Overcoming Trials
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3 Ways to Draw Close to God When You’re Weary and Worn
I’m feeling weary and burdened as we make the long walk to the end of the driveway to wait for the school bus. I know my soul longs to draw close to God. Sadly, setting aside the time feels like work, and work is what’s worn me thin. Ann Voskamp’s words pass through my mind: “It’s never the things you carry that hurt you, but how you carry those things.” Meanwhile, when I’m honest with myself and with God, there are times when it feels like I’m carrying an unbearably heavy load, and there’s no way this load could do anything other than crush me. Truth to Help You Draw…
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How to Embrace Change: 8 Mindsets to Help You
It happened on a balmy August evening with locusts droning on like a reminder that the earth would keep spinning, even if my world had shifted in an uncomfortable direction. It was time to learn how to embrace change, and it wasn’t going to be a lesson that came easily. We will all face seasons of drastic change in life, and that August evening threw me like few others. In a matter of minutes, every dream I’d been dreaming – every plan I’d been carefully laying down like a piece of some giant puzzle – fell to the wayside, and I was left alone with a radically shifted set of…
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The Lie You Might Believe if You’re in the Refining Fire
The yellowing leaves on the fringes of the property line remind me of an October years ago when the bottom fell out. The first full month of autumn felt like a journey into a refining fire that went on without end. First, the puppy died suddenly. Then, there was a serious health scare, followed by the loss of another precious pet dog that had been a part of the family for four years. We all stared at each other and wondered how in the world God saw fit to take them both in two short months. When we prayed it wouldn’t get worse, it did. We faced life-long diagnoses, thousands…
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9 Bible Verses to Calm Fear and Anxiety
I stare out the window in the early morning hours and pray for my unraveling thoughts to settle. I’ve been fighting fear lately, and I’m losing the battle. This morning, my memorized list of Bible verses to calm fear is far from my mind. I am alone in the darkness. Perhaps you can relate. You want to overcome fear and anxiety with God’s help, but when the darkness creeps in, you often feel alone and forsaken. We face fears about everything from what will happen if the job falls through to what we’ll do if the scan reports a tumor. How do you overcome your fear when the circumstance you…
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4 Gifts Hidden in Your Pain and Suffering
The tangerine glow on the horizon marked the first sunrise after a bleak winter of pain and suffering. I drew back the curtains to watch the fiery light rise in the east. It had been overcast for weeks that felt more like months that felt more like years. The state of my soul had been equally bleak for however long it actually happened to be. The Valley of Pain and Suffering We’d been in a valley of pain and suffering for far too long. It was a long valley with foreboding walls on both sides. I was afraid it was a box valley, a canyon with walls on three sides. …
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A Refiner’s Fire Story and a Prayer for the Fires of Life
The snow outside was knee-deep when I counted the days and realized I hadn’t left the house in 28 days. I was living out my own version of the refiner’s fire story. The refining fire was burning away the dross in my life, and it hurt. I’ll share my story from the fire shortly. First, let’s visit the refiner’s fire story as we consider the various fires we face. The Refiner’s Fire Story The refiner’s fire story shares the story of a group of women who were studying the book of Malachi. They came upon Malachi 3:3, which reads, “He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He…
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To the Mom Who Is Barely Hanging on
I drove past you in the dusky light this evening. You looked like you were barely hanging on. With an infant strapped to your chest, the handle of a stroller in your left hand, and the leash of your small and energetic dog nearly yanking your right shoulder out of the socket, your face said it all. Your face told me that you’re barely hanging on. I wonder if you were stuck in the house all day. Maybe the walls started closing in, and you grew weary from changing diapers and cleaning up the same fifteen toys a dozen times. You were barely hanging on, and you needed some fresh…
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How to Trust God in Hard Times: 4 Ways
The maples were speckled with tangerine hues when the long season began. I didn’t know what the months ahead might hold. I was in the middle of a rugged stretch of roadway, and the tunnel ahead looked long. Where do you turn when the going gets tough and you’re not sure how to trust God in hard times? How to Trust God in Hard Times I was trudging forward on an autumn day, and I stumbled into the following words: “He (Jesus) learned obedience from what he suffered . . .” (Hebrews 5:8 NIV). I stopped in my tracks. I’d never noticed these words, and maybe you haven’t either. Jesus,…
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10 Anchoring Bible Verses for Uncertainty in Life
Somewhere along the blurred line between the lush days of summer and the frosty mornings of autumn, I stared out the window and realized we were stepping into an uncertain future. I’m a planner, and the uncertainty threatened to make me come unglued. I needed to find some anchoring Bible verses for uncertainty. 10 Bible Verses for Uncertainty Opening my Bible, I began my search. As I scanned the pages, I considered my tendency to cling to control. I reminded myself that my loving heavenly Father holds all things together, and he never worries about my uncertain future. An Uncertain Future You might be facing an uncertain future as well.…
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How to Trust God in Difficult Times: 4 Ways
It’s a bitter winter evening, snow falling like a white veil, when I realize that I need to let myself feel the disappointment I’ve been running from. Not long ago, a dream fell apart, and I decided it would be best to pretend I never cared about the dream. Perhaps facing my true feelings on this brisk winter evening will help me learn how to trust God in difficult times. To be honest, ignoring the pain seemed easier than dealing with disappointment directly. Most of us know all about this kind of false resilience. We say we’re rolling with the punches and bouncing back, but what we’re really doing is…
