Encouragement Archives | Courage For Today

Lift Your Burdens

I was watching an old Western movie the other day, which tells you that my day was not very exciting. The story involved a family of cowboys making the long trek over the mountains to get to their new homestead. As was often the case in those days, the family made the decision to leave their current home and travel to unknown places in search for a better life. I am not sure I would have the courage to make that leap of faith but it was always admirable to watch others make those journeys.

If you think about it, the journey was pretty remarkable. Just traveling by horseback for that many miles would be tough enough. The danger of climbing rocks and cliffs along with the possibilities of running into predators such as bears and cougars. Not to mention, the constant search for food and water along the way. Not fun by any stretch of the imagination.

One thing that caught my eye as I was watching this movie was that everything this family owned was basically packed on the backs of pack mules meandering down and around those winding trails. The mules carried those tremendous weights and burdens of the family’s belongings through the entire journey. Finally, at the end of each day, the packages and boxes were lifted off the backs of the mules so that they could rest for the night. It had not really hit me before watching this movie that the burdens of those mules could only be lifted by someone else.

What a wonderful analogy of our own life’s burdens and our relationship with Christ. How many times do we go through life carrying weight after weight and burden after burden. Unfortunately, we carry those burdens until we seemingly collapse and never realize that it is Christ who can remove those burdens from our life.

The next time you are feeling overwhelmed and over-burdened, just ask yourself: Are you carrying too much of a burden yourself? Try letting Christ lighten your load and your path will be much easier.

Overcoming Challenges in Your Life

Encouragement, Life's Priorities

There are thousands and thousands of books and resources about success and failure and how “to get ahead” in life. There is certainly no magic formula to succeeding and your path to success will be different than mine. Certainly, we all have different talents and abilities–and we need to develop those gifts and talents—but no amount of talent or ability will make you a success if that’s all you focus on. Over the years, it’s occurred to me that there are six common obstacles to success. So, I thought I would take a different approach and list some things I’ve learned that, if practiced, will do nothing to help you succeed. Avoid these pitfalls and you’ll see your chances of success improve greatly.

Having an Unteachable Spirit: As someone who has hired, trained, and fired employees for years, there is nothing that dooms someone more quickly then being unteachable. By unteachable, I mean the unwillingness to learn. It always amazes me of the number of people that believe they have “arrived” and have nothing to learn. When approaching a new job or new venture, you should always take the humble approach that you don’t know everything and you can always learn from those around you.
Having Unforgiven Offenses: Forgiveness is one of the most difficult things we suffer with as Christians, as people. When someone offends us or does something to harm us, our natural tendency is to fight back and seek revenge. We offer many articles in our blog about forgiveness and can help you in this area, but suffice it to say that our refusal to forgive others only hurts us in the long run and hardens our heart. You can’t be a successful leader in life with a hardened heart.
Having Un-Wise Associations: It has been said by many famous speakers, such as Zig Ziegler and others, that you are a product of the people around you and the books you read. I totally agree. In fact, it’s often said that your behavior is a reflection of the 5 people you spend the most time with. I couldn’t agree more. If you can’t seem to break through your clutter or get to the next level, check your associations. Who are you spending time with? Do you need to change your network of friends and associates?
Having a Negative Tongue: You’ve heard the old cliche that misery loves company. Leaders and successful people take steps to make themselves stand out from others. When others look at you, others should see someone different. They should see someone that they want to be like. What they shouldn’t see (or hear) is someone that constantly tears down others. If you are constantly saying something negative about others, I would encourage you to check your own self-confidence and self-image. There are only two ways to make yourself stand above others: you can work hard and do the right things to make yourself stand out, or you can knock others down. Make sure you’re not doing the latter.
Having Inconsistency in Your Actions: Speaking as a Christian, there’s nothing that sickens me more then seeing what we call “Sunday Christians.” We’ve all seen them–those that are in church and profess to be Christians on Sunday, but live otherwise during the week. As Christians, we have to be consistent in our actions. Our behaviors should be the same on Tuesday, as they are on Sunday. As leaders, we can’t treat people one way on Monday and a different way on Friday. Certainly, we are all human and make mistakes; however, when others look at you, they should see he same person on Monday as they see on Saturday.
Having an Uncommitted Heart: Committing to anything is often the fuel that sustains you during the tough times. Our journey will always be filled with pitfalls and setbacks. Without commitment, you’ll give up and turn back. Without commitment, you’ll be influenced by anything or anyone in your path that seeks to prevent your success. Remember, not everyone will want you to succeed. Committing to your goal will enable you to move past the nay-sayers.

I can promise you, from my own experiences, if you improve your life in these six areas, you’ll go a long way toward being a Godly success.

Refine Me Like Silver

Encouragement, Life's Priorities

I don’t know about you but it seems like the past several months have just been extremely trying for several people I know. I’ve seen my share of health issues and job concerns. I’ve listened to concerns about finances and relationships. All I could do in each situation is remind my friends of the goodness of God’s love and grace and encourage them to keep going on.

I suppose I have a unique perspective because I’ve certainly had my share of difficulties at various times in my life. God taught me so much through my various trials and its those hard learned lessons that I can now share with my friends and loved ones and, perhaps, give them some hope during their trials. It also helps to keep me grounded and reminds me that, as Christians, none of us are immune from trials. It’s not a matter of if, but when.

When I am at the end of my rope and don’t know what else to do, it helps to remember these things:

Recognize Gods refinement in our lives: Just like refining gold or silver, God continually molds and develops us into his image. Sometimes the refining is painful and hurtful, but it always ends in a beautiful, shiny creation. We have to trust the Lord during the refining process.
Look for righteousness more than solutions: I am preaching to the choir with this point. I know that I always tend to search constantly for a solution and worry myself beyond measure. Sometimes, I just need to stop. I need to take a breather from searching “how” and realize that God already has the solution. It’s just that HIS timing isn’t always in sync with my timing.
Remember it is not permanent: While trials are inevitable, they’re only temporary. It may seem like your trial is lasting forever and that you can’t take any more, but it will end.
Recommit to full surrender: Sometimes, what we are experiencing is a conflict between what God is directing us to do and what we stubbornly refuse to do. It often helps to surrender our full life and will to God and allow him to fully direct our paths, not fight HIM the entire way.

As difficult as it is, always remember that you are one of God’s Jewels and that God’s refining produces gems with immeasurable beauty.

For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined. Psalms 66: 10 (NIV)

You Can Face Your Fears

Encouragement, God's Strength

Have you ever felt outnumbered, overwhelmed, out of your element, or just flat out afraid? Sometimes as Christians, we are attacked on multiple levels – at home, on our jobs, in our relationships, in our finances, in our bodies as well as in our minds. While handling one of these situations is challenging enough, sometimes the attacks come all at one time. Our response to life’s unpredictable moments often varies. Some of us cry, while others fight, isolate, hide or hope the situation goes away or fixes itself. Yet, we, who are Christians, should have a different response to fear. Why? We are reminded that when we are attacked, we are not alone on this Christian journey. God is with us, and commanded, “Do not be afraid.” So remind your fear that GOD IS BIGGER!

We would all admit that at times we have allowed our fears to overshadow our faith. Always remember that you will never be given more than you can bear. When we are afraid, when we can’t sleep at night, and when we find ourselves pacing the floor trying to figure things out – take a step back, a deep breath, and look up to God. Embrace His mercy and grace and remind yourself that God’s ever-lasting strength will give you final victory.

“When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.” Deuteronomy 20:1 (NIV)

Faith of an Accidental Tourist

Encouragement, God's Strength

I was just thinking the other day how wonderful God has been in my life. That’s not to say life has always been easy, but I can honestly say that God has never failed and, quite often, amazed me at different times in our lives. I know that sounds like an over-used cliche, but I can only write about what has been real in my life and convey to you my total confidence that God will do the same for you. I was specifically remembering an incident in my life that happened approximately 15 years ago when I was visiting my daughter living in Taiwan, at the time. It’s a story that I will never forget and will always remind me of how God protects me.

On this particular day, we had decided to rent a car in Taiwan (which is another story in and of itself) and drive approximately 2 hours south to the tip of the island to a beautiful seaside beach resort. As we expected, we arrived at the beach, had a wonderful time, and enjoyed the beautiful sand and water. I could have stayed there for weeks—-it was that beautiful—-but it was time to head back to our home city.

As we started back driving down the interstate, I noticed that the car began to skip slightly. I didn’t worry too much because we were only about an hour away from home. Since it was a rental car, I intended to make it back to the rental office with no problem. Unfortunately, after a few more miles, the car simply died on the interstate. Luckily, I managed to steer it to the side of the interstate out of harm’s way—or so I thought.

Just to give you a picture, all 6 of us (myself, my wife, my son,my daughter and son-in-law and their one month old infant) were stranded an hour from home, on the interstate, in the middle of Taiwan. We didn’t know anyone. We didn’t know what to do. My son-in-law had his cell phone with him and decided to call a friend to come rescue us. The call connected and the cell phone battery died. No power. Now what?

After some talking among ourselves, we decided that my son and my son-in-law would walk to the nearest exit and call for help from there. The rest of us would wait in the car until they returned. A few moments after the two of them were out of sight, a Taiwanese tow truck screeched up behind us. Out marches the tow truck operator speaking Taiwanese and motioning wildly. I couldn’t understand a word he said. Fortunately, my daughter understood enough to figure out that, in Taiwan, it was against the law to stay parked on the side of the road. He was required by law to tow us to the next exit. We panicked. If he towed us, how were our son and son-in -law ever going to find us? They couldn’t call us? It was no use arguing. The tow truck operator hooked up the car; told us to stay in the car and off we went. I was panicking; my wife was irate; my daughter was crying; the baby was screaming. And, we were getting towed by at Taiwanese tow truck to who knew where.

Somehow, upon our arrival at the exit, my daughter was able to get the tow truck driver to finally understand our predicament. But he didn’t seem all that interested in helping us. Suddenly, without warning, the cell phone that we thought was dead, rang. We answered and it was our son-in-law looking for us. He and my son had ridden back with another tow truck operator to our original spot on the interstate and, of course, we weren’t there. We had no idea how to even tell him where to come find us. He asked his tow truck operator to speak to our tow truck operator. As it turned out, they were best friends and knew exactly where each other had driven. They talked, got their directions together, and immediately the phone battery died again.

Once we were reunited, our tow truck operator agreed to tow our car to the nearest repair facility. We were told and later verified that, in Taiwan, rental repairs are the responsibility of the person renting!!! Now what do we do? We were being towed to a repair facility to pay for repairs that would cost who knew what!!

We got to the repair facility and were told that the problem was the alternator. This was a Sunday night by the way and the repair facility was still open for business. The price he quoted was $85.68 American dollars. We had no access to an ATM or a way to get funds. I opened my wallet and got all the money I had. My wife pulled all of the cash she had from her purse. My son-in-law and my daughter did the same thing. My son placed his cash in the pool. Once we had every penny we could muster, we added up our funds and the total we had was——you guessed it——exactly $85.68.

After a couple of hours waiting for the repair, it was off we went for the rest of the journey home. What started out with the potential for disaster ended up with a mighty display of God’s perfect power and protection.

Think about it: we had a cell phone work at a critical moment when we thought it was dead; we had two tow truck operators in all of Taiwan that actually knew each other and were friends; we had a repair facility that was open late Sunday night; and we had exactly the right amount of cash we needed.

I don’t believe it was coincidence. I believe it was God’s protection and grace proving, once again, that we have nothing to worry about as long as our trust is in HIM.

To Whom or to What are you placing your faith?

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NIV)

Buffet of Foods at Your Table

Encouragement, God's Grace

Those that know me or hang around me for very long figure out very quickly that I am a picky eater. I am not sure why I am that way, but it’s just the way I’ve always been. Sometimes it is the textures of foods I don’t care for. Many times its the very taste of items that I don’t like. There are many foods I will not eat because of the way they are processed or grown. My pickiness covers all food groups from vegetables to meats to desserts. I have to admit it drives my wife crazy because she is just the opposite and will eat almost anything.

Of course, I realize that what I eat is ultimately my choice. Whether I eat healthy food or eat junk food; whether I remain picky or broaden my food horizons, the foods at my table are there by my choice. While others may present foods to me or even insist that I eat them, my table is characterized by the foods I like and choose to eat.

As you go through life, you’re going to have to make decisions on what to allow and what not to allow in your life. Many times, you will be surrounded by negative people and negative thoughts. We live in a terribly negative and critical world and sometimes you are going to be on the receiving end of the criticism. In thinking back on my own life, I have received my share of critique. In many cases, I let the criticism just burn me to the core. I knew that I shouldn’t, but I took my eyes off of God and, instead, focused on the criticism. I was miserable and I let the opinions of others control me. Over time, I learned that I was in control of what I allowed into my thought patterns. In short, I became “picky” about what I allowed in my life—just like the food I allowed at my table—focusing on the good of God and not the negative of others. In fact, I found the three “foods” that I can never allow at my “table:”

“You’re Never Going to Make it Through This:” How many times have we all heard this in our lives? Too many to count, I would imagine. I could tell you story after story of dead-ends in my life and how it didn’t appear I could make it any more. In every case, when I was at my end, God took control and saw me through. Don’t listen to those who tell you that you’re never going to make it. Instead, realize you are exactly in God’s hands and HE will work HIS perfect plan through you.
“You’re Not Good Enough:” As a teenager and young adult, I always doubted myself and second guessed everything I did. I didn’t have a lot of self-confidence and I was often jealous of the talents and abilities of others. After a lot of heartache, God finally showed me that I am uniquely created in God’s image. I stopped comparing myself to others and began focusing on my God-given talents and abilities. Instead of listening to others tell you you’re not good enough, remind yourself that you are special in God’s eyes. God gave you just enough for what you need to accomplish at this time in your life. God will continue to mature you and grow you based on what you need at a particular time in life.
“Everyone is Against You:” If you haven’t discovered this already, eventually you’ll find that many people in life simply don’t want you to succeed. I have found that jealousy is the primary reason. After all, it’s much easier to make yourself look better by knocking others down. Maybe its the promotion you didn’t receive because someone else worked against you. Maybe its lack of support from friends or family and you are on an island by yourself. Whatever the reason or whatever the cause, never forget that while some in the world may be against you, God never is and is always in your corner.

As you are setting your table in life, avoid these three “foods” and thank the Lord for providing you with everything you need for this day and for your circumstances.

Encouragement

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