Problems hold great power over us when we conceal them. Being transparent about what enslaves us transfers power from the problem to the person. Shame is a prison with many hostages. Vulnerability is the key to freeing the prisoners. Grace enables us freedom and purpose in our common brokenness.
There is someone today who needs you to stand in the gap and hold their weary arms up. Maybe it is through prayer, a phone call or lending a helping hand. Lord focus our eyes to see the needs that are so prolific around us. Give us the grace to be in-touch, interruptible and intentional so we may walk each other home well. Amen.
I am as inadequate to the world as the world is to me, and when we learn that is as it was designed to be, that is GRACE.
Thankfully this life is not the last chapter. As it is now is not how it will end. For those who have resigned to their insufficiency and submitted to belief in a sufficient God the story ends differently. Our temporary life concludes with an abolishment of pain, suffering, evil, fighting and discontent. These things, the broken things, are all around us and seemingly more prolific every day.
Life isn’t fair, and on the surface of many circumstances God seems an unjust God. That is the treasure of the Bible, however. God’s word warns us of it all, injustices of every kind. Just as we have been apprised of the tragedies of this life so have we been promised a great trust in the next.
The last chapter is ironically the beginning. The beginning of a life free from a world imbued with pain and suffering. We have this great hope, friends. By grace for all those who have believed through faith and not of our own adequacy, (Ephesians 2:8), the crown is ours.
The story has a beautiful ending free of tears and tragedies. The story ends with a new beginning. A beginning that has no ending and cast amidst perfect peace and triumphant joy. Our hope is not here in this frail and fleeting place. For that, we may all rejoice!
At the heart of encouragement is the ability to communicate one’s value, potential and worth. It is the shining of a light into the darkest recesses of a person’s soul where inadequacy and insecurity grow. Encouragement is about affirming all that is worthy in a person, so that from those places they can function from a point of success that is guided by their true north during the fruitful, as well as the frail times.
There is a little talked about person in the Gospel named Barnabas. His name means, son of encouragement. He was very instrumental in the making of the life and ministry of Paul. Although Paul is VERY important, and one of my top three favorites of the Bible, it is the Barnabas types of the world who collectively are overlooked and substantially undervalued.
Behind every great Paul, there is a Barnabas that encourages, supports and fosters affirmation within them. This is what being the body of Christ looks like. We are not all famous, wealthy, sought after…but we each possess an ability within us to be someone’s Barnabas, and that is far more valuable than wealth, fame or any other perceived luxury this world has to offer.
You may not feel as you are a natural encourager, but it is an ability that can be perfected through practice. It is a gift that gives in return, and the dividends are priceless. I encourage you to read about Barnabas. He is very understated, but his gift is not overrated.
The gift of encouragement, it can redefine the course of a defeated day. It can elevate someone from tribulation to triumph. It is one of the most valuable gifts you can give away for free. Encouragement is a one size fits all offering, and it is always exchangeable. May we all give it away freely and abundantly. In a world where what comes around goes around, let it be encouragement! Thank you to all my friends who encourage me. You are far more valuable than anything I could ever own.
When our familiar becomes foreign, normal becomes new and usual becomes unknown; it feels as if a piece of our life is gone forever, and it is. Lost. It will never be as it was again. It is the dying of a part of us that is so deeply rooted and known that it is painful to imagine how life will look moving forward. It is a challenge to gently and fondly hold, and remember what was so that we may courageously embrace what is.
Overcoming the sting of circumstances we do not wish, nor would we choose does not mean we are happy. It does not mean we are complete, unbroken or perfect. It means we are at peace.
God tends to script our lives in such a way that eventually brings peace to our pain.
Peace does not evolve by chance. One must be available to the works of the Spirit to reap Its fruit. Looking when we do not see, believing when we do not understand, listening when we do not hear, and fighting for it all when we are weary. In the midst of staying faithful, little fountains of gratitude are born in the middle of all our grief. The light of gratitude ultimately overcomes the darkness of grief.
One secret to mastering this mystery is found in the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah 26:3~You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You.
Embracing every big and little re-direction is part of life. Some are happy, and some are sad. One glorious day, though, everything we knew, and everything we lost will be familiar again. Nothing eternal is lost forever. If you are facing a new normal, God is extending His hand. Don’t lose hope friends!
For all my family, I love you all so much!
Jesus lived to see you. He died to save you. He was resurrected to sustain you. He sees what you are walking through today. He will rescue you from the pit of despair if you take His hand. He will comfort you in order that you may find confidence and joy in Him, not your circumstances. Every time doubt and fear intrude your space today fight back with two words; But God. He is already in the midst.
After the crucifixion came the resurrection. After the resurrection, the birth of new hope, life and hearts. It marked the abolishment of fear, worry and death. The resurrection was a provision of grace that made it possible for the sin of all those who believe and repent to be wiped away; setting free any condemnation.
I was just asking myself this morning, do I live more from a place of crucifixion or resurrection? Often fear is a frequent but unwelcome guest. Sin is my shameful shadow and circumstances can hollow my heart of hope. This life can easily lead me down a path of crucifixion living.
Heavenly Father, may I never forget the crucifixion, but enable me to live the promises of the resurrection, not just during the Easter season, but through all seasons. Amen.
Around 5:30 this morning we were jolted awake by the most terrifying, booming noises and sounds of shattering glass. All this set off our glass shattering detector on our alarm, triggering that chaos as well. To be shocked out of a deep sleep to that kind of noise is paralyzingly. It sounded like our house was being bombed. All I could think of was where my kids were and getting to them, but I could not move.
Praise God the only casualties were material things. This was a very heavy mirror. We did not move the pictured chest that was against the wall, pre-fall. The force of the mirror thrust the chest out into the room. Everything on the chest, two lamps and a heavy, leaded glass bowl full of cut glass decorative ornaments, was shattered.
One thing survived untouched. That is a special picture of Carter and Macey in the black frame that has always been in that exact place. The picture not only didn’t break, it didn’t even move. Of all the things in the zone of destruction the picture frame was the most vulnerable because it is very light and made of weak material, yet it prevailed without even a nudge in another direction. Interesting!
This photo does not do the mess justice. Chards of glass spanned three rooms, floors are badly scratched and debris is everywhere. None of this is going to Heaven with me except my children, and I think the status of their picture so sweetly reminds me of that. Thank you God for all the little blessings in the big messes of our lives. A photo is worth a thousand words; Your words of faithfulness and protection.
There is a misconception that Christians should always feel happy and comfortable, but that is untrue. The Bible illustrates this for us with countless stories of struggle. My truth is that many days I feel more ragged than refreshed.
In my distress I cry out, please, Father let there be purpose in this pain. Allow me to understand your plan so my eyes may see with clarity, my ears may hear without strain and my heart may abide without aching. Then, as an obedient daughter and follower of Jesus, I know I must sum up my plea with; your will not mine be done, Father.
And that is hard, but that is holy.
I think, however, when we get to a place in our lives that we can end our prayers as Jesus did just before His death, that is a great blessing. It means our truest heart’s desire is to be operating within the will of God. It is only in the confines of obedience to Him, not self, that we will experience the steadfast joy of the Lord.
I take great comfort from Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10~ Each time he said, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
As a child I sang it; I am weak, but He is strong. Now as an adult I am accountable to not only understand it but stand under that life-giving truth. That does not mean I am not sad or weary at times. It means I can reflect the character of a loving and faithful Father despite what storms are brewing around me.
Father, thank you for the Bible that shows us time and time again this life is less about happiness and more about holiness. I am grateful for the life of your son, Jesus, who lived a perfect life amidst unimaginable suffering so that we would have a model by which to persevere. You complete us in all the areas we are incomplete. You mend all the places we are broken. You have already written the script of our lives from beginning to end. Every struggle and every success, you know the path and the divine plan. Equip us to rest in your oversight as we sometimes walk very difficult roads. Help us to remember you have adopted us as your children, and we do not have to live as orphans, but as safe, provided for children. Grace, Father. Give us grace for ourselves and grace for all who intersect our lives. Thank you for loving us. Amen.
When I was a child, we had a ditch that ran alongside and behind our property. It was a ditch, but from the perspective of my childhood imagination it was a rocky, dangerous ravine. The ditch, formidable as it was or was not, did have some steep, slippery spots. I would often fall and slide into the murky, water that sometimes housed water moccasins. Snakes terrified me, so I was hesitant to be too adventurous.
In the summertime, berries would grow on vines along that ditch. I distinctly remember that the biggest, most shiny and sweetest berries were in the most challenging spots to maneuver. I was a fearful child, so I didn’t venture to those places often, but when I did; oh to taste such sweet fruit! It could not compare to the berries growing in the flatter, less intimidating topography. Although I can remember being very afraid to pursue those berries, I knew the reward that was waiting for me, so I would muster the courage from time to time. I can still hear how loud my heart would beat. I can feel how fast it would race as if it would break out of my chest. My breathing would be fast and heavy, and I would be sweating but I would risk it all because I had experienced, and come to know the superior taste of the sweeter berries.
Life is a lot like the scary parts of that ditch, and the fruit experienced at its most precarious locations. We sometimes find ourselves in places where we risk falling, getting scraped and cut, and often that does happen. Life has a way of cutting us up, but God has a way of carving us from our slips and falls.
As I look back now, the sweetest and most nourishing fruit has been acquired in the most treacherous places. Sure, life is good when I am living on level land, but oh to taste the fruit of growth that only happens when we are in the ravenous ravines. It is here where we gain the sweetest rewards. Unlike capturing the berries, we may not immediately taste the sweetness of life’s valleys.
As I came to know the nature of those dangerous berries by taste, though, so I have come to know the character of God also through experience. If we are looking for God not just in the safe places but in the scary ones, too; if we know His faithfulness, we have confidence what joy awaits us. Experiencing God is what gives us the endurance and the strength to persevere through all the ditches we fall into throughout life. Also, knowing Him gives us the courage to get up and keep pursuing life, not from a position of safety but surrender. God enables us to walk victoriously through life’s intimidating places. Psalm 18:33 promises us this: He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
The fruit found in our most perilous places yields the greatest growth and the sweetest victories. If you are walking a rocky road right now, be encouraged. Dirt roads are paved with fertile soil.