The familiar pungent aroma of mimeograph ink filled the room as I took possession of two hundred copies of our publication. It was my junior year in high school and I was the new editor of our class newsletter. The previous editor created a popular newsletter he dubbed the “Sophomore Sentinel.” In an attempt to place my own stamp on this newsletter, I renamed it “The Eighty Informer” since we were the graduating class of 1980.
In spite of this promising beginning, complaints soon arose from my classmates. The articles were boring and not relevant. The format was uninspired. Even my best friend told me it was a failure. Desirous to help me, he wrote out a short message and instructed me to insert it into the next edition. It was an apology to my classmates asking for suggestions and understanding. It only succeeded in fanning more hostility from most of my classmates who refused to read later issues. Discarded newsletters were a common sight around the campus.
All this drama over a high school class newsletter! Over forty years later, it seems trivial but at that time, it was a source of great emotional distress. It was one of many episodes that inflicted havoc in my life at such a young age. With the hindsight of time, those memories have faded, displaced by more serious life experiences. The long painful death of my mother from cancer; the sudden unexpected death of my father from a heart attack; the neurosurgery that my daughter underwent in high school-all of these and more occupy a much higher priority in my memory. I am sure there will be more painful experiences. How will I deal with these future setbacks?
So don’t worry about these things, saying, “What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?” These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Matthew 6:31-34 (NLT)
Today’s trouble is enough for today. Truth, indeed. When I was in high school, it always seemed as if the troubles of each day were out of control, inevitably collapsing upon me. I could not comprehend that better times were ahead or that the issues that confronted me were not that serious. After I confessed and repented of my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, my outlook on life changed. I was no longer held captive by each painful episode. My outlook was not focused upon my plight but embracing the glorious reality of walking with God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. By abiding in Jesus Christ, God replaced the pain of my sorrows with the joy of His fellowship. Even as more painful experiences were encountered, I learned that it is yet another avenue for God to show me that He knows all of my needs and exceedingly abundantly supplies them.
Praise God!
Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.
The Bereans Blog 