75a Rise to the Challenge (Part 1)
Think a minute…One man jokingly said, “I have problems flown in fresh daily wherever I am!” Ever feel like you cannot get away from problems no matter where you go? We all know that problems and challenges are a part of life. Some of them we face every day at work and at home. Then there is that once-in-a-lifetime challenge we must overcome. How we respond to our challenges greatly determines how successful and satisfying our life will be. Remember: “A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.”
The world of sports can help us see the kind of character and courage we need to rise to the challenge. Years ago, the Australian Herb Elliot was a great runner until he broke his foot and could not run for months. He was then forced to only watch as Elliot’s competitor John Landy ran the mile in under four minutes.
Afterwards, Elliot told a famous running coach that he also wanted to run the mile in less than four minutes. The coach looked at Elliot and answered: “Son, do you know what it takes to run a mile in under four minutes? Are you ready to run until you almost cannot stand and you’re almost unconscious?” But young Herb Elliot rose to the challenge. Less than one year later, at age 19, he broke the world record by running a mile in only three minutes and 54 seconds!
The great female athlete Babe Didrikson won 2 gold medals in the Olympics and was also a champion in tennis, golf, horseback riding, swimming, basketball…and then cancer. At the end of her fight with this deadly disease, she called her husband to her bedside, took him by the hand and said: “Honey, I hope you will find someone to love you as much as I have loved you.” As her husband began to weep, she said: “It’s OK, dear. While I’ve been in the hospital, I have learned that a moment of true happiness is a lifetime, and I have had a lot of happiness.”
Babe Didrikson showed true character and courage rising to the challenge. To give your life to loving others and your Creator is what life is all about. Jesus will enable you to take whatever problems and pain life throws at you and use them to grow and live a life full of love, truth, peace, and purpose. From this day forward, won’t you choose to live your Maker’s way? Jesus will always be with you to guide and strengthen you to rise to every single challenge you face—big or small. Just think a minute…
75b – Rise to the Challenge (Part 2)
Think a minute…”Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” We are facing the most challenging time in human history. Our world population has exploded to nearly 8 billion people! With far more people on the planet, we are running out of clean air and clean water. We have new extreme weather patterns and problems which humankind has never before faced. We are trying to survive more killer tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, volcano eruptions, and other natural disasters than any generation in history.
We have suffered the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 that has taken multitudes of lives and livelihoods—which adds further hardship to millions now either unemployed or battling rising inflation, struggling to support and feed their families. The uncertain future of our infected world has filled countless adults and children with fear, stress, and hopelessness.
AIDS-related deaths have reached nearly 35 million people—and there is still no cure. In Africa, entire towns have only children left living in them because all the fathers and mothers are dead from AIDS.
The United Nations reports that we are now facing the worst world hunger in history. Every three seconds a child dies from hunger or lack of clean water. Add to all this our many wars and conflicts, threats and terror, violence, hate of anyone who disagrees with us, and rapidly declining freedoms. Our future is frightful.
We supposedly live in history’s most advanced and enlightened generation, with our knowledge of science and technology exploding faster than ever. It’s said that human knowledge doubles every 12 hours! Yet, mankind still cannot solve our most basic problem. It’s a humbling, embarrassing fact: “The human race has improved everything except the human race.”
All this bad news, including the fact of our dishonest and immoral human hearts everywhere, makes us fearful about our future. We wonder if there is any place in this world that is truly secure, happy and hopeful? Yes, just one: in the hands of the only One Who controls the future. As the song says: “I know Who holds the future, and I know He holds my hand.” If you put your heart and life in Jesus’s hands, you will be in the safest, most peaceful and joyful place in the world. Why risk another day? Won’t you ask Him to forgive you for your wrong heart and way of living? Then sincerely ask Him to take charge of every area of your life? If you do, you will never again need to fear anything. He is the only One Who can help you rise to every challenge you face, both in your heart and out in the world. Just think a minute…
75c – War of Words
Think a minute….In the year 1899, four American newspaper reporters were searching for a story. They each worked for a different newspaper in the city of Denver, Colorado. By chance they ended up together one Saturday evening when all four of them were desperately needing a story to publish the next morning in the Sunday edition. For them, no news was bad news when facing a deadline only hours away!
Finally, they decided just to make up a fictional story about something that happened far away in another part of the world, since it would be much harder to check for truth and accuracy. Remember, this was over 120 years ago before television, satellites, and the worldwide web.
After much discussion, they came up with the unbelievable story that the Chinese government was tearing down their Great Wall of China to show international goodwill and welcome foreign business trade from other nations. The made-up story said that some American engineers were coming to China to bid on the job of helping destroy the Great Wall. Remember, this was not a true, factual news story! Well, by 11 o’clock Saturday night these four reporters had worked out all the details for this far-out, false story to be published the next morning in each of their four different newspapers.
They never expected anybody to believe their obviously phony story that really was “fake news.” But to the reporters’ shock, people did believe it! When the news reached the Chinese that the Americans were sending engineers to tear down their Chinese national monument, naturally they were extremely offended and angry! One group of Chinese patriots even rioted and attacked embassies, killing hundreds of foreigners. In fact, this imaginary story and hoax, made up by four news reporters, worsened the international conflict and bloodshed in China known as the Boxer Rebellion.
The power of our words can be used for great good or great evil. Even what we think are just small jokes, gossip, or white lies can deeply wound, even destroy, people. Won’t you ask Jesus to forgive you, and to help you control what you say—before you start a “war of words” that hurts your family, friends, neighbors, work colleagues, classmates, or others? Just think a minute…
75d – Fathers of Orphans
Think a minute…Fathers are a vanishing breed. It’s a modern tragedy. Statistics show that millions of children are growing up like orphans because their fathers simply physically reproduce themselves and leave. They’re not man enough to stay faithful to their family and do their job as fathers: loving and teaching their children. A family expert who has studied modern life says: “The vanishing father is perhaps the number one problem of the changing family today.”
There are also fathers, however, who stay in the same house with their children, yet they still manage to make them orphans. Someone said, “The hardest job kids face today is learning to be parents without seeing any.” They may see a man living in their home, but they do not see a loving, caring father who is involved with them. They actually grow up like orphans. “Some fathers bring their children up, while other fathers let them down.” These are fathers who support their children with food, clothing, and an education—nothing more than what an orphanage provides.
Remember: “Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.” How much time together with your son or daughter have you put into their memory bank? How many memories do they have of you listening, talking, and having fun with them? If a man refuses to fulfill his responsibilities as a father, he cannot expect his wife to be a real mother either. Without the leadership and help of her husband, the mother will eventually become discouraged. The tragic result is kids who are left to find their own way growing up without the security, love, and teaching that their parents are responsible to give them.
Dad, won’t you ask Jesus to forgive you for not fully “being there” with your children? Christ will help you start changing to become the kind of man and father your children need. Then, they will never again have a reason to feel like an orphan. Just think a minute…
75e – Learn the Easy Way
Think a minute…Some time ago a small town in California needed a new water system. Someone suggested that they ask the city of Los Angeles for advice since the large city of L.A. was more experienced. He said, “If we can profit from another city’s mistakes, I think we should do so.” But another town member jumped to his feet and with great pride in his little town exclaimed: “Why should we have to profit from the mistakes of Los Angeles! I say our town is big enough to make its own mistakes!” He preferred to “learn the hard way.”
We can learn from good advice that is around us all the time. There are many good books full of wisdom for living. We learn in school the knowledge that mankind has worked for thousands of years to gain. Not to mention our own wise parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, older brothers and sisters, friends, and business people. An African proverb says: “When an old person dies, a library of wisdom burns down.”
But all the advice in the world is not worth anything unless it is actually used. Someone said: “Everyone receives advice, but only the wise follow it.” If we are too proud and stubborn to learn from others, then we will never learn how to live better, happier lives. No one can live long enough to make all the mistakes in life there are to make. There is no reason to keep repeating the same mistakes millions of others have already made and paid for.
It all starts with correcting the biggest mistake we all have made: our choice not to live the way our Maker designed us to live correctly and happily. We must be willing to live His way, since it’s the only way we can find the true life of lasting peace, purpose, and love He created us to enjoy. Today, why not start learning the easy way? Ask Jesus to forgive you for your past wrongs from living your own way. Then ask Him to take charge of your life so you can start learning to live His right, satisfying way He shows us in His Message, the Bible. Just think a minute…