Dr Harold J. Sala
"My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." -Psalm 73:26
A passerby stopped to see a Little League baseball team that played in a park near his home. As he sat down in the bleachers by first base, he called to one of the boys asking, "What's the score?" "We're behind 14 to nothing," he said with a grin. "You don't look very discouraged," commented the man.
"Discouraged?" the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face, adding, "Why should we be discouraged? We haven't been up to bat yet." Who won? I don't know, but I'll tell you for sure, when that boy grows up, he's the kind I would like to have working for me.
Winning in life, however, is not always a matter of gritting your teeth and trouncing your opposition. At times it is a matter of taking one more step by faith, realizing that the whole situation is beyond your control and that, if God is willing, He causes the wind to subside, the fever to dissipate, the opposition to soften, and the sun to shine.
True, God honors the determined spirit that presses on, but the reality in life is that all the determination and courage in the world aren’t enough to overcome some obstacles and situations. That's when God makes the difference. As the Psalmist put it: "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26).
Think of Daniel in the lion's den. If he thought, "Look what I got myself into; now how do I get myself out of here?" there is no record of it. He had a quiet confidence that he was in God's strong hand, no matter what happened.
Or ponder a Jewish girl by the name of Esther, whose uncle had engineered her into appealing for the lives of the Jews in Babylon. "If I perish, I perish," she cried, and pushed forward. She didn't perish but rather saved the lives of thousands.
"Righteous Gentiles" is the term that Jews give to those such as Corrie ten Boom and many more who without thought of personal safety or concern, hid Jewish men and women fleeing from the Gestapo and SS troops of Hitler's Germany. These were not heroes who took a machine gun and a dozen grenades and took on the enemy, but quietly and determinedly went about their business doing the right thing, no matter what the cost.
That phrase "but God" appears time and time in the writings of the New Testament. It speaks of His reversing a situation, turning it around, changing everything. When Paul was on his second missionary journey, a friend traveling with him fell sick, and it looked like Epaphroditus was going to die. "Indeed," says Paul, "he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow" (Philippians 2:27). Mark these words but God in your Bible.
Is there anything too hard for God to do? Not if you believe what the Bible says. At the end of what you can do, there is the strong hand of God who can make a difference.
Do you ever wonder why we so often strive to make things happen ourselves, instead of dropping to our knees, lifting our hearts towards heaven and quietly saying, "Lord, I'm at the end of myself. I know you can make the difference, and no matter what happens, I'm going to trust you. Please God, turn this thing around."
Such is not a plea of desperation but rather the heart cry of a child of God who knows that the voice of the Father, the touch of His hand, the desire of His heart makes all the difference in the world. Thank God, He is the difference.
Philippians 3
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but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." -Psalm 73:26
A passerby stopped to see a Little League baseball team that played in a park near his home. As he sat down in the bleachers by first base, he called to one of the boys asking, "What's the score?" "We're behind 14 to nothing," he said with a grin. "You don't look very discouraged," commented the man.
"Discouraged?" the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face, adding, "Why should we be discouraged? We haven't been up to bat yet." Who won? I don't know, but I'll tell you for sure, when that boy grows up, he's the kind I would like to have working for me.
Winning in life, however, is not always a matter of gritting your teeth and trouncing your opposition. At times it is a matter of taking one more step by faith, realizing that the whole situation is beyond your control and that, if God is willing, He causes the wind to subside, the fever to dissipate, the opposition to soften, and the sun to shine.
True, God honors the determined spirit that presses on, but the reality in life is that all the determination and courage in the world aren’t enough to overcome some obstacles and situations. That's when God makes the difference. As the Psalmist put it: "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26).
Think of Daniel in the lion's den. If he thought, "Look what I got myself into; now how do I get myself out of here?" there is no record of it. He had a quiet confidence that he was in God's strong hand, no matter what happened.
Or ponder a Jewish girl by the name of Esther, whose uncle had engineered her into appealing for the lives of the Jews in Babylon. "If I perish, I perish," she cried, and pushed forward. She didn't perish but rather saved the lives of thousands.
"Righteous Gentiles" is the term that Jews give to those such as Corrie ten Boom and many more who without thought of personal safety or concern, hid Jewish men and women fleeing from the Gestapo and SS troops of Hitler's Germany. These were not heroes who took a machine gun and a dozen grenades and took on the enemy, but quietly and determinedly went about their business doing the right thing, no matter what the cost.
That phrase "but God" appears time and time in the writings of the New Testament. It speaks of His reversing a situation, turning it around, changing everything. When Paul was on his second missionary journey, a friend traveling with him fell sick, and it looked like Epaphroditus was going to die. "Indeed," says Paul, "he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow" (Philippians 2:27). Mark these words but God in your Bible.
Is there anything too hard for God to do? Not if you believe what the Bible says. At the end of what you can do, there is the strong hand of God who can make a difference.
Do you ever wonder why we so often strive to make things happen ourselves, instead of dropping to our knees, lifting our hearts towards heaven and quietly saying, "Lord, I'm at the end of myself. I know you can make the difference, and no matter what happens, I'm going to trust you. Please God, turn this thing around."
Such is not a plea of desperation but rather the heart cry of a child of God who knows that the voice of the Father, the touch of His hand, the desire of His heart makes all the difference in the world. Thank God, He is the difference.
Philippians 3
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Holy Father, I thank You and praise You for who You and what You are. I thank You Lord that You are a loving Father, who has charted my race for me before the beginnings of time. I thank You Lord, that You know the end of my race and the outcome if I will only follow You. I thank you Lord that I can choose to run that race and that You will provide the example and the strength I need to complete my race. In the precious name of Your Son, Jesus, I pray. Amen and Amen