Fly over brick walls

A strong message was sent to the power brokers in Washington DC in the election yesterday with serious blows to the free spending liberal agenda. Will it do any good? Unfortunately it wasn’t a complete knockout, but they are definitely staggering around the ring and have been hurt. My guess is that it will take another two years and another election to wake them up sufficiently, or to continue with the metaphor, knock them out cold.

But all things considered I’m more optimistic today than yesterday that things will begin to improve and hope should still be alive and well in everyone’s hearts in the good old USA.

Speaking of hearts, mine goes out to all of those people who are suffering and have lost jobs. I hear from many of them almost on a daily basis. One man wrote that he is a Christian and he knows that he will go to heaven when he dies, but right now he has lost his job and is suffering and it’s hard to smile when everywhere he turns the situation looks bleak.

I can relate; I’ve been there. I overcame so much adversity that I can absolutely say that it’s an absolute miracle that I even survived much less eventually thrived. I learned however; that no matter how hopeless the situation may appear, we can overcome the bleakness of any circumstance through trusting Jesus Christ. I’m not just talking about hope just for eternal salvation, but also hope for whatever life that we have that remains on this earth. We must shore up our faith in our God and believe that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Hope is derived from FAITH!

My dad is depressed beyond words. He is 89 and has Parkinson’s disease and after losing my mom after 30 years of marriage, he remarried but recently lost his second wife, (Betty), of thirty one years and is now all alone. Imagine being married for over 60 years and then being utterly alone again and in poor health.

Recently, (against my strenuous objections), he drove to a family reunion. As he drove along he told me that he prayed to God for understanding as to why He does not just take him home and end his suffering.

It wasn’t long before he got his answer. At the reunion they asked him to offer thanks prior to eating. During his prayer he felt compelled to ask that if anyone was there that did not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior that they would come to know the Lord that very day. He learned later than a youngster who attended the reunion with a friend heard Dad’s prayer and it was the prelude to his acceptance to Jesus as his Savior later that day.

Dad was of course thrilled when he heard the news.

Hmmm I’ve been trying to tell Dad for some time that his life on this earth is not so much about him, but about God’s purpose for his life. God has his reasons for not calling him home just yet and I’m sure this little boy who will now spend eternity with Jesus couldn’t agree more. He will vividly remember and be thankful for dad’s prayer for eons to come, or actually infinity. Dad now realizes that hope still springs eternal when Christ is involved, even when we are discouraged, sick, worn out, tired, and being attacked by satan with a vengeance.

Renew your faith in Christ and realize that you have a unique, distinct purpose in this life. You may not understand why that it seems that everywhere you turn you are running into a brick wall, but you should know that God loves you more than you can possibly imagine. Take your eyes off your own problems and focus on Him and your future in fulfilling God’s purpose for creating you in the first place.

Yes at times it will be tough and I have lived through many of those tough times myself and can feel your pain, but after every heavy rain there is a rainbow and then clear skies. Those stormy days make one appreciate the clear days; especially when God acknowledges our faith and has mercy upon us and then wonderfully provides us with wings where we can soar like eagles and just fly over those brick walls.

Isaiah 40:28-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.