There is a cute story about a girl who left home and went away to university. After her first term, she emailed her mother, saying, ‘I think it’s time I brought you up to date on what’s going on in my life. Shortly after I arrived at university, I got bored with dormitory life and stole fifty pounds from my roommate’s purse. With the money, I rented a motorbike, which I crashed into a telephone pole a few streets from the dorm. I broke my leg in the accident and am unable to attend lectures, so I’m coming home to live with you and dad.’ After hitting ‘send’, she immediately sent a second email: ‘Mum, I was only joking. I didn’t steal any money, or rent a motorbike, or hit a telephone pole, or break my leg. And I won’t be coming home to live with you and dad either. However, I am getting a D in mathematics and an F in literature, and I wanted you to keep my grades in proper perspective!’ Seriously, having a biblical perspective on life’s challenges can lift you out of discouragement and despair. Paul said, ‘Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures…we might have hope.’ For every problem you face in life, God’s Word has a principle to be practised or a promise to be claimed. So, the way to overcome discouragement is to get into God’s Word and get it into you.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.