Optimist’s Roundtable

By Martha Sykes

“We do not lose heart” are words from the apostle Paul as he wrote in II Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 6. At any given moment of any given day, we can be troubled or encounter many reasons to be discouraged in this world. That is, if we let them. All we have to do is read the newspaper on a daily basis, or watch the news, and we can read about, or listen to the aggressiveness of evil in our world.

From reading any of the apostle Paul’s experiences in his ministry, we know that he encountered the same evil, whether it be the lack of love and devotion, among people, or any other bad thing, we can think of that surrounds us.

Here in this verse, Paul has written to his people that, in spite of everything, he didn’t want them to lose heart.
After Paul met Christ, his mission in life had changed completely. You see, God called him to be a servant and gave him a ministry of love and service. This is the pattern that God has for us all. I believe that God gives each of us a specific ministry; That is, something we can do that He wants done. We can certainly be misdirected by the things that go wrong in the world, and we do have that potential to drift into aimless, self-seeking existence.

Just like Paul, we can find encouragement through our faith and through the love and wisdom that God grants us any time we ask.

Sometimes, we need to pause and think about the people that God has put in our lives that have a special way that they live, and it can give our spirits a lift and keep us encouraged.

One person from the past who is given a very special ministry, and calling was Mother Teresa. In her lifetime, she had inspired so many people, and helped countless children around the world through her love and caring heart.

Even though she was met with many obstacles, she continued her legacy of love and ministry. She has lived the example that Paul has given to us in his words today as he told us “ We do not lose heart”.