“Tis easy enough to be pleasant when life flows along like a song, but the man worthwhile is the one who will smile when everything goes dead wrong.” –
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
It’s bad enough when things go wrong , but when everything goes dead wrong that really smells like death.
EVERYTHING GOES DEAD WRONG FOR A KING.
Men came and told Jehoshaphat that they were coming. Not only the Moabites, but also the Ammonites and the Meunites. They came “to make war on king Jehoshaphat.” The king is in big trouble of course.
Now listen to what he is doing and what is happening.
The king is consulting the people and he is appointing men to sing. The men “went out at the head of the army” we are reading in Second Chronicles 20:21. What were they saying?
“‘Give thanks to the Lord,
for his love endures forever.'”
They are singing. They are praising the Lord. And the Lord is setting ambushes against the invaders. And the Lord is defeating the soldiers of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir.
Please read the whole story in Second Chronicles chapter 20!
EVERYTHING GOES DEAD WRONG FOR TWO SERVANTS OF THE LORD.
Paul is on his second missionary journey with Silas. He wants to see people come to the Lord. In Acts 16:11-40 we are reading that they went by sea to Macedonia and what happened to them in the city called Philippi.
They were flogged in that town and sent to prison. It actually says that they were severely flogged.
And you know what happened at midnight? Paul and Silas were not only praying but also singing. They were “singing hymns to God, …” And?
We are reading that “the other prisoners were listening to them.”
There are so many prisoners – you know what I am writing about – around us and we are complaining that they are not listening to the gospel. I think we must praise the Lord more. Then they will listen.
What happened next? There was an earthquake, a really big earthquake, and the jailer comes out of darkness into the light.
Let us pray for a spiritual earthquake!
Please read the whole story in Acts chapter 16. You find the book of Acts in the Bible, in the New Testament straight after the four Gospels. The Bible, the Word of the Living God has 66 books.
EVERYTHING GOES DEAD WRONG FOR YOU AND ME.
Can you still “smile when everything goes dead wrong” or are you only “pleasant when life flows along like a song?”
Maybe you cannot smile any more. But please keep on praising the Lord Jesus Christ! Are you angry? Should we get angry? I don’t know! Keep on praising the Lord! Are you sad? Keep on praising the Lord!
But you say that was “the last straw”.
You know what “the last straw” means! The dictionary says: “a small incident, setback etc. , that coming after others proves insufferable.”
