I heard about a stomach bug going around on Wednesday night.  Seems as if more than a few people in my town spent time way under the weather.  Thursday morning was when it arrived in my body.  Every joint ached even beyond normal.  I am lucky in that it did not have the same symptoms that are showing up in other people.  Yesterday and most of today was still spent in trying to feel better or reach some point of normal.  At least it is probably that a few pounds were lost over the last 48 hours.  My guess is that the frito pie is still off the menu for me at tonight's game.

None of this was a help during the baseball game last night.  My daughter and I stayed in constant communication during the four hours or more until the end.  Some people are calling it a classic game.  Try telling that to the fans of the team that lost.  It is difficult to win with all of the self inflicted mistakes by the Texas Rangers.  Some were physical errors but many of them were mental mistakes by various players.  Few can doubt how the Rangers should be celebrating today but they aren't.  Even fewer now believe that they will celebrate at the end of tonight's ballgame.  I know that my hopes are slim for a win.

Let me put it simply in light of the last 24 hours.  We face difficulty due to things we do not desire or even contribute to our pain.  Viruses of all types exist in our world.  Sin can be understood as the most harsh illness we face.  My guess is that few people who follow Jesus just set out to become sick with rebellion.  History shows us that it is still a reality.  Then we deal with those issues we bring on ourselves.  We often yield to sin as the door opens to even more bad decisions.  We miscalculate the conditions or fail to hear our divine instructions in living.  We end up with a mess beyond our ability to fix.  Depression leads to discouragement which is its own form or defeat.

Remember that our game of life is not over until God says so.  We either keep moving forward or simply stop where we are in the journey.  Keep trusting in God no matter how bleak life appears.  Setbacks need not be fatal.  Jesus teaches us that at the cross.  May we learn those lessons well.

Bro. Trey