OCTOBER 26, 2025

   “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.”― John Wooden

JEREMIAH 17-19

5This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,

who draws strength from mere flesh

and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

6That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;

they will not see prosperity when it comes.

They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,

in a salt land where no one lives.

7“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

8They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit.” (17:5-8) 

1 TIMOTHY 6

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

11But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of the faith.

JOURNAL 

If I really lived from John Wooden’s perspective, “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out” my life would look radically different.

I think I’d worry less about what should have been and live more fully in what is. My first instinct wouldn’t be frustration or disappointment, but gratitude. I wouldn’t spend so much time trying to rewrite outcomes, control circumstances, or prove myself right. Instead, I’d make peace with the moment in front of me and make the best of it.

The truth is, most of my struggles come from resistance. I want things my way, on my timeline, with my understanding of success attached. But Wooden’s wisdom  and the truth echoed in Jeremiah 17:5-8  reminds me that the blessed life doesn’t come from self-dependence. It comes from trust.

If I lived this out, my identity wouldn’t rise and fall with success or failure. Whether things went my way or fell apart, I’d still be anchored. I’d still find joy. I’d still believe that every situation is a chance to bring my best not because the world deserves it, but because God is still worthy of it.

1 Timothy 6 warns that chasing wealth, status, or control only leads to ruin. But godliness with contentment that’s real gain. If I made the best of how things work out, I’d stop exhausting myself trying to secure tomorrow and instead focus on being faithful with today.

There’s freedom in that. Freedom to let go of bitterness when people disappoint me. Freedom to stay calm when plans collapse. Freedom to see trials not as punishments, but as opportunities. Because if I truly believed James 1:2-4, I’d see every trial as training a chance to grow in perseverance, to become “mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

If I lived like that, life wouldn’t suddenly get easier. Pain, loss, and confusion would still come. But I’d face them differently. I’d meet them with endurance, gentleness, and faith. I’d stop asking why me and start asking what now.

And maybe, just maybe, I’d finally live like that tree in Jeremiah rooted, nourished, steady… not because life always worked out, but because I finally learned to make the best of how it did.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^a whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

JAMES 1:2-4