|Discouragement (Sponsored by Despair.com)

I've grown increasing frustrated, stressed and discouraged over the past few months. I've contemplated quitting my job and becoming a janitor again. Today I received three different forms of encouragement, and I've decided to share them.

(1) This morning I read about Paul en route to Rome (Acts 27:13-44). Against his advisement, the ship had sailed from Crete into the Adriatic. As the "gentle south wind" turned into a "wind of hurricane force," Paul received a message from God of hope and encouragement--the ship would be destroyed but no one would die (27:23-26). That is, no one would be lost unless they abandoned ship (27:31).

"Don't abandon the ship, Jeff. It may fall apart, and you may land in the sea, but stay where you are. Stick it out. This is not the end of you."

(2) Then over a bowl of organic oats fortified and flavored with local pear juice, organic sunflower seeds, organic flax seeds, organic raisins and a scoop of rice protein, I scanned yesterday's reading in My Utmost for His Highest (Chambers).

"If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential order of God for you is a hard time of difficulty, go through with it.... If you are not living in touch with Him, it is easy to pass a crude verdict on God. You must go through the crucible before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because in the crucible you learn to know God better" (p 316; Nov 11).

(3) A coworker shared this video with me after lunch. Almost everyone else in the office had seen it, but Nick Vujicic's story was new to me (more).

But then I read Demotivators from www.despair.com: