We have a choice. In almost every part of our lives, there is someplace where we posses the power to choose. We may not be able to choose what happens, but we always possess the decision of how we will respond.

The insights of Victor Frankl speak deeply to me, especially regarding this issue. Imprisoned in a Nazi Concentration Camp, enduring great evil, and experiencing great pain, he realized that his oppressors could control his environment and much of what was done to him, and those he loved. He also discovered the one thing they could never control was his response. No matter how powerful they were, he always retained his ability to choose. It was a challenging, yet liberating revelation.

While our circumstances may not be that extreme, we are no less able to decide. The power to choose our response is always ours. On one hand, this is a deeply frustrating insight because it dismantles our ability to blame our circumstances, or others, for the choices we make. We can hold people and systems accountable for evil and injustice, but we cannot abdicate our responsibility for our decision.

At the same time, such revelation is profoundly liberating. It removes us from the deceptive myth that we have no control. It may not be the control we are looking for, or even the control we want, but we are never completely powerless. There is at least one area where we can act and change our experience.

This is a challenging revelation for me. While I know it is true, I frequently find it difficult to practice. Like so many others, I frequently hear myself say, “I’m offended,” “I’m hurt,” I’m angry, frustrated, and unhappy.” Yet, I know that those statements are only partially true, because, when I speak them, I am implying that my emotional response was someone else’s decision. I’ve worked for years to change my wording, not as an expression of semantics, but as a means to more accurately define my reality, for as I do so, I gain more control over that reality.

Now, when I hear myself say those, and similar words, I work to immediately speak the truth, “I choose to be offended,” “I choose to be hurt,” “I choose to be angry, frustrated, and unhappy.” I choose. My response is my decision and when I accept that, I gain the power to claim a different reality. I choose to break destructive cycles and open myself to other possibilities.

We are made in the image of God, and that is a profound truth. It declares we have intrinsic value; our worth is not found in the judgement of others, but in fact that we exist and are loved by God. The image of God also means that we have the power to choose. We can choose good or evil, blessing or curse, even God or self. We can also choose how we respond to life and others.

As people of God, loved by God and empowered by God, we are never completely powerless. How we will live and how we will respond to our circumstances is always our choice. In a world that often seems out of control, we are grounded in God’s truth, and God’s reality. In a culture filled with angst, where being angry and offended seems to be a competitive sport, we can live in, and share, God’s grace and peace.

So, as always, we come to our lives with the God-given power to choose this day who we will serve, and how we will respond. What will you choose? For me, I choose God, and the grace and peace that flows from the Spirit. Now, I just need to put that decision into practice.