Lifestyle Section-Crossword Puzzles

Crossword puzzles require too much thinking.

Crossword puzzles have never been my cup of tea. Some of the questions in the puzzle are pretty easy and I have no problem writing the word down or across. Then there are

questions that are more challenging and I find myself asking, “what’s a 7-letter word that starts with p and means something that is never used by the average person.”

There are some questions I just can’t answer. After a while I quit and won’t try anymore. Life is a lot like the crossword puzzle. Some questions in our life are pretty easy to answer. What am I going to wear today? (although some of you will stand in your closet for a long time debating that one). What am I going to eat for lunch? What’ am I going to name my pet? Then there are other questions in our life that are more challenging. If my child refuses to take a nap, are they guilty of resisting a rest. Can you daydream at night? Did Noah have woodpeckers on the Ark? If so, where did he keep them? Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle? If you throw a cat out a car window does it become kitty litter? What is another word for thesaurus? If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how will anyone ever know? Is it wrong for a vegetarian to eat animal crackers? If vegetarians eat vegetables, then what do humanitarians eat? We know what the speed of light is, what’s the speed of dark? What do little birdies see when they get conked on the head? If love is blind why is lingerie so popular? If the #2 pencil is the most popular why is it still #2? If you ate pasta and anti-pasta at the same meal would you still be hungry?

On a more serious note-Who am I going to marry? Where am I going to live? What’s my career going to be? Should I take another job? How am I going to raise my children? What will my values be that I pass on? Then there are questions in life that we just can’t answer. Why did I get this disease? Why did my husband, wife, or child die? Why would God allow this to happen to me? Why did I lose my job?

When we can’t answer questions in our life we sometimes can turn bitter and want to give up. Not only can our attitude change but the very core of our being never really recovers. As we continue our devotions on “Life Has An Expiration”, we learn there are times we just don’t understand the puzzle of life. In Romans chapter 7, the apostle Paul came to a place in his life when he accepted he didn’t have all the answers. Paul said, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Sounds like a man confused as to why in his own strength and knowledge he can’t defeat the very things that bring suffering and sadness-his sin. He goes on to say, “ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” There was a time when Paul had no answers. The puzzle of life had him confused.

Do you ever feel like that? Has life got a grip on you, bringing you down the path of defeat? Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who hasn’t had to answer some of the tough questions in life yet but know someone who is struggling. Paul didn’t leave chapter 7 without an answer from God. He said, “Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”. In chapter 8 he says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The “Life Section” is about improving yourself and your image in Christ. If you have trusted Christ as your personal Savior then you have a great gift. The gift of forgiveness. Today, look yourself in the mirror and say. “I am forgiven and no matter how many times I screw up today God does not condemn me. I am free to live without feeling condemned and I will live victoriously because of what Jesus has done for me.”