...despair

God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Corinthians 15:57

There is a story about Martin Luther going through a period of discouragement and depression. For days his long face graced the family table and dampened the family’s home life. One day his wife came to the breakfast table all dressed in black, as if she were going to a funeral service. 

When Martin asked her who had died, she replied, “Martin, the way you’ve been behaving lately, I thought God had died, so I came prepared to attend His funeral.”

Her gentle but effective rebuke drove straight to Luther’s heart, and as a result the great Reformer resolved never again to allow worldly care, resentment, depression, discouragement, or frustration to defeat him. By God’s grace, he vowed, he would submit his life to the Savior and reflect His grace in a spirit of rejoicing, whatever came.

When was the last time you praised God in the midst of despair?

Don’t wait until you “feel like it,” or you’ll never do it. Do it, and then you’ll feel like it!

There is one certainty regarding every trial you will ever face: God is still in control. You haven’t encountered the one problem He can’t fix. Seas still part and mountains still crumble at His command.