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5 Powerful Truths About Trusting God in the Valley
I weave through a mantle of green rose bushes, wood nettle, and poison oak. It’s growing darker here in the valley behind our house. I’m sure the neighbor boys are still pumping their little legs and racing our children across the backyard in the evening sunlight, but it feels like night in the valley. The shadows prompt me to consider what trusting God in the valley really looks like. Trusting God in the Valley As the valley walls block out the sun’s last rays, I recall a valley we faced when winter’s arms still stretched white over these hills. I rest on a fallen sycamore and watch trout jump as…
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How to Hope in God When He Makes You Wait
The world is turning green from the bottom up. I’ve always been captivated by this change. I can’t help but wonder if this life rising from darkness is meant to teach us how to have hope in God while we wait. Something powerful happens in hidden places. The daffodils and skunk cabbage climb out of some hidden place deep beneath the surface. The forest floor is alive and green long before the tallest maples burst into color. Every time it happens, I’m drawn in, as if for the first time. Maybe it’s because this change is reminiscent of my own journey. Change happens in hidden places, quiet places, and unseen…
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6 Healing Bible Verses for a Broken Heart
We all face heartache in life. When these times come, it can be difficult to know where to turn. During these moments, an invitation always awaits: We can turn to the One who always understands. Today, we’ll explore six Bible verses for a broken heart and soak in God’s truth for our painful moments. Bible Verses for a Broken Heart Years ago, moments after receiving the shocking news that a close loved one had passed away, an acquaintance blurted, “Don’t be sad. God will use this for good.” I wanted to say, “I know that, but can you just let me be sad for three minutes here instead of spouting…
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5 Bible Verses About Waiting Patiently for God’s Perfect Timing
It’s a cloudy Monday morning when I open my Bible in search of Bible verses about waiting patiently for God’s perfect timing. Beside me, the amaryllis has burst into full bloom. It bows low under the weight of its heavy blossom. After all of this waiting for it to bloom, I wonder if the blossom might crush it. I watch the amaryllis become its fullest self, and I wonder about my own growth. Perhaps this recent season of waiting on God has been more purposeful than I’ve imagined. Maybe God knows that if I bloom before I’m ready, the weight of it will crush me. Nevertheless, I’m tired of waiting.…
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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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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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Feeling Broken Inside? This Is for You
The lingering daylight leads us to the woods again, and I sink into a moss-covered log while the kids throw sticks into the water. Something about the scene feels alive in the most organic way. It’s like a gentle reminder of how to have hope when you’re feeling broken inside. I’m thinking about life and fresh starts as the moisture of the sphagnum moss permeates my thin pants. It seems the rotting log is absorbing my weight as I enhance the decomposition and press into the dirt. The moss is all around me now, sucking its life from the rotting log’s decomposing nutrients. My mind shifts to Christ and his…
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Feeling God’s Presence: How to Connect With Him
The maples stood barren—as if they were waiting for a fresh breath from heaven. Gazing into their spindly arms, I realized my soul felt much the same. I wanted nothing more than to start feeling God’s presence again. “God, why do you seem so distant? Why don’t I sense your presence?” I prayed. Feeling God’s Presence As I sat in the silence, my mind returned to a crystal clear Tuesday evening years ago. In a single instant, I learned more about God and love than I’d gleaned in a whole lifetime. After nine long months of suffering through a debilitating diagnosis of hyperemesis gravidarum (mostly couch-ridden and sipping sports drinks…
