March 2024
Issue 216

The least favorite way to find God

I'm talking about suffering. Last issue I said you are smart, which means you realize suffering is inevitable, no matter how careful you are. Yep, bad things do happen to good people like you and me.

The pit of pain is where we find God. Misery strips away our pretenses faster than anything else. The more helpless you are, the more gracious God is.

So how do you find God there and what will he do for you? The good news is we belong to a pursuing God, and he's after you like a hurt-seeking missile. He wants to heal your heart, encourage you, and pour his liberating power into your life.

Interested? Let's go find God.

The greatest lesson

Some tragedies can't be undone,
and sometimes battles can't be won.
Some days you can't bear the cost,
or resurrect the dream you lost.

And yet, and yet, another dawn.
The sun comes up and life goes on.
When you cry out in stark despair,
the Son of God will meet you there.

The Son of God will meet you there.
He shows up with his tender care.
He'll touch you with his love and calm.
His presence is a healing balm.

So when your light is growing dim,
cast your burdens onto him.
He will bear your grief and pain.
He will raise you up again.

The greatest lesson ever known:
None of us can stand alone.
Til pain and suffering drag you down,
you'll never know where hope is found.

~ Jack Zavada, www.inspiration-for- singles.com, 2024 ~

Does this truth sound like you?

It's much easier to just stay in a rut. Ouch!

Hope for Hurting Singles has solutions—real, experience-based solutions to problems like:

• Loneliness,
  
• Shyness,
  
• Rejection,
  
• Depression,
  
• Low self-esteem,
  
• Fear,
  
• Bitterness.

If you're stuck in a rut—and only you can know whether you are—Hope for Hurting Singles is one way to get out. It's practical, it's simple, and it lets you go at your own speed.

Have you given up on your New Year's resolutions already? Hope for Hurting Singles can get you out of your rut. This book can give you the lumber, saw, hammer and nails to build a ladder, but only you can use it to climb out.

Hope for Hurting Singles is $10.99 in paperback and $3.99 for the Kindle version. Time to start on that ladder!

QOTM: Greatest human achievement is...

See? That's why I say Christianity is an adventure.

Here's the thing: God is not hiding. He does want to make himself known to you. In fact, he's pursuing you more passionately than you're seeking him.

Augustine saw this like mutual courting. We don't use that word much any more, but it's a romantic term for a man's pursuit of a potential bride. I did plenty of it—but unsuccessfully. Chasing God was a different story. I caught Him and He caught me!

And Augustine was right. No achievement you will ever reach in life will compare with the breathtaking thrill of finding God. That's when the real fun begins!

Jesus for Singles FR/EE ebook!

(No, these aren't typos. I have to resort to goofy spellings of f/ree to get this newsletter past your spam filters.)

Jesus got quite a shock when he came to Earth. Before his incarnation as a man, he had never been tempted. He had watched men and women being tempted, of course, but now he was experiencing it himself.

That's why he can empathize with our troubles. It's also why, as a single person in a society focused on marriage and big families, he undoubtedly felt a lot of pressure.

In Jesus for Singles, you'll get new insight into the Son of God and how he can help you. You'll find chapters on loneliness, depression, anger, and money. It's an easy read and laser-relevant to your life as a singleton.

Read it on your device or print it out. Jesus for Singles is 56 pages long, in PDF format and there's no address capture, spyware, or viruses.

Download your f'ree copy today!

For the zillionth time, Easter is NOT about candy and bunnies!

But they can't keep us from celebrating the best day of the year! If I had to name my second favorite aspect of Easter (the first being salvation and eternity with Jesus), I'd say it's the truth that things are rarely what they seem. Here's what I mean: From all human observation, it looked like Jesus was dead and defeated. When they took him down from the cross, he was not breathing. He was gone, and once people are gone in that way, they don't come back.

But he did come back—alive! He proved once and for all that he is God. You talk about the unexpected!

Some singles reading this newsletter will get married. Some of us will not. But there are surprises waiting for us in Heaven. Heaven is so wonderful even Jesus couldn't put it into human language. He knew our words would never do it justice.

Meanwhile, we serve him and enjoy him here on Earth. It's an exciting life being a friend of Jesus. When I'm in church on Easter singing "I Know that my Redeemer Lives," I'll have a big smile on my face. Easter is hope!

Why you're just like Daniel

We find the angel Gabriel, God's special messenger, speaking in Dan 9:23, telling Daniel he is "greatly loved." In Dan 10:10, a different angel repeats that Daniel is a "man greatly loved." Again in Dan 10:18, an angel reminds Daniel once more he is "greatly loved."

It would be easy to read this passage and think, "Good for him, but that's Daniel, not me."

But if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you are greatly loved too! We usually don't feel loved because of our circumstances. Daniel was discouraged. He was a slave in a pagan country, far away from the temple and family. And he was single like us.

It's reassuring to know you are greatly loved by God. That's why the angels reminded the downhearted prophet of that fact. I'm reminding you, right now, to keep this truth in mind about yourself.

On that note, I close the March newsletter. Comments are welcome through our secure contact form.

Until April then, Happy Easter from one greatly loved child of God to another,

Jack Zavada

PS: Not a Christian? Find out how to become one!