ENCOURAGEMENT: Look for the Best

When Thomas Carlyle completed his manuscript on the French Revolution, he asked his neighbour John Stuart Mill to read it. Later, Mill came to Carlyle’ :Ps house, shaken and pale. His maid had inadvertently used it to light the fire! Carlyle despaired – two years lost! Writing it initially was daunting enough; rewriting it was unthinkable. Then one day, watching a stonemason build a wall, he observed it was going up

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[color=][/color]one brick at a time. Inspired, he thought, ‘I’ll write a page today and one tomorrow. One at a time; that’s all I’ll think about.’ It was slow, tedious work, but he persevered and the result outshone his original.

Jon Gordon writes, ‘If you’re concerned about the future… I know how you feel. I lost my job in 2001… the company sank faster than the Titanic…. I thought it was the worst event of my life. I was two months away from bankruptcy. I’d a wife, two children, a mortgage, no health insurance and very little savings. I was a payslip away from losing it all and … I had to make some important decisions. Eventually they led to the work I now do as a writer, consultant and speaker. I went from Fired to Fired-up! My lay-off led to my life’s mission….what I thought was the worst… led to the best… When the wave hits we have a choice…. Allow it to crush us, or learn from it and ride it to a positive future. We can move forward with determination and faith that our best days are ahead.’

Rejoice. Refocus. God can turn the curse into a blessing.

Bob and Debby Gass with Ruth Gass Halliday, The Word for Today: “Look for the Best in the Worst”, 4 April 2011.