Laughter is an amazing ability that God gave us all. Laughing helps us cope with sadness and the pressures of life. A new teacher was trying to make use of her psychology courses to help her class. She started the class by saying, “Everyone who thinks you are stupid, please stand up!” After a few seconds, little Johnny stood up. The teacher asked, “Do you think you are stupid, Johnny?” “No ma’am, but I hate to see you standing up all by yourself!”

One of the greatest tools we have to help people is the tool of encouragement. We are told in I Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another an build one another up, just as you are doing.” Jonas Sulk, the great scientist and the discoverer of the vaccine against polio, was taught the principle of encouragement. He was once asked, “How does this amazing discovery which has literally brought an end to the word polio in our world vocabulary, cause you to evaluate your previous 200 failures?” His response was, “I never failed 200 times in my life. My family did not think in terms of failure. “They taught in terms of experiences and what could be learned. I just made my 201st discovery as the cure for polio. “I could not have accomplished it without learning from the 200 previous experiences.” 

In a world that grows more unsettled each day, you may sometimes feel like throwing up your hands in despair. But may I remind you that God’s people have been here before. And God has always had a plan for His people.

Back in the 1980s, Louise Bernikow wrote a book by the title Alone in America. She describes a growing loneliness in our society to a variety of factors, including our heavy work schedule, our dependence on technology, and a focus on self. In our loneliness, the only friendships many people have are developed on television, Facebook, and other non-personal areas.

To live a full and satisfying life, we need to know what our God-given purpose is. Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.”

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, became the first human to journey into outer space. His capsule, Vostok 1, completed one orbit of Earth on April 12, 1961. When he returned to earth, he declared that God must not exist because he did not see Him anywhere in space.

We live in a world that has many trials. Even as Christians we will face them. How often have you longed for peace and calmness? The Lord Jesus tells us in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.”

You know that all of us have trials, but most of them are passing in nature. They usually come for a reason and, thankfully, just last for a season. Don’t get locked into the negative mindset, thinking your circumstances will never change or that they will defeat you.

A deacon was asked by his pastor to pick up the visiting speaker at the airport. He waited patiently looking at each traveler as they came to claim their luggage. Finally, he noticed a gentleman wearing a dark blue suit, carrying a briefcase. He walked up to him and asked, “Are you the pastor who is to speak at Calvary Baptist Church? You look like a minister to me.”