Peaches, Coconuts and Liquid Metal

 VS. 

 

I just finished chapter 3 of Erwin McManus’ new book, “Wide Awake“.  He writes about two Old Testament figures, Daniel and Esther and how they live lives of meaning even though their stories don’t start in the ideal way.  They both adapted to circumstances and made the most of them. They don’t complain about their situation, but they find a way to be resourceful and adaptive and make something of it. Life it’s about growth. Growth demands change, and change requires humility.  The story of Daniel and Esther both serve as reminders that we do not get to choose the context from which our story begins, but how we respond will have a great impact on where that destination ends.  Erwin writes, “your circumstances do not determine your opportunities, or if they do it will be quite the opposite than you expect.”

He also claims that many Christians are like coconuts, hard on the outside and empty on the inside.  Instead, we need to be like a peach, soft and fuzzy on the outside and hard as a rock on the inside.  He claims that one key to this is to determine your core values or non-negotiables.  What things are you going to build your life around and stand firm on.  When you know what these are you will be able to adapt to different circumstances and change.  This is what Daniel and Esther did.  They adapted to circustances and changed the way they related to others, yet remained solid on core issues.

I love how he describes the core of the body and the importance of core training for a healthy body.  (Something I can especially relate to with my own back problems.)  The story he shares of POWs training the core so that they will not look strong on the outside, but would be strong on the inside is also interesting.  I agree that too often we take strong outward stances that are simply a result of wanting to compensate and cover an undefined or weak core.

I believe I know what my core nonnegotiables are.  But, I’ve never formally written them down or shared them with anyone and this chapter has me thinking hard about doing that.  What are your non-negotiables?  If you don’t define them, then you will operate out of fear.  Fear that if you change or give in on something you may find out later that it was a non-negotiable for you.