Tagged: trust

And he shall be the stability of your times (Isaiah 33:6). In the mountains where I grew up, there is a mile-high bridge stretching across a mountain between two rocky cliffs. Only the brave dare cross through the frequent dense clouds and high winds that make the narrow bridge swing and sway far above the security of the solid earth below. I once stood in the middle of the bridge, gripped the cables on either side and closed my eyes, trying to overcome my fear of heights. The metal panels that form the crossing wobbled unsteadily beneath me as the wind howled, cruelly mocking my courage. The only thing that held me steady was imagining the immovable stability of the towering rock just ahead of… Read More

We think our work has to be so big to make a difference when all along the Lord is asking us to think small. His thoughts are so much higher than ours, and He is the One who will do great and wondrous things as we steward the small, one step of faith at a time. His command in Matthew 28:19-20 is to go and make disciples of all nations. This command seems so massive that we sometimes get bogged down in the immensity of the task. But we are each given one life, one segment of time and history to be part of this Great Commission. And how we do it may just be by thinking small. This is what my friend and colleague… Read More

for sw, my safest person The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.Psalm 93:3-4, NKJV I watched the helicopter rise from the hospital helipad, each thunderous throb of its propellers coursing through my body like a terrible shockwave. We were sitting in a beautiful garden outside the hospital while our son slept on the tenth floor. The sun shone warmly and a magnificent hydrangea bush nodded in the gentle breeze beside us. But I was not present. I was in the dark, standing on a lonely platform looking up into the night sky seven… Read More

Lent began on Wednesday and will continue until Easter Sunday, April 12. Lent is traditionally a time when Christians reflect on their faults, repent, and seek to purify their hearts and desires. It is an opportunity to grow in holiness in preparation for the celebration of Resurrection Day on Easter Sunday. Over the next forty days, I will be sharing personal Lenten reflections from my own journey with Jesus during this sacred season. It is my prayer for you that my honesty might give you courage and let you know you are not alone. The Savior knows us by name, and He loves us. O Lord who rules over all, how blessed are those who trust in you!Psalm 84:12 My house is a comfortable mess.… Read More

ready for battle with stick and sword But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.Psalm 131:2, NIV His flaming cheeks were damp with tears, skin clammy and sweaty from the fight. Those long eyelashes everyone admired were clumped together like little dragon spikes framing big blue eyes clouded with frustration. Sweet chubby fists clenched at the side of his blue corduroy overalls while he stomped his feet as though the earth were a drum and he was calling in reinforcements.  My toddler had not been allowed to eat the cookies he wanted, and for some reason beyond his comprehension, Mommy had put them out of his reach in a hiding-place… Read More

We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body.2 Corinthians 4:7-10 “What can man do to you? Much every way. Like a small thing unsheltered, like a mimosa in a thunderstorm—stems, leaves, flowers, involved in a common distress—that is how you feel till you remember God. And then what happens? …you prove that the spirit of man energized by the Spirit of God can defy the natural, and need not be, as it would naturally be, destroyed when… Read More

And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.1 Kings 19:7 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.Matthew 2:13 Sometimes the journey is just too great for us. We would never be able to make it without supernatural intervention.  Both the… Read More

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.John 15:4 I have spent the past 23 days by the side of my child who is suffering indescribable pain I cannot take away. I have wrestled with God and asked hard questions. It is difficult to express in words such intimate moments between the beloved and her Lord. So I offer this humble allegory in the hope it might offer strength to another who dares wrestle and ask the hard questions, the impossible ones, the ones that have no answer this side of heaven. Last night the branch tried to sever herself from the Vine.… Read More

I have watched as a loved one recovers from the devastation of third-degree burns. Beneath the anguish, behind the suffering, lies a lesson in gratitude for what I cannot see. Sometimes the most profound truths are revealed through the severest sorrows. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 1 Corinthians 15:57 Is it possible to have gratitude for what I cannot see?  There are times when healing begins so deep it cannot be seen for a time. Such times in life can be agonizing. Such times require much patience and trust. According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, “Third-degree burns damage or completely destroy both layers of skin including hair follicles and sweat glands and… Read More

The old me, like a seed in the ground, can be forgotten after all. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:2-4). The closer the hour drew to the seminar I was to teach, the more anxious I became. I obsessed about my hair. I fumbled with my lipstick. My mind went blank, and I couldn’t remember my subject matter. Past failures and foibles paraded through my mind, mocking me. I was a wreck. I could not blame my nerves on busyness. After a deeply satisfying night’s sleep, I’d enjoyed breakfast in… Read More