Posted on by Lori Cartmell

When the Underdog Becomes Top Dog

Image by Neel Shakilov from Pixabay

Don’t you love it when an underdog turns the tables?

We’ve all cheered at movies in which the little guy triumphs over impossible odds and wins the day.

Part of what makes these stories attractive is the confidence the underdog displays in the face of adverse circumstances. He or she often thinks that it’s the other guy who’s at a disadvantage.

I’m reminded of a classic headline from a British newspaper, possibly from the early 1930s (and possibly apocryphal). The English Channel was blanketed with thick fog, making ship travel dangerous. The witty headline read:

“Fog in Channel: Continent Isolated.”

What makes this funny is that surely it was the island of Great Britain that was isolated by the dense fog, not Continental Europe!

You’ve got to admire this type of self-assurance.

I think this the type of attitude God wants us to display, but to focus it on faith and trust in Him. He wants us to believe that with Him on our side, the one who comes against is the one who’s isolated and on the ropes.

Consider the story of David and Goliath in the Bible…

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

You’re Not As Alone As You Think

Photo by Lorie Shauli on Flickr CC BY-SA-2.0

Winter can be a lonely time, can’t it?

The joyful symphony of birdsong that graced the spring and summer months has diminished. In these parts, most birds have already flown south for the winter by now. The backyards and parks seem unnaturally quiet, with nary a chirp to be heard.

It can leave us feeling bereft, like we’re all alone.

But we’re never as alone as we might think, as we’ll see from some encouraging accounts in the Bible.

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Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Living in a Snow Globe

Publicdomainpictures.net

Did you have a snow globe as a child?

I did. I loved taking it in my hand and shaking it to see the sparkly fake snow whip up into a blizzard around the little figures inside. I knew that the snowstorm was limited in scope, however, and would soon settle down. I had the globe in the palm of my hand, after all, and governed events inside.

But imagine the snow globe from the perspective of the tiny “people” inside it. From their vantage point, all they can see is whirling whiteness that seems to have no end. They’re blinded to the fact that outside their little bubble, there’s no storm at all: everything is calm and under control.

Life here on earth can be a bit like living inside a snow globe, can’t it?

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