I have read how one church leader, whom I will call Jack, had a hobby raising pigeons. On one occasion a church member who was returning from a hunting trip stopped by Jack’s place and found him playing with one of his birds and gently corrected him for wasting his time.

Jack, noticing his friend’s hunting bow, said that the string was loose whereupon the man replied, “Yes, I always loosen the string of my bow when it’s not in use. If it stayed tight, it would lose its resilience and fail me in the hunt.”

“And I am now relaxing the bow of my mind,” said Jack, “so that I may be better able to shoot the arrows of divine truth.”

Work is important. We need to eat and we need to take care of our family, but over-busyness can be an affliction. Without sufficient rest and relaxation we will eventually lose our health and not be able to work efficiently. And without taking time to nurture and be nurtured in loving relationships, life becomes empty and meaningless.

We need to follow the advice of Jesus when he said to his disciples, “Come apart and rest a while.” Or as somebody else put it, “Come apart and rest a while before you come apart.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me not to be controlled by the pressures of life or the ‘tyranny of the urgent,’ but to maintain a balance between work, recreation, relationships, and spiritual disciplines. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Jesus, in Mark 6:31.

Craig Saunders wrote about an experience he witnessed when he attended a Special Olympics for the Handicapped where several people from his church were competing. He shared how in the 220 track race a very fast runner named Andrew was 50 yards ahead of the rest of the runners when he glanced back and saw his best friend fall. The crowd at the finishing post was yelling to Andrew, “Come on, come on, come on!”

But Andrew stopped and went back and took his friend’s hand and lifted him to his feet and they ran together to finish the race.

The entire crowd stood to their feet and applauded. As Saunders said, “It was an amazing sight because that’s what the Special Olympics are about. People don’t consider being ‘Number One.’ The most important thing is that people finish the race.”

Andrew won the Sportsman Award at those Special Olympics because he was more concerned about being “Number One” to his friend than being “Number One” to the crowd.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please grant that I will always want to please You and be there for my friends, and not allow my life or lifestyle be that of wanting the adulation of the crowd. And please help me to finish the race that You have set before me. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 6:5-6.

Charles Osgood tells the story of two ladies who lived in a convalescent center. Both ladies had suffered serious strokes. Margaret’s left side had been restricted, while Ruth’s right side was affected.

Both ladies had been accomplished pianists but had given up hope of ever playing again.

The director of the center suggested to the two ladies that they try playing the piano together. They did, and succeeded. They played excellent music and, better still, developed a beautiful friendship.

Three thousand years ago Solomon wrote, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?”²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a friend with whom I can work so that together we can serve You and develop a beautiful friendship and thus be doubly rewarded, and in so doing be a blessing to many others. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Ecclesiastes 4:9 (NIV).
2. Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 (NIV).

Some years ago a man in his sixties was offered $200,000 for his roadside motel, restaurant and service station which he had spent his life building. He turned it down because he didn’t want to retire.

Two years later when he was sixty-five, a new highway was built that bypassed his business, which subsequently went broke. Most people at his age would have thrown in the towel. Not this man. He knew how to cook chicken so he took off across the country in his battered old car to sell his recipe to other restaurants. It was tough going. I have read that his recipe was rejected by 1,000 restaurants before he found a taker. However, he stuck with his goal and within a few years he had built a restaurant chain across the country and spread it to other lands as well—a chain called Kentucky Fried Chicken. The man’s name? Colonel Sanders.

I don’t know if Colonel Sanders’ purpose was God-given or not, but having a life purpose that is God-given, as the Israelites had, won’t make life easy, but it will make life worthwhile and give you something to live for that is bigger than yourself.

And if it is a God-given purpose, with God’s help, it is possible to achieve if we have the fortitude of a Caleb and a will-to-win like Colonel Sanders. It will also make our lives very worthwhile.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to discover my God-given life purpose and, with Your help, do everything in my power to see Your purpose in and through me fulfilled. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 Corinthians 4:2 (NIV).

When the Israelites were conquering the Promised Land that God had given to them, Caleb said to Joshua, “Give me this hill country to conquer!” Caleb was eighty-five years of age at the time. (Admittedly, they lived a lot longer back then.)

If God had given the Israelites the Promised Land, how come they had to fight for it? Because God’s giving it to them made it possible for them to conquer it. Had God handed it to them on a silver platter, they never would have learned to trust him nor become responsible and mature individuals.

Caleb achieved his goal because he knew precisely what God’s purpose was for both Israel and himself, and he didn’t allow his age to hold him back.

If we, too, want to achieve something worthwhile with our life, regardless of our age, it is imperative that we, too, know what our God-given life purpose is—and act accordingly.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I’m willing and wanting to be used by You. Help me to fulfill my God-given life purpose. Please make it plain what You want me to be and do. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Joshua 14:10-12 (NIV).

According to a television documentary, the cheetah survives by outrunning its prey. It can sprint up to seventy miles per hour, but only in short bursts. While it has a very lithe body that is built for speed, it has a tiny heart which gives it no staying power. Unless it catches its prey in its first burst of energy, it has to give up the chase.

When it comes to serving God and doing his work there are many “cheetahs.” They start well with great enthusiasm and great vigor but finish poorly. As soon as the way gets rough and life tough, they tire and abandon the cause and drop out of the race. What is needed is not more speed but more staying power.

We all need bigger hearts for the greater abilities of stick-ability and dependability.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me not to be a ‘cheetah,’ but rather to have staying power to be what You want me to be and do what You want me to do. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 2 Timothy 4:10.

Have you ever felt helpless in light of the seemingly overwhelming problems we face in today’s world—either at home or abroad? The truth of the matter, however, is that one person can make a world of difference to at least one other person and, more often than not, to a host of other persons.

Some time ago a friend sent the following anonymous poem to me. I’d like to share it with you today.

One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam can light a room.
One candle can wipe out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.
One step must start each journey,
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what’s true.
One life can make the difference,
You see it’s up to YOU!

As another has said, “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of one small candle.” And as Edward Everett Hale so eloquently said, “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”Don’t ever forget how very important you are in your world and remember too, that “One person is very important to God, too.” Most of his work on earth has been started by one person. God is always looking for people who will do his work on earth. Will you be the one he is looking for today?

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I’m available. I want to say yes to You today and be one You are looking for. Please use me to be a part of Your plans in what You are doing in the world in which I live. Please show me where I can begin. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Ezekiel 22:30 (NKJV).

I love words. With words we can move people to laugh, to cry, to love us or to hate us. With words we can inspire some to noble deeds of kindness, or if we are so inclined, we can persuade others to dastardly deeds of violence and evil.

I love one-liners too. They can make powerful statements. I’ve been collecting them for years from various sources. I wish I knew who said each one; some I do, but unfortunately many I don’t. I trust the following will be as enriching to you as they have been and are to me.

“The tragedy in life,” said Albert Schweitzer, “is not that we die, but rather, what dies inside a man while he lives.”

“The unattended garden,” wrote A.W. Tozer, “will soon be overrun with weeds; the heart that fails to cultivate truth and root out error, will shortly be a theological wilderness.”

Abraham Lincoln said, “The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.”

A Chinese proverb says, “The longest journey begins with the first step.” And another, “Dig your well before you’re thirsty.” “If one stays too long in his shell, he’ll wind up nuts.”

“When you have a lot of rough edges, you’re easy to get hold of but hard to embrace.”

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

“To have a healthy sense of self-worth you don’t have to be the best. Just be your best.”

Winston Churchill wisely observed that opposition can be a healthy thing saying: “Kites rise against, not with the wind.”

“If you resent it, don’t do it; if you do it, don’t resent it.”

Ivy Baker Priest said, “The world is round, and the place which may seem like an end may also be only the beginning.”

And finally, “The way we treat people is the way we treat God.”

Suggested prayer: “Thank You God for Your words in Your Word. Like David, help me to hide Your Word in my heart so I won’t sin against You. And grant that my words will be ‘like apples of gold in settings of silver.’ Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 25:11 (RSV).

In 1832, French engineer Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps was traveling on the Mediterranean Sea. One of the other passengers (on the ship he was on) came down with a contagious disease and the ship was quarantined. Lesseps became very frustrated. To help kill time he read the memoirs of Charles le Pere who had considered the feasibility of building a canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. In 1869 the Suez Canal was completed. It was constructed following the design by and under the leadership of Lesseps.

It was during that quarantine thirty-seven years earlier that the plan for the Suez Canal was germinated and conceived by Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps. The world has reaped the benefit ever since.

Probably more often than we realize, God uses adversity to help us grow, to motivate us to find creative solutions to life’s problems, or to further his work. For example, the early Christians didn’t fulfill Christ’s commission to move out of Jerusalem with the gospel to the ends of the earth until the Church faced persecution. They were forced to move to the ends of the earth.

This principle has been true in my life too. Just about every major change in my life for the better has been the result of some kind of setback or adversity.

So, every time adversity comes into your life, may I suggest that you embrace it, and ask God what he is saying or seeking you to learn or do through it.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, when facing a setback, or enduring a loss, a disappointment, or a trial, help me to ‘hear’ what You are saying to me through this experience and how You want to use it in my life for Your glory. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Acts 1:8 (NIV)

Not all by any means, but most of the motivational books and lectures that I have read and heard pretty much measure success in terms of wealth and material gain. For example, businessmen and women who are considered successful are those who have built an effective business that has become very profitable financially. Most of these “successful” people have been totally committed to and have invested their life in achieving their goal of success.

However, many or at least some of these people after they have reached the pinnacle of success in terms of the world’s measure of success ask themselves, “Is this all there is to life?” and wonder, “What have I achieved with my life that will leave anything of lasting value after I have gone? What, if anything, have I contributed to the betterment of mankind?” In other words, “What have I done of lasting significance?”

The reality is that one can achieve success and receive many accolades and obtain wide recognition, and yet not have achieved anything of lasting significance. On the other hand, if one has invested his or her life in things of lasting value, he or she is the one who has achieved real success and whose life is truly significant—with or without any accolades, recognition, or monetary gain.

In other words I can be “outwardly successful” but not have any significance, but if I have achieved significance I will be truly successful.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to become significant by my life’s priorities, in the way I invest my life, and in the worthwhile goals I achieve—and be genuinely successful by Your standards. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Luke 12:15 (NIV).