His agenda for our lives that God will guard, protect, and advance. We must learn to live by His agenda if we are to trust Him.

Our lives are also cluttered with a lot of "if onlys." "If only I had done this," or "if only that had not happened." But again, God has no "if onlys." God never makes a mistake; God has no regrets. "As for God, his way is perfect" (Psalm 18:30). We can trust God. He is trustworthy.

We can put this down as a bedrock truth: God will never allow any action against you that is not in accord with His will for you. And His will is always directed to our good.

Just as we should learn to stop asking why, or searching for rational explanations, or seeking to discover what "good" there is in our own adversities, so we must also learn to quiet our hearts in regard to God's government of the universe.

What was it that caused such a dramatic mood change in the heart of the writer? He turns from the circumstances at hand to the Lord.

For us to trust God in times of adversity, we must believe in God's sovereignty, His love, and His wisdom. Of these three truths, the sovereignty of God seems to be questioned the most frequently and most stridently. It seems we will allow God to be anywhere except upon His throne ruling His universe according to His good pleasure and His sovereign will.

No one should negotiate their dreams. Dreams must be free to fly high. No government, no legislature, has a right to limit your dreams. You should never agree to surrender your dreams.

At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division.

Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.

The blue-backed notebooks, the two pencils and the pencil sharpener (a pocket knife was too wasteful) the marble-topped tables, the smell of early morning, sweeping out and mopping, and luck were all you needed. For luck you carried a horse chestnut and a rabbit's foot in your right pocket. The fur had been worn off the rabbit's foot long ago and the bones and the sinews were polished by wear. The claws scratched in the lining of your pocket and you knew your luck was still there.

I may not be as strong as I think,' the old man said, 'But I know many tricks and I have resolution.

But, he thought, I keep them with precision. Only I have no luck any more. But who knows? Maybe today. Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.