Paul & I like to watch old western movies. John Wayne always comes to mind.  His role in the movie, “True Grit,” as Rooster Cogburn, a washed up lawman was kind of a testimony to the drive we can achieve through perseverance and courage .  The real hero of the story was Mattie Ross, a young woman determined to find her father’s murderer and bring him to justice.  She hires Cogburn to do the job.  The whiskey swilling, black eye patched, worn out old cowboy needs a kick in the pants to get him motivated.  Many of us are like Rooster.

Like most people with a strong backbone, they eventually become a squeaky wheel, which requires attention.  In other words a pain in the neck.  However, without squeaky wheels nothing would ever get done and the required attention often leads to the falling off of the wheel.

The world is full of a lot of unhappiness and many people aren’t even sure they will have enough money to make it to the next pay check – if there is one. The economy seems like it’s in the pits. Work is hard to find. We’re faced with illness, death and depression. Our world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket and hope is quickly dwindling.

So what’s a person to do? We could throw up our hands in despair. We could moan and complain about our problems. We could drown our sorrows with alcohol or drugs. Or we could go to our heavenly Father and ask for His help.

For those of us who are too stubborn and feel that we can handle this life on our own, let me remind you that God has invited us to call on Him in every trouble.  Maybe if we didn’t wait so long to communicate with Him, the troubles would lessen, but I believe that God allows them so that we know He’s there to help. When things get tough, we should arm ourselves with the breastplate of righteousness and get tough too. God will give us the stamina, the resources, the promise, the Savior, the right path, the answers and the grace.  He alone can get us back on track.