“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 In the midst of great pain and anguish, life can be quite difficult. Pressures from others, from day-to-day existence and challenges within us can squeeze the life out of us and steal our joy. But, the peace and love of God is more powerful than any life event and …
Category: Storms
A friend of mine recently shared that she had made a choice to stop “cursing the crisis”. In her case, the crisis was Covid’s many frustrations. While not diminishing the reality of the pain it has caused, I think she was speaking to her attitude about the crisis. I resonated with her comment as I too had been cursing the crisis. So what do we do? Do I curse the situation and complain, knowing that I have little to no …
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 My daughter and I went to Texas recently to visit my sweet sister who is valiantly and gracefully dealing with cancer. Because her immune system is weak, the doctor suggested she and her husband move to a more secluded place away from the college campus of Baylor. So, they are now living with dear, sweet, loving friends they have known since the mid-1980s. …
A dear friend who I grew up with had a major stroke a few days ago. He's in ICU and recovering slowly. Yet, in the midst of their family's pain, I hear a calm, thankful confidence in their Facebook posts. By what means does this concerned yet rejoicing tone exist? - In our broken world, we all suffer pain and loss....some small, some big. Relationships will be broken, food will be scarce, friends will have strokes, bank …
I hope this poem is some comfort to those in the midst of difficult circumstances or pain. Whether it’s those mourning the school shooting in south Florida earlier in February or others struggling with health or other issues. m While rescue may not come when or how we want, God’s promise to stay by our side is firm. The peace we can find in times of pain is none but Him and His amazing grace. His grace is …
Sometimes it seems our world is only filled with wars, civil unrest, beheadings, evil rampages and moral decline. It must pain God to see how we treat each other….in both unspoken ways (like prejudice) and in more outward ways like murder and the bombing of innocents. Isaiah 60:2 (ESV) says: For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. Like you, I am …
I may be oversimplifying things, but it seems to me that there are three important layers to how we process this life around us: Stimulus: The world around us. (top layer) Our Mind: This is where we perceive, reason and react to the world around us. (middle layer) Our Heart: This is where our core motivations and affections reside. (lower layer) Perhaps like you, I find myself living in the top two layers a lot. I experience things in the world with …
Have you ever noticed that your personal happiness in your life & accomplishments here on earth is short lived? The “life” that our accomplishments give us – the joy they give us seems to wane rapidly. As a salesperson, the largest Purchase Order I ever landed was from Target, the retailer. I worked on it for weeks and weeks. And then I finally saw the Purchase Order come over the fax. It was for over $2,000,000! Wow. The commission was huge! Like really huge. …
As we look at the current state of our world…where war, terrorism, conflicting political philosophies, seismic cultural shifts and violent crime seem nearly overwhelming….what are we to do? Do we devise a plan to respond, do we hunker down, do we fret and climb back in bed, fight back with resolve, do we escape to safety, do we share our point-of-view on FaceBook? Who or what do we look to for help or comfort? Governors, Presidents, priests, friends, a quiet life in the …
For most of my growing up years my dad had a sailboat. I loved to sail with him and we’d often sail two or three times a week. I loved being his “ship-mate”. It gave me a sense of importance and purpose….and I always felt like I was on some sort of adventure when we sailed. Because we lived near the Mississippi river on a horseshoe lake, the wind wasn’t very strong. The only thing that blew by us were huge tow-boats …