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Six Encouraging Prayers for Hopeless Situations
I recently went to the woods to talk to God about a situation that felt hopeless. Perhaps you’re facing some challenging circumstances, too. You are in the right place. Today, we’ll unpack six prayers for hopeless situations as we press into our true Source of hope. We are never without hope when we learn where our unchanging hope is found. This week, I invite you to join me in my favorite place: the woods. Prayers for Hopeless Situations As I walked through the forest recently, I realized I was falling into a behavior that has defined my response to hopeless situations for years: Trying to fix what felt broken. Most…
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What Is God Doing in My Life? 4 Truths About Trials
This morning, I was startled to find the wood line painted grey. Nevertheless, the bleak scene matched the state of my soul. I sat by the window and wondered, What is God doing in my life? Above the hardwoods, a lavender cloud arched its back into the shape of a question mark. Perhaps the heavens were questioning God’s purposes as well. Later in the day, I took a walk beneath the naked arms of the maples, oaks, and sycamores. I let my mind trace the footprints of a handful of recent disappointments—disappointments that felt far heavier than a dismal shift of seasons. I counted the losses, stared down some shattered…
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Beauty in Brokenness: 7 Insights for Challenging Times
The first storm of fall comes with gusty gales and breaks loose the brittle branches and untethered leaves. I have a deep sense of my own brokenness as the leaves scatter across the yard, and a question stirs in my heart: How do you turn to God and find beauty in brokenness when life is hard? Beauty in Brokenness Perhaps it comes with remembering the ways God uses our brokenness. The world around us tells us to avoid suffering, failure, and brokenness. However, Jesus offers a different invitation. He invites us to embrace suffering, failure, and brokenness. We cannot become spiritually mature without adversity. This truth is difficult to swallow,…
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5 Hope-Filled Prayers for Grieving Families
A few months ago, a family in our community endured a heart-wrenching loss. Every time I read updates about their painful journey, I felt like my heart was pierced, and tears flooded my eyes. At the culmination of their awful journey, I visited the Facebook page where they had been posting updates. As I read through the kind and encouraging words written by those who were supporting them, the pain of entering into their story was almost more than I could bear. I was about to close the Facebook page and move on to something different—mostly to assuage the torrent of emotions I was feeling—when a quiet voice whispered, “Stay.”…
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How to Have Compassion for Yourself
Do you want to know how to have compassion for yourself in trying times? I invite you to join me as I deal with my troubling emotions and we’ll talk about self-compassion and how to practice it. How to Have Compassion for Yourself Tufts of fog hover beneath an apricot sky as storm clouds roll eastward on the wings of dusk. I sit by the window and focus on breathing slowly. As my lungs expand and contract, my body relaxes. “Be kind to yourself,” I whisper for the thousandth time. I’ve spent most of my life being ridiculously hard on myself. When I was younger, I built my life around…
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4 Positive Affirmations for Hard Times
Are you facing a difficult situation right now? I invite you to join me as we uncover four positive affirmations for hard times and difficult circumstances. Speak these words when life is tough and you feel discouraged. 4 Positive Affirmations for Hard Times This week, the robins returned to our wilted lawn. I envisioned the coming days with emerald grass and sapphire skies overhead. I turned the calendar to March two days early because I just couldn’t wait. Perhaps I was wishing my life away, but I wasn’t overly concerned. I wanted to wish away the long, cold months of winter and welcome sunny afternoons in the backyard with little…
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Trials of Faith: 3 Promises for Tough Times
We all face trials of faith. When these times come, we can respond in a variety of ways. Some people blame God for trials, take offense, and turn away from him. Others try to fix the broken circumstances as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, some of us numb ourselves or escape into work. Today, we’ll talk about how to grow through trials of faith instead of being thrown off course by them. Trials of Faith Last year at this time, the valley behind our house flooded. After three days of rain, the ice encasing the creek finally gave way, and the whole valley was swallowed in the icy torrent. Standing at…
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How to Overcome the Storms of Life
Not long ago, we awakened to a world encased in a silver sheen of ice. Crystal droplets, frozen in time, hung from the railing of the deck like daggers waiting to fall. The wind howled, and frozen shards flew from the jostled branches of the poplar tree. The scene prompted me to consider how to overcome the storms of life. How to Overcome the Storms of Life The storm raged all day, and when I came home from getting groceries in the evening, our daughter, Bekah, was outside attempting to feed our three pet beagles. Our beagles are hunting dogs, and they are happiest living in a well-insulated kennel in…
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What If This Disappointment Is God’s Protection?
The towering summit of North America’s tallest mountain loomed in the distance as I trekked through the Alaskan wilderness with the invincibility of a 21-year-old. I was alone, dozens of miles from civilization, and the dusky midnight sky made it hard to see the path in front of me. As the bushes along the path rustled, I prayed for God’s protection and kept pressing forward. I knew I could be mauled by a grizzly at any moment. I’d already walked close to 30 miles throughout the past 12 hours, and I wouldn’t reach the cabin for at least two more hours. I knew it was unwise to walk through the…
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A Prayer for Strength and Healing When Life Hurts
The Queen Anne’s Lace stands in full bloom—sprinkling the fields with flourishes of ivory. Admiring it from the window, I utter a silent prayer for strength and healing. Not long ago, I slipped into the woods on a balmy evening. As I gazed into the murky creek water, I assessed the state of my soul and realized I was wrestling with uncertainty. The creek bottom exhaled the pungent scent of decaying earth, and I immediately sensed an invitation: Anyone can declare trust in God when life’s going well, but it takes faith to declare our trust when life feels uncertain. A Powerful Prayer for Strength and Healing: “Lord, I trust…