Written by a woman with many years' experience as a pastor's wife, this devotional features 90 short, readable selections with such topics as time demands, difficult people, children, criticism, friendship, moving, privacy, and stress.

The Short End
Barbara Hughes
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save.
Isaiah 59:120
Short is something I understand. I’m short. My father was short, my mother is short, my siblings are short, and all my children—except for one—are short. We are well acquainted with the teasing that comes with being short—nicknames such as “Shorty,” “Pee-wee,” and “Shrimp-boat,” and taunt-ing songs such as “Short People Have No Reason to Live.” The message is clear: Short is defective. But of course, the teasing has all been in good fun and has given us many good laughs.
The very first verse I memorized as a child points to another “short” that is far more serious in nature. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Even the tallest person has inherited this “short” gene and is seriously defective. No one laughs when they are called up short in some failure. For ministry wives this sinful defect can sometimes be embarrassingly public: a neglected responsibility, a harsh word, an ungrateful spirit. When the prophet Isaiah wrote the verse on which I base this devotion, he made a simple statement about the adequacy of our God: He is able to save.
Jeremiah 32:17 agrees: “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”
Often when I am stretching for something just out of reach or when I’ve come up short, I am reminded of this wonderful truth.
Thank you, dear Lord, that your arm “is not too short to save.” Forgive me when I fall short of your glory in thought and word and deed. Give me grace to grow in the stature that truly counts. Amen.
Even the tallest person has inherited this “short” gene and is seriously defective.

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Excerpted from Devotions for Ministry Wives: Encouragement from Those Who've Been There
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