Larry Whitler

Never Despair, God Is Always There Larry Whitler

One of the responsibilities we have to each other is to share stories that provide comfort, encouragement, and hope. To do that we often have to humble ourselves and to even reveal things about ourselves that might be embarrassing. I especially think that young people need to know that their elders were not perfect, were not saints, made numerous mistakes, and often found themselves stranded, abandoned, out-of-control, and destitute. In the course of a lifetime we can choose to either acknowledge God's presence and role in our lives or we can claim that we are "self-made." I reject the whole "self-made" assessment of our own accomplishments and choose to acknowledge God's presence throughout my life. I am, in no way, a biblical scholar. But I am an observer of life. In my very short book, "Never Despair, God Is Always There," I share stories of my own, and stories of others who responded to a blog post I made, that I believe illustrate God's presence, God's mercy, God's love, God's guidance, and God's plan for all of us.