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Key Bible Verse: "My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Bonus Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:7b–10

I live with a rare stomach disorder that causes me to feel nausea on a daily basis. Some days the nausea is so severe I can only retreat to bed. During one such day, I heard my son playing in the other room, my wife happily chatting on the phone. I stared at a picture on the wall of Tony when he was two—back when I was healthy and regularly roughhoused with him.

"It's not fair, God!" I prayed, as tears formed, "I'm still a young man. Tony deserves a father who can do all the things I used to do with him—not one who gets motion sick riding in a car or feels like throwing up after a game of basketball in the driveway!" I thought, Now I know what they mean when they talk about the "good old days."

At that moment, I felt God whisper in my ear: "Who says the good old days have to be over?" That's when I realized I had the power to decide how I'd respond to any situation in life.

"Lord," I prayed again, "I refuse to be one of those people whose best days are behind him. By your grace, I'll choose to revel in whatever I can today and look forward to new dreams coming true tomorrow!"

—Mike Nappa in The Courage to Be Christian

My Response: I, too, choose to shun self-pity. Instead, I'll …

Thought to Apply: It is not miserable to be blind; it is miserable to be incapable of enduring blindness.
—John Milton (English poet, 17th century)

Adapted from: The Courage to Be Christian (Howard, 2001).

Prayer for the Week

Wise Father, keep me from getting sidetracked by setbacks. Instead, prod me to grow by overcoming them.

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