22Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.23They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.24"The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"25The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.
God is rich in mercy toward us, and we recognize that even in our times of disappointment or despair, He is still at work and will produce an outcome for our good. Sometimes the Lord will use adversity in our lives as a catalyst for change - not necessarily a change of circumstance, although that is sometimes in the mix, but a change of the heart, an alteration of attitude, an adjustment of perspective, or a fine-tuning of our priorities. We can experience a new outlook as we rely on His Spirit to do His work, to shape us, and to use us more powerfully as we submit our lives to Him. We grow in Him as we are willing to change or re-invent, as we recognize that our failures are not final, and that He has gifted us in unique ways for the sake of His Kingdom.
Some verses from 1st Corinthians 15 can provide some encouragement when we are feeling down and out or sense we may have lost our way:
57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Officially, the "sweetest comeback in the history of ever" has begun. The all-new Twinkie is back on store shelves after disappearing as the result of its parent company filing bankruptcy back in November.
The new Twinkie is smaller: boxes of 10 now weigh 13.58 ounces rather than 15.
The shelf life is longer: 45 days vs. the previous 26.
And, the formula is slightly different.
The company has a different size, too - after the brand was purchased by private equity firms, it has been dramatically restructured. The union is gone, too. The Chicago Tribune reports that when the Hostess company is full staffed within the next 3 months, it will have some 1800 employees in the US. Previously, the workforce was more than 10 times that. The number of bakeries for Hostess products has slimmed down to four from 11 since last year's shutdown.
President Rich Seban says that Hostess has an ambitious new business strategy in place for Twinkies: "to be sold wherever candy bars are sold."
"We want to capitalize on the nostalgia of the brand, but we also want to make sure we're relevant to this generation and not just the generations of the past," Seban said.
Twinkie marketers are entertaining proposals to sell the treats at sports stadiums, with continental breakfasts at hotels, at movie theater concession stands and on cruise ships.
And, the company has plans in the works to update its snack cake line to include products that are more appealing to younger consumers, lighter on the calories and possibly gluten free.
The concept here is re-invention. There have been a few minor tweaks to the Twinkie, but the approach to manufacturing and apparently marketing will be radically different.
So, what are some spiritual takeaways from the "sweetest comeback in the history of ever"? Number 1 is that re-invention can be a very helpful thing, and we should not shy away from change. And, change can be involuntary, such as Hostess experienced, or voluntary, making alterations before the bottom drops out. But, we have to be willing to be flexible, and where we see potential trouble spots, take decisive action.
We also recognize that down doesn't equate with out. Hostess came back, the brand is being revitalized, and the owners are hoping to not to repeat management mistakes. Sometimes we will have the experience of crashing and burning, but we don't have to let failures hold us back from pursuing God's plan for our lives. Even when we fail, the Lord can pick us back up and we can move forward with faith in Him. We can all be candidates for comebacks.
Finally, we acknowledge who God has made us to be - you are wired in a certain fashion, you are a unique creation of God, and you have a unique set of skills or talents that can be used for His glory. We can identify what our giftedness is, realize His love and power, and rely on His direction to show us how to appropriate and apply what He has provided.
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