“Do you recognize me?” a woman asked following a service at her church.

“I know I should,” I replied, trying to remember her name.

“I’ve lost ninety pounds since you were here last,” she announced proudly.

No wonder I hadn’t remembered her.

What made her success in slimming possible?

Self-control she had gained through prayer.

In trusting God for strength, she had found the discipline she needed to achieve her weight loss goal and knowing I had written on the subject was eager to tell me of her desired accomplishment.

Not everyone appreciates my long effort to help those struggling with this very personal problem.

“A minister writing about losing weight?” one questioned.

Some do more than question.

While being interviewed on a call-in radio talk show, I was scolded soundly by a listener who called to complain about my Biblical approach to weight loss.  She accused me of using valuable time and effort to teach concepts on a subject in which God has no interest.

At one time, I would have agreed with this angry caller.

Now I know I was wrong.

God is interested in helping us overcome every problem we face.  Since He cares about flowers, clothing them with beauty (Matthew 6:28-30), we can be sure He cares about our health, our appearance and all of our other needs.  If we mean more to our Heavenly Father than fowl or flowers, He must be interested in all the problems that eat away at us, taking away the joy of living.

A friend of mine had such a severe weight problem that at nineteen he was confined to bed.  He weighed 750 pounds and spasmodic weight loss efforts were but temporary fixes.  In the early hours of one morning, he stared at the ceiling and said, “Lord, I’m impossible.  Make me possible!”

The next morning my friend found strength enough to walk across his room and shortly after that was able to walk across the yard.  He then committed himself to discipline in eating and exercise, which over time enabled him to lose six hundred pounds.

Richard Ely, a busy pastor, wrote to me saying he had found success in losing weight through walking.  He said he had to admit that his weight problem had been spiritual and by the time his letter arrived his faith commitment had enabled him to lose fifty pounds.  Describing his new way of life, he said, “I’ve discovered the time walking is a precious time when I can talk and listen to the Lord and enjoy the beauty of His creation.”

On the wall of my study are the words: “God can move your mountain.”  Name your mountain and God can move it!  He moves hills and bumps in the road too.

Satchel Paige, the winning pitcher and baseball diamond philosopher, gained a national reputation for his widely circulated rules for successful living.  The most remembered of these was, “Don’t look back.  Something may be gaining on you.”

Satchel’s pitch to let the past be past was good advice.  Too many of us allow yesterday’s failures to steal today’s joy and cancel tomorrow’s opportunities.

Does this mean we’re to voluntarily embrace total amnesia?

Of course not!

Some memories are positive, motivating and faith building, but there are also events and experiences of the past that are best forgotten.  When remembered, some past blunders have negative effects on us, even producing unwanted guilt, bitterness and depression.  In these cases, heeding Satchel’s “Don’t look back” can enable us to turn the page on negatives of the past and get on with faith filled living.

Here are some examples:

DON’T LOOK BACK AT SINS THAT HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN.

Divine forgiveness through confession of our sins erases all guilt, assuring a clean slate for the future.  When God forgives, he places the past behind us forever and turns away all accusing fingers.

Today, complete forgiveness can be difficult to grasp.  Banks, the government and many businesses have access to great numbers of facts about us all.  Computers store information regarding every late payment and difficulty in paying off a loan may haunt a prospective borrower for years, even though he has since cleared up the old account.

How different our Lord is!

Sins confessed to Him are immediately forgiven.  And no cosmic computer contains any remaining record against us.

DON’T LOOK BACK AT DEFEATS THAT GET YOU DOWN.

Only those who have never attempted tough tasks have escaped failure.  And it is far better to try and fail than never to try at all.

DON’T LOOK BACK AT DECISIONS THAT CAN’T BE CHANGED.

Some live their lives in “if only” land, constantly second-guessing themselves, wondering how things would have turned out if they had chosen a different fork in the road, but such wishful thinking is a waste of time.  God loves us and promises to meet us where we are in spite of past blunders.   Responding to His love will make the past be past, the present pleasant and the future fantastic.

DON’T LOOK BACK AT OLD CONFLICTS THAT MAKE YOU BITTER.

Looking back to past problems can resurrect enmities that should have long been put away.  Thinking through a bitter confrontation of the past can spoil a perfectly good day.

Paul, the apostle, chose to forget the things that were past lest they hinder his present progress toward the goal of becoming what God wanted him to be.

A visit to my doctor launched him on a search to find the reason for a feeling of heaviness in my chest. Thankfully, I passed the electrocardiogram with flying colors, but that was just the beginning.  I was then scheduled for an echocardiogram and stress test.

Life is filled with stress tests so we must learn how to handle them.

I had the advantage of knowing the date and time of my stress test appointment.  Often stressful situations drop in on us without warning. Consider the disciples of Jesus during a fierce storm on the Sea of Galilee. Strong winds piled waves high and the boat was in danger of going down.

Alarmed at their apparent peril, these seasoned fishermen panicked, crying out to their Lord in fear and questioning His care.  I’ve been with people who in stressful times thought God had forsaken them, but this is never the case.  He has guaranteed He will be with us during every trial and test (Hebrews 13:5).

Stressful times are opportunities to exercise faith.

How do you react when trouble comes?  Do you become pessimistic?  Depressed?

Angry with God?  Unpleasant to be around because you lash out at others, maybe even those closest to you?

Few people have difficulty believing God is good when things are going well; but things do not always go well.  And it is in the stressful times that our faith is put to the test.  Others won’t be impressed by how well we do when the sun is shining, but our positive reaction to dark days may convince them our faith is real.

When I entered the hospital for my stress test, I met a team of competent people, some of whom were probably going through stress tests of their own.  Knowing this was a possibility, I probed for problems they might be facing.

“Are you having a good day?” is a question that has opened a way for me to share my faith with many who have been going through tough times.

In my pocket I carried printed messages of hope to give to any I found stressed out by  difficulties they were facing and gave my book “Staying Positive in a Negative World” to others in for testing as well as to one technician. I was confident our meetings were not by chance and that we’d been brought together for their good and mine (Romans 8:28).

I’ve never met Evelyn, but became acquainted with her through a letter she wrote expressing appreciation of my radio program for the help it provided during the loss of her husband of nearly sixty years.

Evelyn is a woman of faith.  I can tell this by her statement, “God has helped me and your program has helped.”  Then she added this line that challenged me and that I hope will do the same for each of my readers:  “I am asking you to pray for me that I can find a new way to serve the Lord and be useful the rest of the time I have to live.”

Here is a woman who, after experiencing what was probably the greatest loss of her life, refuses to allow the past to get her down.  She is unwilling to waste the years that remain and is seeking to make the most of her future.  Most significantly, she is determined to find a way to serve God and others for the rest of her life.

Early in life Dr. Bill Bright developed a tract he called “The Four Spiritual Laws”, as a means of introducing college students to his Lord.  Key among these laws was simply the statement, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”

Is this true?

Does God really care about the future of each of us?

Absolutely!

And there is no age limit that forbids getting in on this wonderful plan.

Retirement from the service of God is unknown and, as Evelyn expressed so clearly, regardless of age, the future can be as active and fulfilling as the past.

One of the most familiar Biblical characters acquainted with great accomplishments in old age is Caleb, one of the twelve spies sent out by Moses to scout the land of Canaan before the Israelites were to enter it after their deliverance from slavery in Egypt.  Caleb and Joshua, another scout, advised Moses to proceed, but because of the doubts of the ten other scouts, the conquest of Canaan was delayed for forty years.

Caleb was then eighty-five but requested and received the position of leading the conquest of the most difficult part of Canaan to conquer.  Read the Biblical text (Numbers 14:8-9) and you can almost see the fire in his eyes as he feels the decades drop away.  Age will not hold him back because he has a job to do and intends to do it.

How do we discover and get in on God’s wonderful plan?

I once visited a man in the hospital on his birthday who had suffered a broken neck in  serious accident.  He had been told by his doctor that he would never again be able to use his arms or legs.  Now, in spite of this disturbing professional prediction, some feeling was returning to his arms.  “God has given me a wonderful birthday present,” he said.

I left that hospital room with a new attitude.

Healthy legs were carrying me down the hospital corridor.  I was able to swing my arms and move my fingers at will.  Suddenly I realized I had been taking these blessings for granted and determined to never do so again. To keep my commitment, I often quote the first two verses of Psalm 103: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”

In his classic book on the Psalms, “THE TREASURY OF DAVID,” C.H. Spurgeon wrote: “We should not forget even one of God’s blessings.  They are all beneficial to us, all worthy of Himself, and all subjects for praise.  Memory is very treacherous about the best things; it treasures up the refuse of the past and permits priceless treasures to be neglected.  It grips grievances tenaciously and holds benefits too loosely.”

Life is made up of little benefits with great potential.

Dean Farrar wrote: “Little self-denials, little honesties, little passing words of sympathy, little nameless acts of kindness, little silent victories over temptations—these are the threads of gold, which, when woven together, gleam out so brightly in the pattern of life that God approves.”

George Washington Carver, who found so many uses for peanuts to the economic

benefit of the people of his area, said that as a young man he asked God to tell him all the mysteries of the universe.  When no answer came, he asked God to let him know the mysteries of the peanut.  Then, he said, God seemed to say, “Well, George, that’s more nearly your size!”  And soon the mysteries of the peanut began to become clear to him.

Little things can also do great harm.

A husband of more than twenty years told me he was ending his marriage because of a  remark his bride had made shortly after their wedding; one he should have forgiven.

The letter I received from a man in Southwest Africa brightened my day.  In spite of the violence in his homeland and serious financial problems, he’s learned the value of starting each day thankful to be alive, choosing to enjoy the beauty of the morning rather than focus on fears about what may come his way before nightfall.  In doing so, this former worrier is following the advice of our Lord who told His followers to live one day at a time (Matthew 6:34).
Millions will spoil today fretting over tomorrow, even though most of their expected tragedies will never take place.  No one has information enough about the future to worry intelligently and encouraging encounters with positive people often appear in time to turn our minds from fear to faith, providing we’re alert to their arrival.
We stood looking out a lobby window into the work area of a tire store; he was a junior in high school and I an untold number of years his senior.  He was watching workmen install new tires on his red S-10 pickup while I waited for them to mount new ones on my nine-year-old black Sable. Seizing the opportunity to share something life changing with him, I simply said:  “Start every day thankful.”
I have no way of knowing what trials my S-10 acquaintance will face in the years ahead but when difficult days arrive, I hope he’ll remember our encounter of encouragement when I recommended faith instead of fretting.
Moving from the window on tire trivia to a glass door showcasing a sunny spring day, I found myself standing beside a thirty-something man wearing a frown…
“Great day!”  I exclaimed, trying to brighten his mood.
“About time!” he growled, clinging to the gloomy cold week preceding our meeting.
“I’m the author of a book in which I open one of the chapters saying if you can rise each morning not being down about money or the weather you’re on your way to a good day,” I told him.
“I’m down about both,” he replied.
“Give me your address and I’ll send you the book,” I offered.
Scribbling his address on a sheet from a small notepad and handing it to me may have been one of the most important acts of his life.
After leaving the tire store, I stopped for gas and a newspaper, unaware that inside the station, awaited one of the strangest experiences of my life.
“What year did you graduate from high school” asked a fellow customer.  And, to my surprise, when I gave my answer he burst into a series of hit songs from that era.  But after the songs came a note of sadness, revealing a need of the singer and letting me know this was another encounter of encouragement.
No matter how badly things look today, expect God to come through for you.
Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs.
Join me and my Southwest Africa correspondent as we start each day
thanking God that we can bask in the basic blessings of the moment.
And keep watching for encounters of encouragement to brighten every cloudy day.

In his bestselling book, “CONFESSIONS OF A HAPPY CHRISTIAN,” inspirational writer, Zig Ziglar wrote that he had given up a number of things after becoming a man of faith. He gave up staying awake at night because he realized the Lord is awake all the time.  He gave up worrying about tomorrow because he came to understand that God is already there.  He gave up his concerns about financial obligations because he became convinced that the Lord is more concerned about our needs than we are and that His unlimited resources will always be up to the occasion.  In other words, Ziglar’s newfound faith enabled him to overcome his worries.

A noted nineteenth century writer said “The very essence of anxiety is to imagine that we are wiser than God.  We believe that what we need, He will forget.  We try to carry our own weary burdens and act as if He were unable or unwilling to take them.

According to the Bible, the opposite is true.

Joseph Scriven, who wrote “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” did so to help his mother overcome her fears and said we forfeit peace and bear needless pain by not taking everything to God in prayer.  That is exactly what we do when we insist on bearing burdens that God has offered to bear for us.  Scriven insisted that God invites us to take our troubles to Him, stop worrying about them and leave them in His capable hands.  When we do so, we can be sure that He will take our worries away.

Each day, we’re faced with a choice between faith and worry.

Faith imparts life and moves mountains.

Worry just makes mountains out of mole hills.

One wise man compared worry to sitting in a rocking chair.  “It keeps you busy,” he said, “but you don’t go anywhere.”

Worry is not only damaging to our health; it’s a waste of time.

Worry has never placed a loaf of bread on a table nor paid a delinquent bill.

Worry has never added a ray of sunshine to a dark day.

Worry has never brought healing to one who is sick.

Worry has never lifted a burden.

Worry doesn’t provide strength for tomorrow, it just drains strength from today.

“All true,” you say.

“But how can we stop worrying?”

We can overcome worry by exercising faith.

Worry and faith are opposites.

As faith increases, worry decreases.

The still highly regarded nineteenth century English minister, C.H. Spurgeon, wrote: “A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your soul.”  So no matter how dark things seem today, expect the best tomorrow.

Rid yourself of that worthless word: “worry.” Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs.  “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37)

   There I was, sitting in a medical reception area awaiting my call into the office of a Dermatologist.

    I’ve sometimes been troubled by pre-cancerous conditions that have required treatment or removal, so when an irritation developed around a dark spot hiding beneath my left sideburn, I made an appointment with my doctor to see what it was all about.

     At the call of the office receptionist, I made my way into a small, sterile, suspense room to wait again, this time for the doctor himself; the man who, with one educated look, would be able to give me a good idea of what was ahead.  Thankfully, when the man of the moment arrived and examined me, his verdict was one of good news.

     “This is just a little weed in the garden of your life,” he said, adding four wonderful words: “nothing to worry about.”  Less then thirty minutes later I was on my way home, absent my dark sideburn spot, and with only a next appointment check-up remaining to be sure I was home free.

     There was a time when worry, like an old friend, traveled with me every day, ever keeping me occupied with another fearful possibility of what might be ahead.

     No more. Life’s too short to be imprisoned by imaginary fears.

     I listened amazed as a man described the limits fear had placed on him.  He had lived and raised his family in a large metropolitan area but, for some reason, had drawn a twelve mile radius around his home as his “safe zone.”  Outside those borders, panic set in.  He was afraid to travel beyond that imaginary boundary, even to work.

     Traffic jams were so terrifying to him that he kept a small motorcycle in his van on which to escape in the event he was boxed in by surrounding vehicles.  He was a captive on an island of his own making.  And the guards keeping him in were his fears.

     A man from Southwest Africa once wrote to tell me how after reading one of my books he had moved from panic to peace, even though he had a large family to support and lived in a perilous place.  He said he had learned to start each day giving thanks that he is alive and able to enjoy the beauty of the morning instead of worrying about what might happen to him that day.

     Our Lord called for living by faith one day at a time (Matthew 6:34).  Still millions will spoil today being occupied with fears about imagined events that won’t happen.

     Most things that make us fear and fret are those that haven’t happened yet.

     No one has enough information about the future to worry intelligently about tomorrow, so why not trust God for today and enjoy it?

     What are you anxious about that you’re not absolutely sure will take place?  If you’re not sure the worst will happen, don’t waste your time worrying about it.

    I start each day quoting a Bible prescription for overcoming worry and experiencing peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:6-8).

     Why not join me and my African correspondent as we reject worry and thank God for the basic blessings of the moment?  If you do, you’re sure to have a better day!

Having finished my postal business, I was driving out of the Post Office parking lot when I felt a solid bump from behind. Getting out of my car, taking a quick glance at my rear bumper to check for damage and approaching the truck involved in the smash, I introduced myself to the driver and prepared to exchange information with him so we could contact our insurance agents.
That was when I learned we had a problem.
The driver of this big rig didn’t have a driver’s license, which, he explained, he had lost when arrested for driving under the influence. He did have a temporary permit so I wrote down the details and asked him to follow me to my car so we could inspect the damage.
All the way to my car, this embarrassed truck driver kept apologizing for what he had done but by now I was convinced this was no accident.
Opening my wounded trunk lid, I saw a supply of materials I had written to help people break free from alcohol’s bondage, including my book “Alcohol: the Beloved Enemy.” Meanwhile, my new acquaintance continued apologizing.
“Stop apologizing,” I pleaded. “If this hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t have met.”
I’m not sure this confused permit holder yet grasped the miracle of the designed drama in which he found himself but consider the odds against this experience being only accidental. He could have bumped into the trunk areas of all the cars in that parking lot and not hit one carrying material to help him overcome his greatest problem.
Entering a fast food restaurant, I met a smiling waitress ready to take my order.
“You look happy!” I said.
“Well, I’m not!” she replied, her smile turning to a frown.
This strange meeting having turned a bit awkward, I placed my order, wondering what had turned this formerly glowing waitress into a growling one.
Reaching into my shirt pocket I handed her a tract on forgiveness.
This formerly happy woman then told me she had started her day arguing with her husband. Knowing she needed to forgive him, I excused myself while she prepared my order and returned with one of my books that helps people forgive.
While I had been surprised by her burst of anger after first brightening my day with a smile, I now knew why I had stopped there and had brought along a tract and book that would change her attitude and day.
This was no accident! And this now smiling woman recognized it.
As I headed for my booth with my hamburger and fries, I heard her say: “God sent you to me today!”
What a great thought!
God sends each of us out every day to meet people along the way who need us.
When we realize this, every day becomes an adventure and even the bumps along the way become blessings.

A grandmother once started my day explaining her concern over a violent television program that had been moved to an afternoon hour when children would be home and she feared many would likely be influenced by it. Though I had never watched this notoriously negative show, her description of it made me feel she had good reasons for being troubled by its impact on young viewers.
My caller named others she had contacted in her effort to persuade the television station to reverse its decision to provide a new time slot for airing this objectionable program. In her mind, the battle lines had been drawn and she was determined to do all in her power to protect children from this bad influence. While admiring her courage and faith, I confess to fearing she would be fighting a losing battle in view of the money on the line for both the station and the producers of the show.
About a week after my early morning call, a front page story in a local newspaper confirmed my fears. The time change for the program had caused ratings for the station to spike, making fighting it seem futile.
Talk about a David and Goliath encounter!
With ratings being the bottom line for most television stations, it appeared the grandmother’s cause, though worthy, didn’t stand a chance.
A few days later, however, another front page article caught my eye. A church in our community was urging its members to join the battle by contacting the television station to voice their concerns. One woman’s courage was catching on; but I still wondered if
this enlarged effort would accomplish the grandmother’s goal.
The following week, however, my feeble faith was rebuked and the power of one person with a just cause vindicated. The vice-president and general manager of the television station announced that this ratings raiser would be moved back to its former time so that children wouldn’t be at home to view it.
So giants can fall after all.
One with God is still a majority.
My friend, Hershel Johnson, became concerned for the many needy children in his community so approached his pastor about starting a Sunday school class for fifth grade boys. The pastor of this tiny church replied that they had no fifth grade boys so Hershel requested and received permission to recruit his own class. When his class began to grow, Hershel asked the pastor if he could join him in doing visitation in the community. Others in the congregation then began to overcome their fears and reluctance of getting involved. Now their church isn’t tiny anymore.
Worthy causes needing people of vision, talent and energy abound but in most cases volunteers are scarce. Jesus said the harvest is great but the laborers are few (Matthew 9:37) and His evaluation of the situation is still true.
Do you know of something that needs to be done in your church or community but fear to do it? Reject these fears and make a difference. God will equip you to win over gigantic obstacles. Remember giants are still falling every day.