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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"Look For The Opportunities
In Your Losses"
November 4, 2009
Losing an election can be a crushing defeat. I was in the seventh grade
when the political bug first hit me. I had good ideas. I had a heart that cared
for people. I thought I would make a good class president. My friends
encouraged me. I gave it my best shot.
When the election results were announced I had to deal with the fact that
I had lost. I'll never forget the feeling I had. I was crushed. For the next
two weeks I tried to figure out what was wrong with me. I asked myself
why people didn't like me. I took it personally. You can't do that in politics.
It will eat you up.
I'll never forget reading a biography on President Jimmy Carter. As he
got on the plane to leave Washington, D.C. he shared that he was still in a
state of disbelief over the election results. He had given the American people
everything he had and they had rejected him. He felt like a failure.
The truth is that life is difficult. You don't have to run for office to realize
that. Just try going to work every day. Are you married? Do you have
children? Then you know the circumstances of every day life can turn
against you in a moment and leave you out in the cold. Sometimes it is your
fault. Sometimes it isn't. Stuff happens and we have to find a way to deal
with it.
I was having one of those bad days not too long ago when I received this
e-mail from a friend. It makes as great point. It said:
When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but
merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this
sentence... 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God
will not protect you.' Something good will happen to you today; something
that you have been waiting to hear.
There is an abiding truth in this statement. Sometimes we think we know
what we want and we pray for it with all our heart. We come away
disappointed when we don't receive what we ask for. So often though, we
look back and see that God had something better planned for us.
Whether it is the bitter disappointment of losing an election or a job or
the breakdown of a marriage we need to have faith that God is good and
that he always has our best interest at heart. Hold on. Have faith. Keep
praying that God's will be done and you will be blessed. Trust God. Today
is not the end of the world. It is just an opportunity to reach for something
better.
God Bless. See you in church. Cal.
In Your Losses"
November 4, 2009
Losing an election can be a crushing defeat. I was in the seventh grade
when the political bug first hit me. I had good ideas. I had a heart that cared
for people. I thought I would make a good class president. My friends
encouraged me. I gave it my best shot.
When the election results were announced I had to deal with the fact that
I had lost. I'll never forget the feeling I had. I was crushed. For the next
two weeks I tried to figure out what was wrong with me. I asked myself
why people didn't like me. I took it personally. You can't do that in politics.
It will eat you up.
I'll never forget reading a biography on President Jimmy Carter. As he
got on the plane to leave Washington, D.C. he shared that he was still in a
state of disbelief over the election results. He had given the American people
everything he had and they had rejected him. He felt like a failure.
The truth is that life is difficult. You don't have to run for office to realize
that. Just try going to work every day. Are you married? Do you have
children? Then you know the circumstances of every day life can turn
against you in a moment and leave you out in the cold. Sometimes it is your
fault. Sometimes it isn't. Stuff happens and we have to find a way to deal
with it.
I was having one of those bad days not too long ago when I received this
e-mail from a friend. It makes as great point. It said:
When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but
merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this
sentence... 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God
will not protect you.' Something good will happen to you today; something
that you have been waiting to hear.
There is an abiding truth in this statement. Sometimes we think we know
what we want and we pray for it with all our heart. We come away
disappointed when we don't receive what we ask for. So often though, we
look back and see that God had something better planned for us.
Whether it is the bitter disappointment of losing an election or a job or
the breakdown of a marriage we need to have faith that God is good and
that he always has our best interest at heart. Hold on. Have faith. Keep
praying that God's will be done and you will be blessed. Trust God. Today
is not the end of the world. It is just an opportunity to reach for something
better.
God Bless. See you in church. Cal.
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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