Singing and giving thanks may not seem like the thing to do in times of trouble, but believe me, it is exactly what we need to do.

is full of people and situations that don't please us, so if we are waiting for perfect circumstances to make us happy, we will be waiting forever. That's why we must learn to base our happiness and joy not on outward circumstances, but on the Lord's presence inside us. Thankfully, we can learn not to fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in

We are the only ones who can make decisions for ourselves about how we will handle the situations that arise in our lives. Life is not likely to get any easier, but our approach to life can change and that will make it easier.

Your mess can become your ministry if you will have a positive attitude and decide to let everything you go through prepare you for what is ahead.

Many people would like a miracle, but like the man in our story, they are not willing to give up their blame and self-pity.

We cannot always control all our circumstances, but we can control ourselves with God's help.

Some people seem to start their day on the "wrong foot." They feel all right when they wake up, but as soon as something goes wrong, they lose their footing and walk with a "loser's limp" the rest of the day. Once they are off to a bad start, it seems they never catch up.

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5b Have you ever noticed that being upset or downtrodden about problems never changes them? Sometimes we don't take time to look at the fruit of our actions, but if we did, surely we would see that worry is useless. We can learn to enjoy the journey of life, even when it takes us in a different direction than we had planned.

Don't make the mistake of letting your mistakes cause you to give up.

It's been my experience that most people aren't truly happy until they've had many reasons to be sad. I believe this is because it takes all of those bad days and hardships to teach us how to truly appreciate what we have. It builds our resilience."2

Some things you go through in life may not feel good initially, but they will work out for your good if you keep going forward and trust God to strengthen you each step of the way.

We can complain and remain, or praise and be raised.