Lemonade

     I have always heard it said if life gives you lemons make lemonade, meaning make a negative that is in your life into a positive. But I have to say, from where do you get your sugar to make your lemonade? Lets say your perfect condition in life would be to have a wife, children and friends who love you. Now if a negative condition came along in your life, you could rely on your family and friends for the support that you need to help you with your problem. Their love and positive support would be the sugar for you to make the lemonade.
     Now lets say your life is less than perfect and you are in a bad way with little to no support, maybe even alone without many in your life to love you. Where will the needed sugar come from to make your lemonade from the lemons that life has handed to you? A man or woman with a good support system can fall but he or she has people around who will reach out and catch them. They will never fall to the bottom. But someone who has no support in their life have only themselves to rely on. They must stop themselves from falling to the bottom.
     I want to think about what kind of support does a person alone have when feeling down. Where can they get their sugar from to make their lemonade? I thought about the trials and tribulations of the apostle Paul, what he had to endure while trying to spread the word about Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul told us what he went through while spreading the word. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 he said that he had countless beatings and was often near death. He said five times he was lashed with forty strokes less one, three times beaten with rods, once stone and three times shipwrecked. He said that he had to endure hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. It look like life was handing the apostle Paul a basket full of lemons while he was on his mission.
     Even though the apostle Paul had a basket full of lemons, he did not give up. He said in 2 Corinthians 4:8,9 "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair, ⁹persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;" From where did the apostle Paul get his strength and support to carry on? He said in 2 Timothy 3:11 "my persecutions and suffering that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them the Lord rescued me." The apostle Paul relied on God for his strength and support.
     The apostle Paul said he learned to be content in every situation. Philippians 4:11-13 "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹²I 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. ¹³I can do all things through him who strengthens me." The apostle Paul look to God for both his strength and support. Even though the apostle Paul had a basket full of lemons, God supplied him the sugar by means of his Holy Spirit so Paul could make his lemonade.
     So we can see by the apostle Paul's example even though we may be alone, God can be relied upon for our strength and support in our time of trouble. We do not have to be in a state of constant despair, we can pray to God for our help. Psalm 34:17 "When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles."If we are alone and in trouble, we do not have to drink sour lemon juice, God can and will help us to solve our problems. He will supply the sugar that we need to make our lemonade. In our darkest hour we can still look up and see God's light shinning through. We can lift our head up and be joyful in the LORD.