Daily Devotions
But He (Jesus) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
No doubt you’ve heard that old expression: “If life gives you lemons, the best thing a person can do is make lemonade.”
That’s just another way of saying, “Do the best you can with what you’ve got.” It’s good advice, but most of us don’t follow those words.
In contrast to most people, there is a resident in the New York State prison system.
They haven’t released the prisoner’s name or the reason he was initially placed in jail. On the other hand, we do know he is an expert on making lemonade.
We know that because the inmate has been caught collecting unemployment checks. That’s right. While he was in prison he applied for unemployment. Because of some assistance he received from a woman who works for the state parks department, and because of some creative lying (he told them he was looking for work), the man’s application was processed, approved and he began getting his unemployment wages.
Now while we most certainly do not approve of what the prisoner did, we do have to acknowledge he didn’t throw in the towel, and he didn’t stop believing in what could be accomplished.
His example can be a lesson for us believers.
You see, all too often we give up when we’re faced with a bad or difficult situation. We throw in the towel and refuse to make the attempt to fix things.
That’s unfortunate. There are times when the Lord wants us to keep counting on Him, when He wants us to keep on praying, working, striving, doing what we can where we can with whatever means He has placed at our disposal.
That’s what Noah did, what Moses did, what Samson and Joseph did and what God instructed Paul to do in our Bible verse for today’s devotion.
Now I don’t have time to give you a complete list of heroes who, with God’s guidance, made lemonade out of lemons. But I do have space to say, please, trust that the Lord is with you, helping, assisting, encouraging — even when life gives you lemons.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, the life of a Christian isn’t always easy. There are times when we all get lemons. At such moments be with us and grant us the ability to make lemonade. This I pray in my Savior’s Name. Amen.