Finding encouragement in a discouraging world
<span>Mark Agrellas</span>
When I was growing up our source of news came from the three major television stations. The local news aired first with the national news immediately following. If you missed the afternoon airing, you could catch the late night news. Otherwise, you were out of luck. There was also a morning paper, but I quickly skipped to the sports and comics pages. I was not exposed to a lot of outside news and events. I did not have a major concern beyond getting out and doing my own thing.
Technology has now enabled us to instantly receive mass amounts of news and information from all over the world. We get “live” feeds, messaging, texts, alerts and social media. It is impossible to avoid the news. In some ways it is too much for a person to deal with, especially when a majority of the news we receive is negative; a tragic event, a crisis or major controversy. If the news is not huge or tragic, it is not considered news and isn’t reported. Thus, our lives have become filled with discouraging, negative messages that we cannot control or do anything about.
If not careful, one can easily get discouraged with the world we live in. So what is a person to do? How can you be encouraged?
It is challenging to look beyond all this negativity, but encouragement can be found in Jesus Christ. Jesus loves each one of us so much that he died for our sins. He loves us no matter who we are or what we do. It is encouraging to know that regardless of the circumstances of life or the world around us, we will always have Christ’s unconditional love and acceptance.
Having recently moved to Moses Lake, our family has had the opportunity to visit many great local churches. We found the churches to be warm and welcoming communities that could provide support and positive experiences. I recommend that you look to one of the churches around Moses Lake where you can find encouragement from people who share similar struggles or challenges of life.
God does not promise a life or world without problems. However, he does offer hope; that with Jesus Christ we can get through any challenge.
This column was written on behalf of the Moses Lake Christian Ministerial Association.
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