I just started to write, “A great day yesterday” when it hit me like a ton of bricks. Yesterday was indeed a great day—for me. However, while it was a great day for some of us, for many it was just the opposite. While some of us were over-come with joy as we experienced the blessings of God, others were overwhelmed with burdens— mired in deep grief, or suffering some injustice, or incurring some great loss. For us the day was delightful. For them it was dreadful! Tomorrow the roles might be reversed.

So, as we relish the blessings of God, let us be mindful of the fact that many are in great need. Just yesterday I heard the joyous report of healing and life prolonged, and another of sickness and a life cut-short. This served to remind me that life is a land of hills and valleys, blessings and burdens. Life is like a book—it is made up of many chapters, each of different length and subject matter. Today it is one thing, tomorrow it is another. You are now going through a new chapter in your life, but it is not the last chapter — the best chapter of all.

For the Christian, regardless of the content of your chapters, all ends well. By God’s Word we have been given a glimpse of the last chapter–enough so that we know that grief will turn to glory and the bad will give way to blessing. In other words– the best is yet to come. Regardless of what you are going through you will get through it and look back on it as a horrible chapter in your life, but you will then be in a new and better chapter–the tears will be gone and there will be a smile on your face—really! You aren’t there yet, but knowing that day is coming will give you the strength needed to get through this chapter of your life. Living in the awareness of this fact, in between the tears and stumbles you will suddenly be surprised by a smile on your face and a spring in your step. God is healing you a little bit at a time and reminding you that the best is yet to come. Then when history seems to be repeating itself and you are facing a new challenge, and it will happen, you will be able to draw strength from your past experience. Think about it!

Everyday there are needs, in my life and the lives of others, that call for my attention in prayer. And, almost everyday I receive prayer request from others who spell out the nature of their need. I try to give these matters the attention they deserve. But there is one class of prayer request that is becoming more and more meaningful to me– it’s what we often refer to as an “Unspoken request”.

I realize that some preachers have taken folks to task for using this phrase, and some might make good points. However it seems to me that their time would be better spent praying for these folks rather than trying to prove a point. Regardless of what opposition you might have to the use of this phrase, the fact remains that people have needs, the nature of which does not need to be explained to others. We don’t have to know all the details about a situation to pray effectively for others. God knows and He can help.

At this very moment I can think of several people who are in urgent need of our prayer, but there is one in particular that is troubling me this morning. Although you probably have something different on your heart that is more important to you at this moment, I hope you will take a few minutes to pray about this matter. Like most things, the outcome doesn’t affect just one person, it affects a family and a church as well. As you know, the actions of one person can wreak havoc in the lives of a great many, affecting them for the duration of their days on earth. So this time and every time you hear someone say, “I have an unspoken request”, please don’t take it lightly. It just might be of far greater importance than the things you know all about.  It would be cruel to ignore such a need. No doubt the day will come when you will find yourself in need of prayer, so please pray for these desperate people the same way in which you would want them to pray for you were the roles reversed. Think about it!

After hearing “So God Made a Farmer” by Paul Harvey the other day it reminded me of how much I miss hearing his voice. Here’s something else by him that you might have never heard:

If I Were the Devil

I would gain control of the most powerful nation in the world;

I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man’s effort, instead of God’s blessings;

I would promote an attitude of loving things and using people, instead of the other way around;

I would dupe entire states into relying on gambling for their state revenue;

I would convince people that character is not an issue when it comes to leadership;

I would make it legal to take the life of unborn babies;

I would make it socially acceptable to take one’s own life, and invent machines to make it convenient;

I would cheapen human life as much as possible so that the life of animals are valued more than human beings;

I would take God out of the schools, where even the mention of His name was grounds for a lawsuit;

I would come up with drugs that sedate the mind and target the young, and I would get sports heroes to advertise them;

I would get control of the media, so that every night I could pollute the mind of every family member for my agenda;

I would attack the family, the backbone of any nation.

I would make divorce acceptable and easy, even fashionable. If the family crumbles, so does the nation;

I would compel people to express their most depraved fantasies on canvas and movie screens, and I would call it art;

I would convince the world that people are born homosexuals, and that their lifestyles should be accepted and marveled;

I would convince the people that right and wrong are determined by a few who call themselves authorities and refer to their agenda as politically correct;

I would persuade people that the church is irrelevant and out of date, and the Bible is for the naive;

I would dull the minds of Christians, and make them believe that prayer is not important, and that faithfulness and obedience are optional;

I guess I would leave things pretty much the way they are.