Listen

The Lord supports all who fall down, straightens up all who are bent low.

Psalm 145:14

Think

In the film A League of Their Own, the movie about a professional women’s baseball league during World War II, the main character, Dottie, is about to quit the team. She tells her coach, “It just got too hard.” Her coach’s response was, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”

Christian faith is hard. We don’t always get it right. We fail. We sin. We deny. And sometimes we quit. But the way of Jesus is a struggle worth enduring! Caring about the things God cares about doesn’t come with a promise of a life full of rainbows and lollipops. Faith involves struggle; without the struggle, there wouldn’t be a need for faith. The hard parts of following Jesus, the ones we struggle with most, are what make our faith meaningful and our lives purposeful each day.

But always remember – through every struggle, God is with you! And when you fall, our God will be there to raise you up.

Jeremy Wilhelmi

Pray

God of second chances, thank you for picking me up over and over again when I fall; this means everything to me. Help me continue to endure the struggle of faith so the light of your kingdom shines brighter upon this world each day. Amen.

Go

It's great to be able to stop
When you've planned a thing that's wrong,
And be able to do something else instead
And think this song:

I can stop when I want to
Can stop when I wish.
I can stop, stop, stop any time.
And what a good feeling to feel like this
And know that the feeling is really mine.
Know that there's something deep inside
That helps us become what we can.

from “What Do You Do With the Mad That You Feel?” by Fred M. Rogers, 1968