TODAY’S SCRIPTURE Romans 8:31-39
There was an online magazine that challenged readers to come up with their life’s story. The only catch was that you could only use six words (and the site almost crashed because of all the responses that day). Some of the responses were:
• One tooth, one cavity; life’s cruel.
• Savior complex makes for many disappointments.
• The psychic said I’d be richer.
• Thought I would have more impact.
Life can be difficult when you don’t speak from the perspective of hope. But then a nine-year old sent this: Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends.
Can you hear the sound of hopefulness in that statement? About a year ago my mother had triple bypass surgery. If you’ve witnessed a loved one go through the surgery, you understand just how traumatic it is. She’s much better now––a new lease on life, more thankful every day. But I distinctly remember a conversation that ensued after she was taken off the ventilator. Day by day there was much improvement. The swelling was going down. I said, “Mom, today I can see a lot of improvement.” She said faintly, “I can’t!” To which a family member replied, “But you would if you could be on our side.”
Often it’s hard to see that we are getting better. It is Job who honestly affirms, “But man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). He also expresses trust when he says, “I will wait for my change to come.”
Today, where is your heart? Because of the resurrection, where does your thinking need a shift and a change need to come? If you’re looking for a new perspective, maybe these words from the apostle Paul will help: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:35, 37).
Today, I will…look for the areas in life where I am blessed because of the power of Jesus. Like the nine-year old, this is my prayer: “Though cursed with _______, I am blessed with _________.”
