Life is filled with ups and downs, joy and good times mixed in with seasons of discouragement and sadness. I do not believe in a perfect life here on Earth. This includes any human living above the reproach of sin and, of course, the thinking that all of us could have everything perfect within our hopes and dreams of happiness.
Even the individuals who have billions of dollars in the bank have times of frustration and disappointment. For example, even those who cruise the seas on luxury yachts have engine breakdowns and stormy weather. Or how about those who have all the money they could ever spend but are so sick they cannot get out of bed? It’s just not a perfect world.
I was thinking about this the other day. I know I’m blessed and appreciate all the Lord has done for me. I’m not rich according to the world’s standards, but I can pay my bills and enjoy being debt-free. We have two grown children who married amazing spouses, and we have some incredibly adorable and intelligent grandchildren. I do have some health issues, but I’m still walking, I can see, and I live relatively pain-free. I have a beautiful wife, and we have a great marriage.
Is everything perfect? Of course not, but I know without a doubt that at our age, we are very fortunate. I provide family counseling and also help minister to those who are incarcerated. There are a lot of families who are struggling.
I understand that many of you who read this column have also been blessed in the same ways I have, and I rejoice with you. For those who are facing serious challenges in certain areas of your lives, we pray for strength, patience and encouragement as you keep knocking, seeking and asking the Lord to intervene. This passage in Matthew 7:7-8 is a wonderful promise directly from Jesus: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock and will be opened unto you: for everyone that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”