As Christians we would be in a pitiful condition if we had no desire to help others. Sadly some who profess salvation are in that state. However, for the most part, Christians are the most caring and helpful people in the world. I can’t imagine what the world would be like without their influence. But, as much as we would like to help some folks we simply can’t – at least not in the way or to the extent that we desire. Just about every parent knows what I’m talking about. We want the best for our children, but when they don’t know what is best for themselves or care about it, there is little we can do. We weep and pray, but their problems persist. They are in a hole and they make no effort to get out.

Sometimes as parents we must bear part of the blame. Had we prepared them as we should they would do better. But even when we’ve done our very best there are times when they will still go astray. Ultimately the choice is with them. It’s the same with all of us. At the root of the problem is their attitude toward God. If that is wrong we can’t expect anything else to be right. Sadly there are some who will try almost anything to better their situation except turn to God. They know the promises of God, but they refuse to meet the conditions, and they suffer the consequences. And we weep – hoping that someday they will come to their senses.

It might be someone other than a child that we are concerned about. It could be a spouse, a parent, a relative, a coworker, a friend, or a neighbor. Some of you are thinking of a name right now. Someone you love is hurting and you grieve because you care. You want to help, but they resist the kind of help they need. Don’t give up! I’m not saying empty your bank account supporting them. You can’t help some people by “helping” them. Doing so just enables them to keep failing. When I say, Don’t give up I mean don’t stop praying and loving them. Whatever you do don’t get bitter toward them. Chances are you’re where you are because someone didn’t give up on you. Now you do the same for someone else. It is only through loving them that we have a chance in seeing them change.- HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

On a cold winter day, a young plumber by the name of Alex was standing in water, down in a hole, covered in mud. I said, “I’m sorry that you have to work in that”. He replied with a big smile, “It’s part of it all”. I was impressed. Not only was I impressed that he was so young and working so hard in bad conditions, I was impressed that he did so with a cheerful attitude. At first I thought it might just be a fleeting thing, but I watched him both days through out the job, and he never changed. In talking with him you could tell he was the real deal.

We Christians could learn a valuable lesson from that young man. Complaining is one of the most common problems known to man. It is a habit that’s hard to break. Thankfully there are some who want to do better. After preaching on this subject recently I was impressed and greatly pleased by the number of folks who expressed appreciation for the message, made encouraging comments, and confessed that complaining is a problem in their life. I have to admit that I also tend to struggle with it. Perhaps you do also.

Alex was looking at his work in the light of the finished product. In other words he was looking at the big picture. That’s what we need to do. If we focus on one small bit of our life it can leave us confused, disappointed, depressed, and fearful. If we isolate one painful event we will draw the wrong conclusion. It’s only as we look at the big picture, especially the final end, that we see things in the proper perspective. Knowing that, for the believer, the best is yet to come helps us get through the worst days of our life. In that glorious day when we stand before our blessed Savior we shall see the benefits of our burdens, profit of our pain, helpfulness of our hardships, treasure of our trials, meaning of our misery, aid of our afflictions, wealth of our woes, and the wisdom of God’s ways. Not one word of complaint will be heard from anyone. – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

Several years ago I wrote an article about the “Gimme Generation”. I’m of the opinion that things haven’t changed all that much. The motto of the masses appears to be “It’s all about me”. We see it all the time. Talk to some folks and the first and last thing they want to talk about is self, and that’s usually the last thing most people need to hear. The listener might be kind, well mannered, and even empathic. They are willing to listen to you strut your stuff, but that’s not what they need. Most of the time they are struggling with problems of their own. Like you, they need to know someone cares, a shoulder to cry on.

My wife is the best listener that I know and the most empathic person I’ve ever seen. That’s rare! Have you ever noticed how most people turn everything to them? They think their problems are larger, their pain is greater, and their burden is heavier than yours. However serious your situation is they view their as worse, and they aren’t bashful about telling you. Rather than being empathic they want to expound upon their experience. They want centerstage. Perhaps we are all guilty of that to some extent. God’s still working on us, so we aren’t perfect yet. But we at least ought to have a desire for it. A desire to be better than we are.

One reason we fail is that, contrary to what we say, none of us can actually know how the other person feels – even when we try. It is impossible. Since we are all different we feel different about things that are the same. I mention this because we need to see the need of those who feel the need to make everything about them. Rather than getting angry with them we need to feel sorry for them. If we don’t we just might not be much different than they are. Think about it. Many times we excuse in ourselves what we condemn in others. It seems like we’ve all got a lot of work to do. Let’s pray that God will help us to think more of others than we do of ourselves. – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346