Encouragement for Life

Encouragement for Life Sad endings we can handle, but not unjust ones. Suffering makes us sad, but injustice makes us mad. In our childlike minds we still long for fairness and equity. We still want stories to end well so that people can live happily ever after. But life is not that neat and tidy. Only in fairy tales does right always triumph. In life, the helpless are pushed around, cruel people often get the slipper, and some of those we thought were generous, unselfish givers were actually greedy, self-serving takers. How do we deal with disadvantages, unfair treatment, and injustice? I think God's counsel, through Solomon, is remarkably on target: Today's Daily Inspiration Today's Entertainment Today's Health & Healing Click here to Learn More Nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him? (Ecclesiastes 3:22) Does he say, "Compare your lot with another person's and see how much better yours is than his?" Hardly. Does he say, "Retaliate, resent, become bitter; you didn't get a fair shake?" No way. Then what does he say? Namely this: Reject self-pity. Reject revenge. Reject resentment. Reject retaliation. Find ways to discover advantages to your disadvantages. You and I constantly bump up against people submerged in self-pity. They are hopelessly lost in the swamp of discontent. All they can tell you is how wrong this was, how unfair she was, how someone's promise was broken, how that man walked away and left "me and the kids," that guy broke up a partnership and "took me to the cleaners," and on and on and on. We usually can do very little to change our lot. We can only change our reaction to our lot. We cannot change our past, for example. I don't care how brilliant we are, our past stands in concrete. We cannot delete it. But we can learn today to see our past from God's perspective, and use the disadvantages of yesterday in our life - today and forever. ~~~~~~ The excerpt you just read is from Charles Swindoll's book, Encouragement for Life. Dr. Swindoll is an incredible teacher, pastor, and encourager. His words in Encouragement for Life are like water to a thirsty soul. If you're in need of a pick-me-up or know someone who needs encouragement, this book is a must. Today, we're pleased to offer Encouragement for Life for just $12. The regular price is $15.95, a 25% savings. Give the gift of inspiration this holiday season with this book or with something else from our gift store where everything's discounted by 25% until tomorrow night (11/28/11).   For more information or to look inside this great book just click here. Make sure to share this email with your friends, family and co-workers. They'll thank you for it! All the Best, Mac Anderson    Prayer of the Day Belief-o-Matic Inspiring Quotes Beliefnet Blogs   Change your email address: http://www.beliefnet.com/user/nl_updemail.asp Mailing Address: Beliefnet, P.O. Box 3882, Norfolk, VA 23514-3882 Unsubscribe Online: Click here to unsubscribe from this newsletter Privacy Statement: http://www.beliefnet.com/About-Us/Privacy-Policy.aspx Copyright 2011 Beliefnet, Inc. All rights reserved.