People
Chin Up!
Ever heard the expression “Chin Up”? I remember from a very young age my Grand Mother saying with a very loving tone in her voice to Chin up when not so good things in life happened. When I had my children I would tell them the same thing it became something I would say when Life happens, It’s an expression of encouragement to someone who has had to bear some emotional burdens.
God’s word says in
Pro 4:25 Let thine eyes look right on,
and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Even God is saying “Chin Up”
He did not create us to look at the ground but to look forward, Brother Clark during the revival talked about:
Exo_14:15 And the LORD said unto Moses,
Wherefore criest thou unto me?
speak unto the children of Israel,
that they go forward:
“Go forward” how can you go forward if your chin is down? Sadly in today’s society we all seem to have our chin down for one reason or another we look down due to sadness, depression, lack of self-confidence, feeling like we don’t fit in, in some ways this is because unfortunately we seem to no longer be “Present” in the real world because we are looking down:
• at our iphones,
• ipads ,
• computers
• Or whatever other electronic device we may be holding.
Instead of keeping our eyes to look right on as is said in Pro 4:25 meaning straight ahead
• What are we missing when we look down?
o The world going by us
o The seasons changing, and for the moments we do look up were like “I can’t believe that winter is here already, where did the time go?
o Missed opportunities to share the gospel.
o Missed opportunities for engaging family time, we don’t DO things together like we used to anymore we are all on our own devices and as happened for me to we will text each other even when we are in the same house and just in the other room vs. talking face to face.
o Missed opportunities with friends sometimes we get so caught up in the social media FB, Twitter, etc or playing games, but what are we missing? Again it’s that face to face contact.
One of my Sister Julie’s all-time favorite children’s stories is Charlotte’s Web, starring Charlotte the barnyard spider and Wilbur the pig. The farmer’s daughter, Fern, loved Wilbur and adopted him as her pet—until he was too big for the house and had to move to the barn. Wilbur missed Fern and felt sad about being away from her. Just when he thought things couldn’t get worse, the mother hen came on the scene.
She told Wilbur that her purpose in life was to lay eggs for people to eat, and the cow’s purpose was to give milk for the people to drink. Then came the real stinger: “Hey, Wilbur, do you know what your purpose is? Bacon!”
Needless to say, the hen was not a very encouraging friend!
Thankfully, Wilbur had a true friend. When Charlotte the spider found him wallowing in the muck of despair, she encouraged him with a resounding “Chin up, Wilbur!” She wove beautiful webs over his pen with words like "Some Pig", "Terrific", "Radiant", and lastly, "Humble that made him feel loved and important. The webs attracted media publicity, and people from all over the area came to marvel at this “special pig.” When it was time for the county fair, Wilbur feared again for his life and asked Charlotte to weave one more web. She knew that she had only one more web to weave and that then she would die. But out of her love for Wilbur, she wove the most spectacular web yet to prove how special he was. The townspeople were so taken with the web that Wilbur’s impending death was no longer an issue.
I love the biblical parallels that I found in this story. The most significant one being that Charlotte gave her life to save Wilbur’s. Not only that—but she made him a special pig!
Most of us can probably identify with Wilbur at some point. All of us face problems in life when we desperately need someone to come along and just encourage us—a “chin up” friend. But, at the end of it all, before God we are all losers at heart and deserve to die as the penalty for our sin. Yet God in His grace died to save us from eternal death and condemnation. And, as though that weren’t enough, He makes us children of the King and fills us with hope and confidence regardless of life’s threats. Jesus is a friend for those that believe in him! We can either mope around our little barnyard of life, or we can get our chin up and believe that our friend Jesus is making something special of our lives.
We need to be PRESENT and ENGAGED in the real world, Look around you! At the people around you! Put your phones down, set the games aside, look and see the world from the way God intended us to with our Chin’s up ?
And if you’re looking down because you are feeling defeated, like everything is against you don’t ever forget to rejoice in the fact that if you have believed that Jesus died for you, you have been rescued from the grave, promised eternal life, and are a Daughter of the King.
Now that’s a “chin up” thought that can keep you going with hope and strength!
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
Reader Count & Comments
Date
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 909 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Gail Spangenberg or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 909 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.