“This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me“– Psalm 119:50

When we feel the despair of sorrow, pain, or loss creeping into our soul and stealing our joy, the last thing that we sometimes feel like doing is sitting down and perusing the Bible. The frustration and grief feel too real, and reading seems too insufficient as a remedy.

But this is the wonder of God’s Word — when we are in the midst of affliction, it is only this Book, with its wonderful promises, startling standards, and exalted view of God, that can give us hope and help and healing. This is because God does not avoid the reality of our suffering, but rather infuses it with purpose and meaning. When we see that God is actively at work in His creation, and is molding His people into the image of His Son, then suddenly suffering takes on a silver lining.

May David’s comfort be your comfort, dear reader, in the midst of your affliction. May God’s Word quicken your crushed and despairing heart. May you see, in the pages of His epistle to you, that His love is just as true and full, His rule is just as good and powerful, and His wisdom is just as perfect and right in our times of affliction as it is in our times of prosperity. –(Baptist Bible Hour)

There’s an old country song called “A Satisfied Mind” that was one of my favorites. Unlike a lot of songs it actually has a great message. The shame is that far too many people are more interested in things that can never satisfy. They prefer riches to righteousness and they pursue them although they never bring peace. If that describes you, listen carefully to these comments from Back To The Bible.

“And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers. To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.”–Deuteronomy 6:18-19

Suffering from terminal cancer at the age of 47, former North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano did an interview where he admitted to being overly obsessed with winning in his younger years. In fact, when he was a young coach at 23, he told his players, “The final score defines you. You lose, you’re a loser. You win, you’re a winner.”

After years of living and countless nights waking up in a cold sweat, shaking from the fever chills of chemotherapy, Valvano changed his perspective on what it meant to be a winner. “It’s effort,” he said, “not result. God, what a great human being I could have been if I’d had that awareness back then.”

There are undoubtedly times in your life when you fail. The breaks simply don’t always go your way. But the question is not how much you fail, but rather how you fail. When you fail, are you failing in obedience? Are you in the will of God? If so, then you can’t be held to blame for the results.

It’s obedience, not results, that really matters in the Christian life. So instead of always trying to succeed, shift your focus toward trying to obey and leave the results up to God. That’s how you’ll find real and lasting success in the spiritual life!

Ask God to help you shift your focus away from the results and onto simple obedience to His will.– Senior Living