Skip to main content

“All human beings face challenge and pain and demands.”

A thought by John Ortberg (2014-04-22) from his book, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 127). Zondervan. Kindle edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

by Rodney H. Young
And I’m sure that is true of you especially at this time of the year. We’ve survived Black Friday and Cyber Monday but there are still more days to come.

John tells of a Christian psychiatrist named Frank Lake and that he worked with many people who wanted to serve noble causes, but the stress and demands and difficulties got to them, and soon they became drained and bitter and cynical and discouraged.  Life can do that.  But he got together with the great Swiss theologian Emil Brunner and they looked at the life of Jesus and wondered how He handled it.

They saw that “Jesus faced enormous stresses and difficulties and pain. Yet he never got sarcastic or cynical or unloving or burnt out. No one took away his joy.”  What did He do that made such a difference? 

“When they looked at Jesus’ life, they saw a pattern to it, different from the pattern of the lives of the missionaries Frank Lake saw burning out. All human beings face challenge and pain and demands. Jesus, however, lived in a divine rhythm where grace was constantly flowing into him and then flowing out from him.”  Grace, He lived His life “in a divine rhythm where grace was constantly flowing into Him and then flowing out from Him.”

We are having a rainy weather here in sunny California and I need grace on the freeways of LA.  I mean don’t those people know they need to slow down with wet streets.  But grace constantly flowing into me and then flowing out from me would make a major difference in how I handle this day and every other day as I drive in this busy, busy city.  And that is just one area of my life.  But that is a great place to start.   And I pray that I can live in that divine rhythm where grace constantly flows into me and then flows out from me.  It starts in my soul.

 What about you?

Labels:

Comments

  1. Laura MosleyJanuary 11, 2015 at 4:06 PM

    Hi Bill, the picture of the Hummimgbird in the rain is my brother's copyrighted photo taken in his backyard in Satsuma, Alabama. He has taken some amazing pictures of Mobile Bay Sunsets, delta area birds and especially loved his hummers. This one was his favorite. He died at age 49 of lung cancer two years ago. He never got recognition for his photos because he died before ever having a show for his work to be seen. Please give recognition to my greatly missed brother, Rodney H. Young. Thank you

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“God does big things with small deeds.”

A thought by Max Lucado (2011-05-02) from his book, Cure for the Common Life (p. 115). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I don’t know how you feel about what you are doing and how it can make a difference.   You may feel that it is so small and not even worth the effort. Max says, “Begin. Just begin! What seems small to you might be huge to someone else. Just ask Bohn Fawkes. During World War II, he piloted a B-17. On one mission he sustained flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. Even though his gas tanks were hit, the plane did not explode, and Fawkes was able to land the plane. “On the morning following the raid, Fawkes asked his crew chief for the German shell. He wanted to keep a souvenir of his incredible good fortune. The crew chief explained that not just one but eleven shells had been found in the gas tanks, none of which had exploded. “Technicians opened the missiles and found them void of explosive cha...
Post a Comment
Read more

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

"Lie 2: The more you worry about it, the better your odds of avoiding it."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book,   Winning the War on Worry    (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Here is another lie that the Enemy uses with us. And Louie says, "This is a tricky lie. Yes, we often have cause for concern and preparation. But the Enemy wants you to believe that if you worry or fret over a certain outcome long enough, you can keep something bad from happening." But this is so important to realize. He says, "The reality is worrying has never once prevented something negative from happening. Planning might. Prayer has. But worry never will." He continues, "The Enemy tells you that by worrying about a situation (or every situation) you can make your tomorrow better. Really, worry just robs you of today. Jesus implored us: 'I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body mor...
Post a Comment
Read more