Riding Out Life's Difficulties

"He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed." - Psalm 107:29 NIV

If you're past the age of 10, you've probably already figured out that life is not free of challenges. Difficulties, pain in relationships, and even tragedies are part of every day life. As a matter of fact, Jesus told His disciples, "Take courage. There are many storms in this life. (Here's the good part...my emphasis added). But take heart, I have overcome the world." Wow. Now, that's a scripture to hang your hat on!

Whenever you face a storm, your first urge may be to scream, "Why?" Certain storms do come into our lives because of our own sin, but many challenges occur when we're right in the middle of God's will. We're not doing anything wrong. We're doing what God wants us to do. Certainly, that was the case for the disciples. Jesus told them to get into the boat and row across the Sea of Galilee. They were obeying Jesus when they suddenly found themselves in a horrific storm. It was so bad, they didn't even know if they'd survive. But here is the important message from that event - they did survive. With the help of Jesus, they survived.

Overcoming Obstacles

"In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil" — Job 1:1

Israel’s Moran Samuel made her country proud when she won the gold medal at the international rowing competition in Italy earlier this spring. She made us even prouder when she sang Israel’s national anthem, the Hatikva, on her own.

Apparently, the Italians did not have a copy of the right recording. When Moran realized that there would be no anthem played as she received her award, she asked for the microphone and simply began singing it herself, completely cool and collected.

When Moran was interviewed by the news shortly afterwards, she had this to say: “If you look at an obstacle as an obstacle, there’s a good chance it will knock you down. If you look at an obstacle as a challenge, then you’ll do the maximum to overcome it. There can be small challenges, like the anthem and me taking the mic and singing, and there can be bigger challenges.” She should know. She’s been paralyzed from the chest down since she was 24.