Overcoming Trials
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4 Things to Do When You Feel Helpless
I remember the way the shadows danced on the walls as I held her through the night, the ulcers in her mouth burning with a relentlessness that made sleep hard to find. I’d bring her to the bed and let her whimper in my arms as her three-year-old body slipped in and out of sleep, and it felt like something in me just might tear wide open. And what in the world are you supposed to do when you feel helpless over the situations that matter most in your life? It was a medical condition that shaped our lives for over a year, and most of the time we felt…
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4 Prayers for Hope and Peace in Difficult Times
I’m sorting through my eight-year-old’s backpack when I hear the words echo from the TV in the living room. Another shooting. Fatalities. Children running for safety with their arms stretched in the air. Bowing my head at the table, I turn to the Lord with urgent prayers for hope and peace in this broken world. 4 Prayers for Hope and Peace We’re all facing the consequences of living in a fallen world. We all face dark days and troubled times. After a few minutes of prayer, I think about this as I set the homework on the dining room table and hand my sweet girl a snack. My mind drifts…
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For When You’re Disappointed by God
I climb onto the elliptical as a new day dawns, and I have no motivation to follow through with my usual routine. I’m feeling disappointed by God, and I’m not sure I feel like going through the motions today. I don’t feel like working hard, sweating, or watching a motivational message about God and all of his goodness. Maybe it’s the lack of energy lately. Maybe it’s the early morning cries from the little boy’s room that drew me from sleep three hours earlier than usual. Or maybe it’s the disappointment. Lately, I’ve been disappointed by a shattered dream. Everything I had planned for and hoped for has been thrown…
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5 Bible Verses for Strength and Healing
We watch chickadees flutter above the deck, and the snow melts all over again for the sixth time this winter. Just when we start to believe things are looking warmer, a bitter north wind descends and everything alive turns back to ice again. I open my Bible in search of Bible verses for strength and healing at the end of this long season. 5 Bible Verses for Strength and Healing The storms just keep rolling in, one right after another, and I wrap our little boy in a blanket on my lap as we watch the chickadees out the window. I find that in winter, I like to place my…
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A Spiritual Warfare Workbook for Overcoming the Enemy
We live in a multidimensional world. On one level, we face battles we can readily identify with our five senses. These battles include relational dissension, financial setbacks, medical issues, and more. Meanwhile, battles are also taking place in the spiritual realm. Today, we’ll look at four surprising truths about the enemy’s attacks. I’ll also offer my online spiritual warfare workbook, Rise Up, to help you stand firm at the end of this post. In 12 easy-to-read chapters, Rise Up will teach you 12 practical ways to put on the armor of God, resist the enemy, and find victory over his attacks. By changing our battle strategies, we can walk in greater…
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Thanksgiving Encouragement for When Thanksgiving Is Hard
The first rays of morning sunlight stretch through the frosted windowpane. For an instant, I forget that it’s Thanksgiving day. On this day when much of the world celebrates, I could use some Thanksgiving encouragement for my hurting heart. Maybe Thanksgiving is hard for you this year, too. You want to embrace this season and give thanks for the gifts in your life, but giving thanks just isn’t cutting it. If this is your story today, I invite you to join me as we stand on encouraging words amid our discouragement. Thanksgiving Encouragement for the Hurting What do we do when our worlds fall apart and the holidays suddenly hurt?…
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Why Struggles in Life Are Some of God’s Greatest Gifts
“We often overlook the fact that struggles in life are some of God’s greatest gifts,” my mentor tells me as we talk on the phone on a warm autumn evening. I know she’s right, but I don’t want to hear it. Life has been hard lately, and I feel like these struggles are suffocating me. I’ve been wrestling with unanswered prayers and processing some difficult disappointments. I find it hard to believe that these struggles are God’s gifts. Struggles in Life Most likely, you have a few struggles in life, too. Maybe you’re praying for a child who turned away from the Lord or a friend who has never turned…
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Feeling Broken? 7 Truths to Lift Your Head
I’m rushing to make the house presentable before slipping out the door for a Wednesday night meeting. It seems I can’t stop the frenzy of hurry that’s overtaken my body. I have no way of knowing this flurry of activity is about to be a hard lesson on what to do when you start feeling broken in life. I hurriedly shove a white porcelain cup on top of a clumsy stack of plastic children’s dishes, and then it happens. The cup slides straight out of the cabinet and onto the kitchen floor. It breaks into a handful of tiny pieces, white shards that threaten soft little feet. I hear the…
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6 Promises for When You Feel Abandoned by God
“I feel like I’ve been abandoned by God,” my friend whispers through tears as we sit by the creek and watch flies rise from the water. She’s been in a tough season, and I tell her I can relate. Fifteen years ago, I uttered the same words. Since that time, I’ve uncovered a few valuable lessons about God and life. I share from my heart as the sycamores lean in with listening ears. I don’t know if she feels encouraged as we leave the water, but I pray she finds the faith to keep walking with God. When You Feel Abandoned by God Later that afternoon, my little boy stirs…
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12 “Walking in Victory Scriptures” for Life’s Battles
The Window Trail leads me through a stand of tall hemlocks, and I pause on to peer through the feathered branches. The valley beyond this veil is vast, shrouded in cyan blue like a mystical otherworld. I’m in the woods today because I’ve been feeling discouraged. I’ve brought my Bible, and as I walk, I meditate on several “walking in victory Scriptures.” “Walking in Victory Scriptures” for Life’s Battles Perhaps you’ve also been feeling discouraged in some realm of your life. If so, here are the Scriptures that encouraged and inspired me on my walk and in the days beyond. 12 “Walking in Victory Scriptures” 1. Romans 8:31 (ESV) “What…
