Play Your Cards

   Hi Friends!  Have you ever felt like you've been dealt a bad hand?  Given an unfair shuffle?  Thought that if only you had different circumstances you could be more, do more, and have more?  I read something today that got me thinking about this very idea.  

  If you are familiar with the New Testament, you will know about a man named Paul.  If you aren't, here's a brief synopsis of his life.  Paul was originally named Saul.  He was a high level religious leader, and he was very zealous for his cause.  When the first Christians began to preach about Jesus, he was outraged.  He began to actively hunt down Christians to have them thrown in jail or killed.  In fact, he even went so far as to get permission to go to another city and hunt down Christians there.  

    On his way to the next city though, a miraculous event occurred.  Saul was struck down from his horse by a bright light, and he heard Jesus himself speak to him.  This event changed the entire trajectory of Saul's life.  So much so that he rebranded himself Paul and set out as a missionary for Jesus.  Things did not go well for Paul though when he made this life change.  He went from being a respected religious leader to being almost constantly beaten, imprisoned, and in danger for preaching about Christ.  He traveled from town to town, and was eventually transported to Rome where he was tried and killed, but not before he had the opportunity to preach the gospel to many in leadership throughout the Roman empire.  

    While in Rome, Paul was imprisoned on house arrest for two years awaiting his trial.  He used this time to write letters to encourage those towns he had preached the gospel to. Here's the thing.  What Paul didn't know, was that those little letters he was writing would come to make up a large segment of the New Testament, and 2,000 years later would still be impacting and encouraging people around the world.  Paul didn't know his letters would have this kind of reach; he was just doing what he could with what he had to glorify God where he was at.  

    Maybe you feel trapped or stuck where you are at right now.  Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, grumbling about how others have it better, or wishing you were elsewhere, ask yourself what you can do right now with what you have.  When you begin making the most of what you have with a good attitude for God, you have no idea the limits of your potential.  The small things you are doing in service to God may end up having a far reaching world impact, like Paul's letters did.  

    No matter what circumstances you find yourself in today, look around you and begin to use what you have.  Be a blessing where you are.  I can't wait to see you succeed!

~K.L.W.