Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy

Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy

READ Nehemiah 4:1-23

SITUATION Sanballat and Tobiah were leaders in surrounding cities who wanted to spread their influence into Jerusalem. When the rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall continued, they responded with opposition.

OBSERVATION Taunted ridiculed, threatened. Instead of giving in. Nehemiah and the Israelites chose to fine new strength and determination through their faith in God.

INSPIRATION After I spoke at a women's retreat recently, a darling gale rushed up to me saying, "Oh Barb, you are just SO LUCKY! You have come through all your trails with so much you and victory! . . .

I laughed and told the lady that I didn't believe there was any such thing as luck for
Christians . . .

Look at it this way. One family out of 500,000 lost a son in Vietnam . . . we are one of those families. One family out of every 800 has a child killed by a drunk driver . . . we experienced that, too. Statistics say that one family out of every ten will have a homosexual child . . . we know all about that. And recently I became part of another set of statistics, namely that out of every forty women over middle-age, one will develop adult onset diabetes.

This is something that is brand new in my life. Although it is considered milder than juvenile-onset, it carries with it all the life-threatening complications . . . I said a lot more, but the the main thrust was that I chose to look at what seemed good to me rather than to anticipate all the gruesome complications that can happen at some point . . . We are all going to have pain, but misery is optional. We can decide how we will react to the pain that inevitably comes to us all. (From Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy by Barbara Johnson)

APPLICATION The Israelites teach us to read God as our only source of confidence. Today, when your life encounters friction, pray first and believe that God will smooth the road.

EXPLORATION Confidence -- Joshua 1:9; Jeremiah 29:11, James 1:2-4

The Devotional Bible - Experiencing the Heart of Jesus, Max Lucado General Editor, New Century Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers