Are you full?

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. — Romans 15:13

As a boy, I laughed and cried as I read The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. I gave little thought to the author of these books, though, until I saw a dramatized version of Mark Twain’s life.

Twain had his share of tragedy. He blamed himself for his younger brother’s death in a steamboat accident at age 20, and for the death of his only son, who died from diphtheria at 19 months. He grieved bitterly over the deaths of two of his daughters — one from meningitis at age 23 and one from a heart attack at age 29.

But instead of turning to God, Twain became bitter and pessimistic. When he died at 74, he was desperately lonely, unhappy, and hopeless.

Mark Twain had an emptiness that could not be satisfied with money and fame. His success as a writer only increased his misery and sense of loss. His life illustrates the folly of living without God, which is described in Ecclesiastes 6:7-12. If only he had trusted Christ for salvation and looked to Him for comfort and fulfillment.

Have life’s hardships left you feeling empty and bitter, or have they strengthened your relationship with God and made you better? Turn in faith to Christ, and “the God of hope [will] fill you with all joy and peace” (Rom. 15:13).

                              — Herb Vander Lugt

The sun that hardens clay to brick

Can soften wax to shape and mold,

So too life’s trials will harden some,

While others purify as gold. — Sper

READ: Ecclesiastes 6:7-12

Life’s trials should make us better — not bitter.

The Bible in one year:

• Psalms 46-48

The Bible in one year:

• Psalms 46-48