Sweet Vinegar

Have you ever read a story, at first nonchalantly, and then when you get to the middle, a “light bulb” just comes on.

And at that moment you realize, this is just what I need right now!!!.

Well, that is exactly what an article by Joyce Meyer titled Shake It Off did for me.

It simply taught me the importance of NEVER EVER giving up.

If there is a strength I treasure; it is the ability to use “b***s***” constructively.

Take that criticism and trials thrown at YOU and build a “stairway” that will lead YOU to the top.

Besides, you won’t know how “sweet” life is if you have not tasted its “bitter” side.

So Man Up.

Make that "Vinegar" Sweet. 

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The Vinegar Tasters is an allegorical image representing Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism (Daoism). It depicts three men dipping their fingers in a vat of vinegar and tasting it; one man reacts with a sour expression, one reacts with a bitter expression, and one reacts with a sweet expression

*Life can be "Bitter" or "Sweet" it all depends on your reaction to its taste.

Now I really really do hope that “light bulb” comes on in YOUR head as you read the story below.

Enjoy:

Shake It Off by Joyce Meyer

One of my favorite stories is about a farmer's donkey that fell into a dry well. The animal cried pitifully for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do for his poor donkey.

Finally, he concluded that the well was too deep, and it really needed to be covered up anyway. Besides, the donkey was old, and it would be a lot of trouble to get him out of the pit.

The farmer decided that it was not worth trying to retrieve the animal, so he asked his neighbors to help him fill in the well and bury the donkey.

They all grabbed shovels and began to toss dirt into the well.

The donkey immediately realized what was happening, and he began to bray horribly (Sad Yeah…).

Crying would be our normal response if somebody was mistreating us this badly, so this donkey was responding the same way we would at first, but then he got real quiet.

A few shovel loads of dirt later, the farmer looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw.

With every shovel of dirt that hit the donkey's back, the donkey would shake it off and step on top of it.

As the neighbors and the farmer continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he continued to shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon the donkey shook off the last shovel full of dirt, took a step up, and walked right out of the well (Wiggling its tiny waist…:)).

Joyce Meyer: We can learn so much from this story. When trouble comes, if we will get still and listen, God will tell us what to do. By the grace and mercy of God, I was able to shake off a lot of things in my life, a lot of hurt feelings, a lot of mistreatment, a lot of abuse, a lot of unfair, unjust, unkind things. Just like the donkey, in order to keep pressing on and have victory in our lives, we are going to have to learn to shake off the troubles that come our way.

Be Inspired

From the book New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer.