despair

Elijah Fed by an Angel, Ferdinand Bol  (1616-1680) ———————–      (continued…)  In I Kings 19 Elijah is depressed.        Elijah stood almost alone as a true prophet of the Lord during some of Israel’s worst times.  The nation was ruled by the wicked King Ahab, and the temple was dominated by priests

I Kings 19:4 — (Elijah) went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” —————————      “I have had enough,” Elijah said.  

          Conscience, by Nicolai Ge, Russian painter  (1831-1894) Judas watches as the soldiers lead Jesus away ———————————      (… continued)  In the same way, Philip Yancey and the couple that lost their son to cancer, in spite of disappointment and confusion, kept looking to God.  And though they were disappointed and

     A friend of mine was telling me about some friends of his.  “Years ago they would always go to church,” he said of the friends, “but then their daughter was killed in a car accident, and they have not been back to church since the funeral.  They are upset with God for letting

By Marvin Olasky, in World magazine, October 18, 2014, page 72.  See:   http://www.wng.org      He’s very smart, my childhood best friend, and very faithful in his atheism.  When he was 6 he was clever as clever, but now he’s past 60 and knows he will not live for ever and ever.  Yet now, as in

The Meeting With Joe, by Gary S.  (source lost)      One cold winter morning as I looked out my bedroom window at the gray, bleak landscape I wondered, What is my life worth?  Where do I fit into the scheme of things?  I felt completely overwhelmed by rejection.  I couldn’t see any hope in my

     (…continued)  For almost a century Winston Churchill walked like a giant on the world’s stage.  But even that was not enough to satisfy him.  He knew, as we all know, that whatever he had going for him, it would only be in this world, and only for this century– and then, that would

     I saw printed on a t-shirt these words:  “The best is good enough for me.”  Perhaps whoever wrote that got it from Winston Churchill who once said, “My tastes are simple; I am easily satisfied with the best.”  And Winston Churchill (1874-1965), for all of his 90 years, did have the opportunity to enjoy