by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
One of the great things about Christianity-and there are many-is that life comes with an instruction manual, a kind of survival kit, if you will. If you’ve lived long enough to take your first steps (and if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you have), you know that life throws a steady succession of twists and turns at you.<\/p>\n
It may be a rocky personal relationship that’s aching your heart,<\/p>\n
Knowing there’s a reliable source we can depend on to help us get through it all is reassuring.<\/p>\n
Paul the apostle is an excellent example of surviving despite a steady barrage of seeming setbacks. He wrote the letter to the Philippians, among others, while he was in prison for preaching Christ’s positive, soul-saving message. Yet, despite not knowing whether he’d live or die, let alone be released from his imprisonment, he wrote that he could do all things through the One who gave Him strength. He said he could remain calm no matter the circumstances because he relied on Someone bigger than his circumstances.<\/p>\n
Somebody once said, “You’re either in a storm, just got out of one, or about to enter one.” True enough. It sounds scary, but realistically, we understand that change and trouble come to all. Who knows what’s around the corner? It doesn’t matter; we have God’s word, which instills courage, and His help through His Son, which provides hope.<\/p>\n
So, no matter what curveball life hurls at you, keep calm and carry on.<\/p>\n
“I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me<\/em>” (Philippians 4:11-13).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores One of the great things about Christianity-and there are many-is that life comes with an instruction manual, a kind of survival kit, if you will. If you’ve lived long enough to take your first steps (and if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you have), you know that life throws a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[219,385,454],"class_list":["post-70891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-bible","tag-contentment","tag-peace"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67226,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/theism\/","url_meta":{"origin":70891,"position":0},"title":"Theism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores Theism is alive and well. Aside from those religions that venerate men (Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Islam, to name a few), some worship supernatural deities (Greek mythology, Hinduism, and many other Eastern religions). There are gods of our own making (money, sex, relationships) which we hope will save\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93605,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/modern-urban-digital\/","url_meta":{"origin":70891,"position":1},"title":"Modern, Urban, Digital","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary Henry via WordPoints.com \"I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one\" (John 17:15). We might wish we'd been born in another world, but that choice is not ours. What we've got is what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36535,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/rock-star\/","url_meta":{"origin":70891,"position":2},"title":"Rock Star","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores When I was a late teenager I had dreams of becoming a rough and rowdy rock star. I'd hit it big then flame out like the shooting star in Bad Company's song \"Shooting Star.\" I hated the thought of waking up in mid-life wondering what I did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/rock-music-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":91026,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/political-discourse\/","url_meta":{"origin":70891,"position":3},"title":"Political Discourse","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores Political discourse is like the Las Vegas of Christianity; it's an environment in which we think our sin is excused.\u00a0Christians feel free to go wild, fear is perpetuated, strife is intentional, and hate is winked at. The thing is, what happens in this \"Vegas\" doesn't stay there;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93083,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/plow-to-the-end-of-the-row\/","url_meta":{"origin":70891,"position":4},"title":"Plow to the End of the Row","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 7, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary Henry via WordPoints \"But Jesus said to him, 'No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God'\" (Luke 9:62). Whatever the project, the finish is better than the beginning. Outcomes matter most in life, not just intentions or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91265,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-struggle-with-sin-am-i-a-bad-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":70891,"position":5},"title":"I Struggle with Sin. Am I a Bad Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark McCrary Every honest Christian knows this question: \"I'm struggling with sin. Does that make me a bad Christian?\" The Bible doesn't brush this concern aside. In fact, it describes exactly that tension between God's call to holiness and our ongoing battle with sin. On one hand, God says,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70891\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}