-
Why Jesus Is My Hope—Even in My Disappointment
As the season changes here, I’ve been intermittently looking back and looking ahead. I’m reminding myself of one truth: Jesus is my hope for the future, and he is my hope in the face of my deepest disappointments. I don’t know what your past season looked like. Maybe you put everything you had into your career, and there’s still no fruit to be seen. Maybe you lost the job you loved. You might have had goals for your finances, your waistline, your marriage, or your ministry. Maybe some of these areas are worse off now than they were when you had all that hope. Even worse, you might have achieved…
-
“Has God Abandoned Me?” (3 Promises From God)
I sit in the canyon where the granite is ribboned with a thousand shades of earthy beige. I’ve come to this canyon to find answers and seek direction for my life. Feeling alone and uncertain, I whisper painful words to the wild Wyoming sky: “Has God abandoned me?” I’ve endured some rough years, and I can’t help but wonder what God thinks about my life. Is he looking at me with folded arms and a disappointed scowl on his face? Is he rolling his eyes and writing me off? I surely deserve to be written off. I’ve been living for myself and not for him. And here in this valley,…
-
Why Dying to Self Is the Gateway to the Fullest Kind of Life
A vase of salmon-colored zinnias rests on the dining room table the day my friend speaks the words. She tells me motherhood will be an adventure in dying to self. I’m eight months pregnant with our first child, and my friend’s words aren’t at all encouraging. I’ve been sick for eight months. I feel like I’ve died a thousand times throughout this pregnancy. Imagining life getting worse before it gets better is nearly enough to send me over the edge. I smile politely and pray my friend is wrong. Ten years later . . . That conversation took place more than ten years ago. As I reflect on the past decade,…
-
Don’t Give up in the Valley of Affliction
The emerald valley folds us in a warm embrace as we follow the trail through thick skunk cabbage. The little one at my side tells me his legs are getting tired, and I pat him on the back. “Don’t stop now,” I encourage. “This is when your muscles get stronger.” He doesn’t say a word, but he nods his head, and I catch him reaching to check his biceps. We hike another mile, and he doesn’t complain again. He does stop to check his biceps a few more times. Later, as the stars sing their silver songs through my open bedroom window, I reflect on the day and smile at my little boy’s tenacity. He’d…
-
5 Calming Prayers for Peace of Mind
The blushing blossoms have withered and fallen from the tiny rosebush on the dining room table, quietly reminding us this place was never meant to be the wild rose’s home. I feel much the same: weary and aware that this world is not home. Staring at the shriveled bush, I utter a few prayers for peace of mind, and I come to a startling realization. I seem to expect this life to be free from trouble. All the while, the One who knit me together tells me to expect trouble. Our troubles aren’t terrible, relatively speaking. Everyone in the house succumbs to a weird virus. My bad knee flares up. Our…
-
A Short Prayer for Strength During Difficult Times
Have you been walking through a difficult time in your life? Today, I invite you to join me during one of the most challenging years of my life, and I’ll share a short prayer for strength during difficult times of all sorts. I pray these words lead you straight into the arms of your heavenly Father. He loves you, and he hasn’t missed a moment of the trial you are walking through. A Short Prayer for Strength During Difficult Times The oaks flaunted butterscotch hands the year suffering marked our family’s Thanksgiving celebration. I watched from my quiet place on the couch as my family pulled out of the driveway…
-
Trusting God in Difficult Times: 3 Powerful Insights
Raindrops hang from the picnic table like glass beads on a string. Morning has come with heavy air and an ashen sky that goads us to sleep longer. Life has consisted of one rainy day after another here. It’s been a hard season of learning about trusting God in difficult times. Perhaps you can relate. If you could use encouragement on trusting God in difficult times, you’re in the right place today. Trusting God in Difficult Times What happens when the thing you prayed would never happen becomes your reality? A friendship that was once life-giving suddenly becomes strained and difficult. You are misunderstood in an area that matters deeply…
-
6 Powerful Bible Verses for Times of Trouble and Grief
There are starlings at the bird feeder this morning. Larger and more aggressive than the petite chickadees and nuthatches, they’ve come to wreak havoc on our quiet little world. The squabbling birds remind me of my own current times of trouble. I’ve been stressing out over our budget and our health. We’ve wept over freshly broken earth and lives taken way too soon. Perhaps you are facing trouble or grief today, too. We live in a broken world. However, when we face times of trouble, God offers hope. Jesus invites us to put our hope in him, and this is how we find the strength to endure grief and trouble.…
-
5 Refreshing Bible Verses for the Weary and Burdened
The translucent breath of heaven lingers on the morning window panes, and burdock lifts barbed hands toward a grey sky. Sometimes this season of sleep, cold, and darkness starts to leave us all feeling just a little too threadbare. We crave light and warmth. If this is you today, I invite you to soak in these refreshing Bible verses for the weary and worn. As I prepare my heart to walk through this season, I’m reminded of the burdens our little family faced throughout past winters. Our past few winters have been difficult. We have faced struggles that often felt beyond our strength. We have faced blustery afternoons spent over the…
-
One Word to Help You Navigate Holiday Sadness
The burning bush blazed crimson, and I vividly remember the year when suffering marked our family’s holiday celebrations. I was alone, ill, and stuck on the couch. For the first time in my life, the joy of the holiday season was replaced by deep and lingering holiday sadness. I didn’t want the lot that had been assigned to me. I had prayed and believed for health, and I’d fallen into a stretch of sickness that was more intense than anything I’d ever experienced. Aside from a short half-hour in the mornings, I was forced to lie completely motionless and drown in my haze of illness. After a month on the…