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God Pursues Us and He Is Carrying These Two Gifts
They say when it rains it pours, and that’s how it felt yesterday morning. First, the coffee pot decided it was done brewing. Next, the Internet crashed, and the channel with the cartoons went pitch black. I sat by the window and reminded myself that God pursues us and offers his peace amid our frustrations. In the meantime, it felt like trouble was pursuing me. There are days when it feels like mishaps and misfortune are chasing us down. Trouble chases us in small ways, such as dead batteries, viruses, and power outages that derail our days. It also comes in more serious ways: health crises, financial fallouts, and broken…
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What to Do When God is Silent in Your Life
Today, I invite you to pause and imagine a discouraged woman who has lost any sense of God’s presence in her life. God is silent in her life; meanwhile, the world around her expects her to be a spiritual leader, mentor, and example. Here are her words: “As for myself, Father, I have nothing to say for the darkness is so dark, the pain is so painful. Sometimes the grip of pain is so great that I can hear my own voice call out—My God, help me. When I help my Sisters draw very close to Jesus—when I teach them to love Him with a deep, devoted, personal love, I…
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What to Do When You Hit a Spiritual Slump
Are you stuck in a spiritual slump? Read these words from my recent post at Women Wielding the Word: I remember reading the words on a sun-splattered spring dawn, and I could not honestly say I related. The words went like this: “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84:2 NIV). I want both my heart and my flesh to literally yearn – to hunger – for God, but there are plenty of mornings when I open my Bible with waning enthusiasm. A wise mentor once compared daily Bible reading to a daily bowl…
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Struggling to Draw Near to God? This Is for You…
The wildflower fields are speckled with the vibrant freckles of black-eyed susans. I stare at the gold flecks and struggle to quiet my racing mind. I’m tired of mindlessly skimming through the Bible and failing to draw near to God in the quiet moments of my morning. I’m pondering a new approach when my 4-year-old shuffles into the room. He takes hold of my hand and pulls me outside to the deck. He points to the fields and says, “Daddy’s out there with the dogs.” I don’t believe him until I hear the howl of our beagle rolling over the wildflowers. It’s Saturday, and I’m glad Darrell is out of…
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Following God Wholeheartedly in an Unseen Calling
A friend sends a message about walls closing in, sick kids, feeling underappreciated, and how in the world she’s going to make it through this never-ending season. I tell her I understand. It’s been a long season in this house, too. In times like these, following God wholeheartedly in the unseen work of life feels grueling. For me, the calling throughout the past seven months has been to lie on the couch and survive the lingering illness that accompanies my pregnancies. I’ve been called to be still, hydrate, and try to somehow keep pressing on. Sometimes, the calling of a season feels so much like a quiet kind of death…
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How to Stop Comfort Eating and Turn to God Instead
It’s 9:00 p.m. on a Thursday, and I stare at the cupboard with an insatiable appetite. I want to learn how to stop comfort eating and find my comfort in God, but when I’m honest about it, chocolate feels more tangible at the end of a long day. Several cookies, way too many chocolate chips, and an hour later, I lie in bed and ask God to help me find freedom. The heavens are silent, and I open my Bible for inspiration. What the Bible Says About How to Stop Comfort Eating My bookmark leads me to an unnamed woman in the fourth chapter of John’s gospel as she walks to…
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How to Have a Closer Relationship With God: 8 Ways
Our world is quieting with the breath of winter now, and the barren maples at the field’s edge speak of what is to come. I want to learn how to have a closer relationship with God, but there are times when the emptiness of winter amplifies the barrenness I feel inside. How to Have a Closer Relationship With God Six months ago, a friend asked if the ways I’m seeking God in my quiet time are leading me to life-giving encounters with him. When I realized my answer was most often no, I sought God’s heart to encounter him in life-giving ways. Today, I’m returning to these ideas as I…
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Time With God: Devotional Time Tips for Life’s Busy Seasons
The morning opens wide and foretells the season’s change. I wonder how we keep turning from one season to the next with ever-increasing urgency. Life has been busy and full lately. I’m desperate for some quiet devotional time with God, but I hardly know how to make it happen. I’m watching a V-shaped line of geese flap overhead when I hear my little boy pitter down the steps. He comes into the room and rubs his eyes. His short brown hair stands on end in a playful salute. I’m sure God smiles at sleepy children. “Get me cuppy, Mom,” he demands, and I extend grace about the manners since he’s…
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Passion for God: 8 Ways to Fan the Flame
A thin band of sunlight slips through the window and illuminates a dried bouquet of thistle across the room. Lately, my passion for God seems to be wilting like the dried bouquet. I remember the day we gathered the thistle. It was warm for November, and the threat of the impending months of darkness and snow weighed on me. We went to the fields and gathered thistle, horsetails, and milkweed. We hoped that bringing life inside might somehow lengthen the months when the weather would stop us from wandering through fields of wildflowers. Months later, I gaze at the bouquet as worship music plays. I silently ask God to give…
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5 Tools for the Days When Your Quiet Time With Jesus Is Boring
We’re sitting on my couch when my friend asks a question that no one has ever asked me: “Is your daily quiet time with Jesus bringing you into life-giving encounters with him?” I stare blankly at my friend while the wrens chatter outside the window. Then, I tell her the gut-honest truth: Most days, I’m just checking “quiet time with Jesus” off a list of things to accomplish for the day. It’s one more task on a never-ending list. I wonder if you can relate. Perhaps you want to connect with God in the quiet moments of your days, but you’re distracted, restless, and quite possibly even bored. If you’re like…