“Blessed be God,
who has not turned away my prayer,
nor His mercy from me!”
~Psalm 66:20~
Jadon’s Story
http://jadonsisstory.blogspot.com/
Carol New has the stitches out of her knee. She’s so glad to have come this far since her last surgery. Thank God for her progress.
Mrs. Pauline Strickland has had a setback, be is now doing a little better. Billy Carl will have a procedure Tuesday that will determine if he is ready for chemo and radiation. Donna Fay has been having some heart issues. Pray for all of them and for Firma Kay.
Pray for the doctors working with Boyd Hatchel to evaluate him carefully and determine the continuing course of treatment. Boyd has appointments at 10 and 11 today.
Alan Smith’s Thought for the Day: The bigger picture
Leith Anderson, a minister, shared this experience: As a boy, he grew up outside of New York City and was an avid fan of the old Brooklyn Dodgers. One day his father took him to a World Series game between the Dodgers and the Yankees. He was so excited, and he just knew the Dodgers would trounce the Yankees. Unfortunately, the Dodgers never got on base, and his excitement was shattered.
Years later, he was engrossed in a conversation with a man who was a walking sports almanac. Leith told him about the first major league game he attended and added, “It was such a disappointment. I was a Dodger fan and the Dodgers never got on base.” The man said, “You were there? You were at the game when Don Larsen pitched the first perfect game in all of World Series history?”
Leith replied, ”Yeah, but uh, we lost.” He then realized that he had been so caught up in his team’s defeat that he missed out on the fact that he was a witness to a far greater page of history.
I wonder how often the same thing happens to us. We get so caught up in the “defeats” in our lives, the times when things don’t turn out the way we want them to. So we’re depressed because an illness continues to linger, or when people don’t treat us the way we think they ought to, or when we face financial difficulties.
But we are often so blinded by the pain and disappointment of our “defeat” that we fail to appreciate the fact that we might be witness to something far greater that God is doing in our lives.
Remember when Paul was in prison? He wrote to the Philippian Christians, “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.” (Phil. 1:12)
While most of us would have focused on the “defeat” (being in prison even though he was innocent), Paul was able to see what God was doing in his life. It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s never easy to view things from a heavenly perspective rather than an earthly one, but it is especially difficult in the midst of pain and defeat. But it is learning how to have a heavenly view that helps us to know joy no matter what happens in our lives.
Have a great day!
Alan Smith
I think this devotional speaks to all of us. What do you think?
Looking for the bigger picture,
Anna Lee
You must be logged in to post a comment.