Sometimes people in great distress come to pastors, and that is certainly appropriate. Though we do not always have precise solutions for their dilemmas, we certainly can provide a safe and confidential place to share troubles, and we can connect them with our loving, all-wise, all-powerful God.

Often these folks coming to my office feel lower than a whale’s belly. They sometimes make statements like the following:

• My mistakes have been so awful that there is no way to repair the damage; or,

• My illness is so serious, and the prognosis so dismal, that I ought to save everybody lots of trouble and expense and just end it all; or,

• Everything I attempt fails; I am just a jinxed person; or,

• I am not useful or needed by anyone; I am just good for nothing.

Faced with such pessimism …