys and wherefores” are simple: “This was God’s plan for my life and I’m going to go with it.”

Messes into Messages

            Bethany Hamilton’s story is a great illustration of redemption; the fourth component of our five-dimensional healing model.  What is redemption?  One dictionary defines the word “redeem” as “to buy back, repurchase, to get or win back” (1).  This could mean many things.  For example, while Bethany will never get her arm back, her hopes, dreams and vision for living have returned—and then some!  In the long run, her losses have been mightily redeemed for higher purposes than competitive success.  They have provided Bethany with a way to bear witness to Christ and inspire others, having been “bought back” from disaster to bring blessing instead of despair.  This phenomenon is not new.  God has a long history of turning our messes into messages, our trials into triumphs and our tests into testimonies!  How does He do this?  By the power of something the Bible calls grace.  

Actually, Life is Like a Box of Kleenex

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every
activity under heaven..." (Ecclesiastes 3: 1)

Tom Morey (creator of the the Boogie Board) has a new invention.
His latest creation is a foam wheel that makes a surfboard easier to
transport. When reading an article about Morey and his invention
I was struck by the way he talked about his creative process. "My
inventions are like Kleenex in a box", he said. "I have to pull one
out to get to the one after that."

While Mr. Morey's description is a clever way to describe inventing
things, I believe it also paints a picture of our overall life experience.

Our lives, it seems, are not only "like a box of chocolates" (as
Forrest Gump would say). They are also like a box of Kleenex.
That's because reality has layers. Each layer consists of a
particular collection of experiences, discoveries,failures, successes, pains,
triumphs, relationships and questions that we must process. Like
Mr. Morey's Kleenex box of new ideas, each collection of
perceptions and experiences must deliver its challenges and gifts
to us before we can be thoroughly present to the next one.

This is one reason I am drawn to the biographical stories of the
Bible. Each one introduces us to the key seasons in the life of
Joseph, or Ruth, or David or Paul in a stream of mini-stories.
David, for example, has his period of herding sheep in the back
country of Judah. It is there that he learns to slay the lion and the
bear. How could he have ever guessed that those experiences would
prepare him to face Goliath at age twenty?

By applying this concept to our own lives, we might discern some
important "chapter breaks" in our own development. Each period
will somehow bear the fingerprints of God whether we were aware
of Him at the time or not. By seeking to be present to the themes,
life lessons and relationships we identify, we can better see how
the Lord used each season to prepare us for the next.

In my journal, I once noted that God had been teaching me
that everything in my life prior to any given day had the potential
to prepare me for that days challenges and opportunities. Not only
do I believe this to be true, but I also believe we cannot successfully
"skip ahead" if we are to truly grow spiritually. We will need today's
experiences to ready us for tomorrow. Understanding this not only
packs our lives with new meaning; it also helps us see why we must
pull out our experiential Kleenex tissues one at a time!

So thanks, Mr. Morey, for helping me better understand how God
is shaping my one layer at a time. And, oh yeah, thanks for
inventing the Boogie Board, too!

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A Prayer:
"Father, life will always have its mysteries. Yet I know
that You waste none of my life experiences in working out of Your
Master Plan.

Help me to be teachable, open, humble, discerning
and available as I go through the various chapters and seasons of
my life. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done as each
layer of my life experience leads to the next one. And may all things
work to Your Greater Glory in Jesus Christ, Amen".

Are You Organizing Around Your Anxieties?

Job One: do not organize yourself around your anxieties.

It is a deathly habit that will chain you to futility, limitation, doubts and depletion. Like a black hole in outer space, anxiety will pull you into its bottomless gravity until you altogether disappear. It may be tempting to think of avoiding your fears as real work, but don't take that bait. Remember that churning with anxiety - anxiously mulling things over in your mind - does not actually improve anything. It is not progress. It is not problem-solving. For all the time and energy you give to it, it gives you nothing you can use in return.

You have another choice: you can organize yourself around the Almighty God.

Rest assured that the gravitational pull of grace is more powerful than the gravitational pull of anxiety. And from where does this grace gravity emanate? From God Himself.

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you". In that biblical call we find an alternative to living in reactive response to our anxieties, fears, and imaginations of catastrophe. God's call is for us to organize ourselves around Him. Doing so is the primal, foundational act of faith.

Once settled into that all-important divine alignment, we still will have our challenges to face, decisions to make, and threats to manage. When anxiety was at the center, we found ourselves drifting either into total paralysis or staccato bursts of emotional thrashing. With Christ at the center we can see clearly, think clearly, assess resources and options clearly. "In this world you will have tribulation," Jesus said, "but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world."

Next time, Part Two of this discussion...