HANDLING LIFE'S FRUSTRATIONS

    I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.-- Psalm 27:13 

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    Life certainly has its trying moments for all of us. Perhaps you've seen that whole list of sayings that go along with Murphy's Law. You know the crux of Murphy's Law is that if something can go wrong it will.

    Let me clue in one thing. I've found that whether you are a Christian or not there are times in our lives that Murphy's Law seems to rule. But, as well, there's certainly also a lot of truth to that old adage, "When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade." That may not always be the easiest thing to do, but in many, if not all cases, if we really scrutinize the situation from every angle we can conceive of, we really can often find at least a partial or temporary solution. 

    After all, people like Erma Bombeck, the late columnist, have been making a good living for years just making fun of all the besetting problems of life and our attempts at handling them. There's a lot to be said for that method of looking at life's problems for all of us. 

    You haven't completely been defeated when you can find a little humor in what's been happening to you, and thereby retain an attitude that sooner or later--hopefully sooner--that with God's help things are going to turn around. And, all's well that ends well.

    Nothing good is ever accomplished by simply sitting around griping, worrying or crying over our problems. As Jesus taught in his parable in Luke 18, "men ought always to pray, and not to faint." (Luke 18:1). Prayer can and will help, if you seek God's help in sincerity, from your heart.

    While some of today's religions that teach that all the answers to life's problems are inside of you, Christ teaches that the TRUE ANSWERS really are not within us. They are outside of us. Instead they are IN HIM.

    Jeremiah 10:23 declares, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." David, in Psalm 37:23-24, tells us more: "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand."

    James 5:16 assures us that, "The effectural fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

    We have to keep the faith we've invested long ago in God, and we have to continue to believe in ourselves and His love for us. He's promised never to leave us nor forsake us. He won't because He cannot lie. So, hang in there my friend, things will get better, and even if they don't, we'll understand it better by and by.