Facing Adversity Over and Over
What do you do when you can’t face the same thing again? Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put his boots on? He asked for help and she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn’t want to go on. When the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy said, “Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.” She looked and, sure enough, they were on the wrong feet. It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on-this time on the right feet. He then announced, “These aren’t my boots.” She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, “Why didn’t you say so?” like she wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, “They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear them.” She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. She said, “Now, where are your mittens?” He said, “I stuffed them in the toes of my boots …” As I read that, I thought about how many of our frustrations come about as the result of having to do something over and over. Let me give you an example. A number of years ago, I was having some back trouble and the doctor told me I needed surgery. I counted down the days until I could find some relief. The surgery went well (in fact, I went home less than 12 hours after surgery), but the recuperation didn’t go as planned. Instead of getting relief, I found myself back under the doctor’s knife six weeks later. I remember that the greatest source of frustration wasn’t the surgery itself. It was the fact that I thought I was getting better, but then I had to go back and start all over again. Just when I thought I was making progress, I encountered a setback. I was able to easily muster the emotional strength to face the first surgery, but it was much tougher the second time. I’ve seen the same thing happen in a number of different areas. I suspect you have, too. Maybe you were hoping to get bills cleared up, only to be hit with an unexpected dentist bill or car repair. Maybe it’s harsh criticism you’re dealing with, a situation at work that’s making it difficult to maintain your Christian standards, or perhaps the struggles of dealing with a rebellious child. You think, “I can handle the difficulty I’m going through as long as I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.” Only just when you’re about at the end of the tunnel and you’ve taken about all you can take, you then realize that there’s more adversity ahead and the light is barely visible. I understand; I’ve been there. The Christian life is long and sometimes difficult. There are times when we feel we just can’t take it anymore and we want to give up, especially when we’ve had to face the same adversity over and over and over again. May this passage serve as a source of comfort and strength to you: He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:29-31) I pray that your strength will be renewed this day as you wait upon the Lord. Hang in there … it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming! About the author: Alan Smith ministers with the Church of Christ in White House, Tennessee and publishes the email devotional “Thought for the Day.”
Today’s Verse – Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. —Romans 15:13 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Hope, joy, and peace sound terrific. The problem for us as mere mortals is that we live on a flawed planet with flawed people and with tendencies to go to war with each other. How are we going to find hope, joy, and peace? We for sure won’t find them in the sloganeering, the sappy marketing version of hope, joy, and peace we hear from people with simplistic solutions that don’t work in the real world. We need answers from someone who has lived with the grit of the real world, experienced the highs and lows that mortality brings, and yet still managed to live with hope, joy, and peace. That someone is Jesus, who loved deeply, gathered people to himself openly, blessed powerfully, and could calm raging seas or endure the worst kind of torture with grace and forgiveness! Two moves are vital for us to find this kind of hope, joy, and peace: First, we must trust our Father in heaven to meet us in our mortal struggles and get us where we need to be when we need to be there – like Jesus, who lived on his Father’s time (Galatians 4:4-6; James 4:13-17; John 2:4, 7:6-8, 12:20-26). Second, we must expect the power of the Holy Spirit to bless, guide, and empower us to be like Jesus, who lived with hope, joy, and peace (2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23). As we draw near to Jesus, the Holy Spirit will lead, guide, and fill us to overflowing with the hope, joy, and peace of God! My Prayer… Great and Mighty God, please bless me with hope, joy, and peace from the Holy Spirit as I follow Jesus as my Savior and LORD. As I follow Jesus, please bless me with greater trust that you are nearby and with me, helping me overcome life’s trials and embrace life’s blessings. Dear Father, bless and empower me to be the person you want me to be. Fill me with your Spirit so I may live my life more like Jesus. In the name of the Savior, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
18 Mar 2026
What causes us to be afraid? What makes us have no peace and lose sleep? What makes us so scared that we fall sick? Bring it to the Lord in prayer. Believe that He can deal with it. Trust that He can enable you to have peace even when your existence is threatened. Isaiah 41:10-20.
igbok
So what are you going to hang on to during the Nope. You won’t find it in your dictionary. It’s less a word than an acronym. On the order of NATO or IRA or FAQ, the letters pronounced as a word are actually the initial letters of more familiar words. You pronounce this one to rhyme with pig-lock or big-block. Now you’ve got it: ig’-bok. And it means … Okay. We’ll get to the meaning directly. It’s not my word. David Arms and Lloyd Shadrach came up with it as shorthand for something in short supply these days. With so much bad news coming from so many quarters, they were thinking in terms of something that could counteract pessimism, something as an alternative to despair. What they came up with was igbok. And igbok means … But I’m getting ahead of myself. Do you know much about the biblical idea of hope? Unlike our modern-day use of the term, hope isn’t “wishing with little prospect of fulfillment” or “desire in the face of unlikelihood; wishful thinking.” In the Bible, hope is a secure and confident expectation. It is trusting God to keep his word. There are many things in life that God has not promised. Contrary to the false opinion of some, he has never promised smooth sailing for believers. He has never promised immunity to illness, freedom from stress, or exemption from financial reversals. Remember Job? Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”? All the martyrs? Faith doesn’t guarantee an easy life. Sometimes, in fact, it is one’s faith that brings persecution. Why just think of it: If being a Christian meant bad things could never happen to you, it would be the cheapest insurance you could get! So what does the Christian faith offer? It guarantees that no physical harm can diminish your spiritual value or security. It promises a secured future in the face of today’s harsh realities. It tells every pilgrim on her way to the Promised Land that none of the obstacles along the way can deny her an ultimate reward. In the meanwhile, how do we see ourselves and our situations? If we have plenty, we will be grateful and share it; if we have nothing, we will not envy what others have and know how good it will be to be home at last. If I recover from heart disease or cancer, I am grateful to God; if I succumb to illness, I am with God sooner. If my business thrives, I bless kingdom work with the profit; if it goes broke, I never tied either my identity or God’s love to a balance sheet. In effect, the promise of God to his people is that – come what may – he will be with them. He will not let the things they value most be lost to them. He will rescue them from evil – even if that rescue can come only, as it did with his Beloved Son, through his power to raise the dead! In the meanwhile, know that it’s gonna be o.k. Or, for shorthand, igbok. And to see how Lloyd and David have developed the igbok theme, go to igbok.com. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1 NLT). For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6 NLT). About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades and served as a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities. He was a former president of Rochester College and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lipscomb University. He was the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles. His commitment to a non-sectarian presentation of the gospel touched countless lives.
Kooks
Who really wants these folks in church? Jesus, of course! While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:5-17 NIV) As Susan and I made our way toward seats in the vast auditorium of the mega-church hosting the conference we recently attended, I took in the scene around me. Contemporary Christian music boomed from a state of the art sound system as classy, creative videos flashed on huge screens. Most of the five thousand seats were already filled with leaders from churches across the country. Settling into our comfortable balcony seats (think stadium seating), I marveled at the technology, architecture and significant slice of evangelical leadership on display in this vast room. The lights dimmed to signal the beginning of the next keynote session, introduced by a seamless transition to a pounding set of praise songs led by a bevy of talented musicians. This was not my grandmother’s church. Stepping onto the stage as the praise set concluded, the keynote speaker … the senior pastor of a mammoth mega-church … moved into two circles of bright light created by follow spotlights, his image projected on screens flanking the stage. Flashing a smile backed by a set of brilliant white teeth (they almost appeared to be glowing on the huge screens), the speaker opened with a few humorous comments about his family. I joined the crowd in chuckling about the antics of the speaker’s wife and children, while noticing that the man seated in front of us was busily typing every word being uttered into his lap top. Segueing masterfully to his message, the keynoter indicated that he intended to share wisdom drawn from many years of successful ministry. I sensed the mass of assembled church-going humanity leaning forward in anticipation of the words about to be spoken. The fellow with the lap top typed frenetically. And this is what was spoken: “If we could just find a way to get rid of the kooks in the church, things would be a lot better.” This was the promised wisdom drawn from years of ministry experience. I couldn’t believe my ears! He had to be joking, but this was no joke … he was serious! Turning to Susan, I mouthed, “Did we just hear what I think we heard?” She nodded … lap top guy just kept typing. Improve your church by getting rid of the kooks! I could tell by the way Susan looked at me that she knew I’d be one of the first to go. Suddenly, I felt very out of place at this conference. The keynote speaker continued to share wisdom drawn from his years of experience … but reverberating in my ears was, “Get rid of the kooks!” Who decides who the kooks are? Have some of us who call ourselves Christ-followers become so desirous of sanitized, polished, efficient church that we want to boot out the people that Jesus loves the most?! My brain was pounding … we’re all kooks. The church family that I’m part of and love deeply is full of kooks. Jesus called as his first disciples a ragged assemblage of kooks. Jesus hung out with kooks. He sought out kooks. Jesus died for kooks. The keynoter was still going strong (and lap top guy was still typing) as Susan and I slipped out of the auditorium. We walked without speaking to our car. As I slid behind the wheel, I turned to Susan and said, “I should have stood up in there and said, ‘We’ll take all of your kooks at my church!’” Gripping the steering wheel, I felt anger and frustration wash over me … and then God gave me something to laugh about: that senior pastor who wanted to get rid of the kooks was a kook! He just didn’t see it. As Susan and I drove out of the parking lot of that mega-church, I thanked our good and gracious God for the mercy He shows to all of us kooks. And I prayed, “Lord, bring us more kooks.” About the author: Vann served for years as a youth minister with a special focus on mentoring new ministers. He is now the Connecting Minister for Southern Hills Church in Abilene. He loves to reach out to people that many folks neglect or forget and is a whiz at organizing and equipping others for ministry.
Everyone Loves a Lover
Why are some people just more loved than others? Dentists get such a bad rap! And the jokes about them are terrible. Patient: How much to have this tooth pulled, Doc?Dentist: $120.Patient: That much for just a few minutes’ work?Dentist: I can extract it very slowly, if you’d like. Dr. Mac has heard them all. He would let his patients make him the butt of them – especially if it helped them relax a bit. Patient: How much to extract wisdom teeth?Dentist: $500.Patient: That’s ridiculous! Isn’t there something cheaper?Dentist: I can cut the price in half, if we don’t use anesthetic.Patient: Nope. That’s still way too much.Dentist: OK. If I just rip them out with pliers, the price is $50.Patient: That’s more like it. Book my husband for next Monday. Dr. Mac had this big, infectious smile that didn’t depend on corny jokes. If his cosmetic work to put pretty smiles on others’ faces got rave reviews, the authentic warmth that can light up a room comes from a deeper place. Dr. Mac had such a place – deep in his heart, but always accessible. One of those dentist jokes is believable about him. Dr. Mac: Would you give me a few of your loudest, most blood-curdling screams?Patient: But this hasn’t been all that bad!Dr. Mac: I know. But there are still folks in the waiting room, and I want to go by this afternoon’s Titans (or Predators) practice. The avid sports fan in Dr. Mac found immense satisfaction in being team dentist for both of Nashville’s professional sports franchises. And this ecumenical graduate of the University of Tennessee School of Dentistry was so devoted to Vanderbilt athletics that he received the National Commodore Club Award several years back. But there are lots of athletes who will tell you that Dr. Mac wasn’t so much their dentist as their friend. Ah, that was his real specialty: friendship. He loved life. He cared about people. I think it was Joseph Addison who said something like: “Friendship enlarges happiness and reduces misery – by doubling every joy and dividing every grief.” The wife he loved, the children in whom he took so much pride, the many of us who called him our friend – we have been blessed by him. His peers chose Dr. James W. McPherson to be listed among the Best Dentists in America 2004-2005. Many more would put him in the book of Best Friends in My Life – Ever. It just goes to show that everyone loves a lover. And it reminds the rest of us to pay more attention to what matters most – people. The sweet smell of incense can make you feel good, but true friendship is better still. (Proverbs 27:10 CEV) About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades and served as a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities. He was a former president of Rochester College and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lipscomb University. He was the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles. His commitment to a non-sectarian presentation of the gospel touched countless lives.
Today’s Verse – Psalm 23:1-3
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. —Psalm 23:1-3 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… “He restores my soul.” My, that sounds so good, doesn’t it? But David’s shepherd psalm (Psalm 23:1-6) and Jesus’ promises as our Good Shepherd (John 10:14-15) are far more than sweet religious talk. When we’ve reached that point where we don’t think we can continue, our Shepherd blesses us with the strength so that we can keep on walking. When we’re in a struggle and things are tough, his power upholds us, so we run and not grow weary. When we’re winning victories in his name, we can soar on wings like eagles because he supports and sustains (Isaiah 40:28-31). God the Son is our good Shepherd who loves us, sustains us, nourishes us, stills us, and restores us. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. My Prayer… O Gentle yet mighty Shepherd, please bless me with rest tonight, strength today and for tomorrow, perseverance for my times of trial, and confidence that you are nearby with grace and power to sustain me. In the name of Jesus, my Good Shepherd, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
17 Mar 2026
What motivates us? Is it something God would be proud of? Do we trust Him to guide every step we take? Are we confident that He knows what is best for us? Philippians 2:1-11.
Does God Play Bingo?
What is your letter? Preparation Indulge me a moment. Think of life like a Bingo game. You come into the game with one card and it’s yours for life. As time goes by, God calls out numbers. Sometimes HE calls a friend or a member of your family, but at times, when you least expect it, HE calls your number. Most of us travel through life, thinking we are in charge. We play the game till our numbers line up and point us to victory. We try to move heaven and earth to find a way that makes sense. The goal, after all, is to make the pieces fit, to line up the numbers, to win. If we spend all of our lives thinking that is the goal, then we have missed the point all together. The goal is to hear God call our number and to watch God move heaven and earth to get exactly what HE wants. God calls our number when HE is ready, not when we think it’s time or past time. To us it makes sense to line up all the numbers; to God it makes sense to move his people into position for this life and the next. I have friends who never quite understood why God called their numbers. Life seemed to never be complete. Understanding eluded them till they moved off the card into the next world. Now it all makes sense. We get distracted by trying to figure out the clues; we want to understand how God connects the dots. We want life to make sense, to have meaning and purpose. It does, but sometimes it’s a mystery. So enjoy! When God calls your number, step out and claim the moment. Take the challenge. Listen for HIS voice. HE knows how it all fits and when it makes sense. B4! Is that you? Inspiration Rich was very comfortable doing exactly what he had been doing, but these crazy people kept hounding him. They want him on their shortlist for the next CEO of World Vision. “Were they out of their minds?” he thought. At the close of a conversation with a member of the search committee, Rich was asked, “If you are selected for this job, you will have to travel to some of the worst places in the world. You will be exposed to heartbreaking things: children living in garbage dumps, women who have lost their children to disease, people on their deathbeds with AIDS. Are you comfortable with that?” “Comfortable?” Rich gasped. “I am so uncomfortable with that, I can’t even express it! I am terrified! I am not the guy you want at your bedside in the midst of your suffering.” For days Rich pushed this pending venture as far away as he could. Then came that bewildering morning call, “Rich, this is Bob. I’ve gathered the six members of the search committee together and asked them to write their first choice on a slip of paper, fold it, and pass it to me. Your name was on each one. You’ve got the job!” “What? But I don’t want the job. I can’t do this job. This can’t be right.” After he calmed down a bit, Rich told Bob, “Well, you better keep the second guy on the hook.” Then, just before Rich and his wife were to fly to Seattle to do a little first-hand World Vision investigation, Keith, well-healed entrepreneur, surprised Rich with a job offer that would mean millions of dollars in options. Rich was interested, but he had to tell Keith of his dilemma without revealing the World Vision name. “We have to go check out this charitable organization. I have to finish the process, regardless. Then, I’ll give you an answer.” Keith was amazed that Rich was even considering leaving his career, but out of the blue he began … “Decades ago,” he stated, “my wife and I adopted a little girl from India. Then at age ten she died. The loss tore us apart. Months later I was going through the mail and saw an appeal from a group called World Vision. I responded and they connected me with a new “daughter.” For years we wrote. If that’s the kind of thing you are leaving business to do, well, that I can understand.” “World Vision IS the group, Keith. They want me to be their US President.” God was calling Rich’s number. B1 Read about Rich and World Vision in “The Hole in Our Gospel,” by Richard Stearns. Motivation Looking back on your life, when has God called your name, surprised you with something unexpected and out-of-the-box? Have you thanked HIM? Are you still listening? The call usually comes when you are comfortable or have your eye focused somewhere else. Don’t try to fit all of life together. Take it one number at a time. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. A third time the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if
Anything Goes – Except Faith
You can believe in anything, except God? A pervasive and dominant spirit of contemporary culture is its ability to tolerate practically everything that was once deemed intolerable. It is a mood. A climate. An all-encompassing frame of mind. In textbooks, this theory of human action is labeled “relativism.” It holds that the rightness or wrongness of behaviors is relative to each person’s individual opinion or to the social custom of her time and place. Stated negatively, it holds that moral truth is not the same for all people. Everything is up for grabs. Relativism became palatable and eventually gained the upper hand because of its polar opposite – dogmatism. There have always been individuals or groups that are willing to dictate beliefs and behaviors to others. These dictators, tyrants, and authoritarian parties claim to know what is true and yield to no request for proof. It is true because they say so! Questioning is simply not allowed. But a strange thing happened on the road to non-judgmentalism and tolerance. All points of view came to be tolerated except the one which holds that truth and falsehood are real categories, that some acts are good and others bad. Faith may have suffered the most in this great cultural shift. About the only thing that will not be tolerated in today’s super-tolerant world is a Christian claim to truth or the public presentation of one of its moral claims. So “God exists” is allowed as a private belief; it just can’t be offered as a public truth. “Lying is evil” or “fornication is wrong” may be held as a private standard; it mustn’t be stated as a norm by which character is examined. Ironically, there can be no genuine tolerance unless one is committed to a strong view of truth and morality. You don’t “tolerate” people with whom you already see eye to eye. You can only “tolerate” those with whom you disagree. Authentic tolerance means treating someone with fairness and respect – even though you disagree. It means extending to others the right to disagree with your beliefs. More than that, it means trying to see the other’s point of view and granting anything of value it captures. It means being willing to offer support for your views, not simply asserting something and expecting others to accept it on your word; it means listening to other points of view with fairness. Respectful discussion produces understanding. It even leads to changed points of view. So don’t apologize for having an opinion or a strong belief about something. Don’t be intimidated when someone calls you an old stick-in-the-mud (or worse) because of your attitude toward promiscuity or cheating on taxes. Jesus never said it was wrong to make ethical judgments, only that we should not judge carelessly. Don’t be so open-minded that you let all your common sense fall out. “Stop judging by mere appearances,” Jesus said, “but instead judge correctly” (John 7:24 NRSV). And he was not being a bigot when he said it. About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades and served as a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities. He was a former president of Rochester College and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lipscomb University. He was the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles. His commitment to a non-sectarian presentation of the gospel touched countless lives.