There is a HUGE difference between a VICTIM and a SURVIVOR. According to the dictionary, a VICTIM is a person who suffers from a destructive or injurious action or agency. He or she is someone who is completely subject to the environment around them. They have little to no control over their circumstances. When hard things occur, they happen “to” them and always comes “at” them. A victims only defense is to prepare and act accordingly.

There is a man in the Bible that depicts this mentality to a T. Take a moment and read (John 5:1-14)

Why would Jesus ask the man in the story if He wanted to be well after being sick for 38 years? I would suggest Jesus was trying to empower the man. But He couldn’t empower him unless he truly understood what was holding him back. He didn’t want to just heal him and have him go away rejoicing over what had happened. He needed him to understand how ownership works. He needed him to take personal responsibility.

How do we know the man may have had a victim mentality? (verse 7) What does the man say? He gives Jesus to defining signs of a Victim Mentality. First he says, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.”

1. A victim will always believe they have to work harder than anyone has ever had to work. The enemy will always try and make you feel that your pit is the only pit that can’t be climbed out of. It’s the deepest, darkest, and scariest, pit compared to anyone else’s. He loves to overwhelm us. Beware!

Second he says, “While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

2. A victim will always feel that everyone else has more help then they do. They are the only ones who can’t get any help, make any friends, and figure it out. The problem is they are always comparing their lives with others.

The greatest enemy to being powerful and fully who God has called you to be is comparison. It’s the way the Devil whispers to our hearts that God cheated us. Don’t buy into this lie. You are NEVER alone. You have the Spirit of God living on the inside of you called Holy Spirit and His main calling is to help you. How cool is that?

I wholeheartedly believe God wants to move and act in your life in such a way that anything that is holding you back will be rendered powerless next to the power of Jesus. However, in order for that to happen, you need to get your ‘power’ back…. even in the midst of this “HARD THING.” The first step is understanding that God didn’t send His only son to die on the cross for you so you would live bound to a circumstance or person. Like I said before, “You can either be dragged along through your hard things or you can just DO THEM!”

Look at this story from another perspective. What if God wanted to empower the man at that very moment to get his eyes off his own lack and on to Jesus? Maybe Jesus wanted to smack him with the “I CAN DO ANYTHING” message? In fact, Jesus used the man’s own actions to empower him. Think about it! Did you see it? I hope you did! When Jesus asked the man ‘if he wanted it,’ He was asking him to get his power back and once the man understood that he was not powerless to receive a miracle, HE GOT HIS MIRACLE!