Life is Like a Coin
You can live any way you want to, but you can only live once. Looking at it another way, you have a set amount of time to make a difference. How will you spend your time this year?
In the classic allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, the main character, Christian, tumbles into the miry bog, the “slough of despond,” and struggles to get free. But the heavy burden on his back pulls him in deeper, and he begins to sink.
This image pictures what it feels like when we’re sinking in difficult circumstances—when our debts outweigh our income, when past hurts won’t heal, when discontentment marks our relationships, and when the light of heaven seems distant and dim. Discouragement, despondency, pain, suffering—these miry pits along life’s journey can pull us down into our own “slough of despond.”
Christian’s rescue came by the hand of a fellow traveller named Help...and the same is true for you today. Use these resources to find encouragement for your own life...or to minister help to those you find along life’s journey.
You can live any way you want to, but you can only live once. Looking at it another way, you have a set amount of time to make a difference. How will you spend your time this year?
Author John Bunyan was in a seemingly hopeless situation when he penned Pilgrim’s Progress, a book still impacting lives today...300 years later. Whatever tough stuff you’re dealing with remember God is with you, working through you, in His perfect timing and in His perfect way.
Beginning days are often the hardest ones. Chuck Swindoll says, “How do we learn consistent faith? We learn it one day at a time. We learn it through endurance.” He’s right. As you walk into a new situation, don’t lose heart. It’s just one more opportunity to grow and learn and trust.
How specific are you in your prayers? When you talk to God, talk about your needs—don’t beat around the bush! God does His most ideal work when we are in an impossible situation. And He always proves Himself faithful.
When you welcome trials as friends for the good they do in your life, you can turn bad situations into opportunities to grow and mature. And what you think will certainly destroy you can actually be the very thing, which makes you.
One person really can make a difference. And you don’t have to be famous to impact this world. Each day there are opportunities to take a stand, speak in truth, and extend kindness.
No matter if we’re four or 84...when we’re told not to do something, we immediately want to. Don’t touch wet paint. Don’t walk on the grass. Don’t fish off the balcony. We’re all guilty of wanting to do what we’re not supposed to. And that’s why we all need God’s grace.
Just when you think you have everything planned perfectly...something happens to change everything. It’s a good reminder that none of us know what the future holds. There’s a bigger plan unfolding...God’s plan.
Pastor Chuck Swindoll inspires us from Hebrews 10:19–25 to faithfully and consistently give words of life to others.
Being genuinely happy for the good fortune of others doesn’t come to us naturally. Often it’s easier to commiserate with friends rather than celebrate with them. But when you rejoice with those who rejoice, you’re modelling Christ.