There's Always a "But"...

⁸ We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. ⁹ We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4)

Aren't you glad there is always a "but"?  Yes, I am getting pressed on all sides by stressful, even overwhelming, troubles today ...  but I am not crushed.  Yes, I am perplexed by what is going on, but I am not depressed or despaired by it.  I even feel singled out by the enemy, but my God is with me.  I've been knocked down (and maybe even out!), but I'm still here and the work God is doing in my life is not destroyed!

Take courage my friends ... there is always a BUT with GOD when we are in a place like this!  Joy always comes in the morning ... look and see the Son rising in your life!

^{I took that photo standing on the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, New York the last night I saw my grandmother.  God gave me such hope in that moment ... He IS coming back ... even the sky looked like it was waiting in anticipation!}