Trust

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September 16, 2021

Understanding the Peace that Passes Understanding The word peace displays many facets. Peace ranges from the absence of war and hostility, to personal relational harmony. The spectrum of peace sweeps from a sense of unbroken well-being and contentment, to freedom from disputes and conflict, to the Messianic peace where Christ has reconciled us to God. But, in a fiery hard, how do we experience peace? We offer genuine sentiment to others to encounter “the peace that passes understanding” as they...

May 20, 2021

When God Doesn’t Make Sense We all face seasons when, from our limited, human perspective, what God allows in our life does not make sense.  Last month, two weeks and two days after losing our son Tyler, we followed the ambulance transporting my father-in-law to the hospital. We had lived life and raised our family within ten minutes of him, so our years were filled with his supportive, loving presence. That evening, while we sat with him, pushing back the...

May 7, 2020

When God Isn’t Answering

Ever find yourself up against a brick wall? Searching for a door to get to the other side, but finding none. Or perhaps feeling like you’re standing in a thick, dusky fog, needing to make a move, but no idea which way to step. And you pray to God for help. “Lord, I need direction. I need help. I need an answer.” Aaaaaand nothing. We bear our hearts to the Lord and ask friends to pray. And nothing. No direction....

April 30, 2020

Two Weapons to Fight Fear

Though the world battles a shared dose of fear today, fear is not a new reaction to unknown or frightening circumstances. Fear entered our world when the first man and woman disobeyed God. Just a few sentences later, we witness Adam saying, “I was afraid”. (Genesis 3:10). Like other emotions, fear comes in many shapes and sizes and in varying degrees; some rational, some not so much; demonstrated in the statement, “I am afraid of wasps and a family member...

March 12, 2020

2 Things to Grasp when Life’s Unpredictable Storms Hit

One of the few things about life we can predict is that life is unpredictable. Circumstances change in a heartbeat. Issues start piling up that were nowhere on our radar screen. With relief, we leave behind unexpected trials in one season only to face shocking ones in the next. We did not anticipate a financial crisis or a disease dramatically altering our life. No telegraph, sirens or flashing lights warn us of the tidal wave coming just around the corner....

September 19, 2019

What to Do When God’s Ways Baffle Us

Life can be downright perplexing. And troubling. And complicated. At times churning with confusion, pain and sadness. Examining a situation, we shake our heads crying out, “Lord, this makes no sense to me at all.” We wrestle with the thing, turning the complex matter upside-down, inside-out and every which way, but cannot put the pieces together to reach any logical understanding. We reason until our brains ache with the effort. We devise a number of options for a situation to...

April 25, 2019

Why We Choose a Rocky Path

Hard things sneak up behind us. Or hit us full in the face. But sometimes God asks us to alter our course and step onto a path headed straight into a hard. Straight toward a difficulty we would choose to bypass; intentionally being part of circumstances that we could list a baker’s dozen reasons why we should execute a big detour to avoid the mess. We hesitate on the precipice of a hard where God is directing us. Afraid. Troubled...

April 11, 2019

Facing Hard Changes? Take His Hand

Difficult transitions into new seasons can spark a hard. Taking a giant step from the comfortable, security of the known into the discomfort and shaky unknown pours fear, sorrow, and insecurity into our soul. Waiting in the family van to retrieve a son from a late-running ball practice, the reality of an upcoming change sunk in deep. Thankful for the darkness and storm smearing the windshield, obscuring the sorrow that rained down my face, a deep lamenting began. “Lord, this...

March 7, 2019

4 Ways to Defeat Doubt

Doubt. To be uncertain. To distrust and be apprehensive. Doubt makes us hesitant and reluctant, freezing us in our tracks or sending us crawling back under the covers. Doubts threaten to keep us undecided and stagnant in belief. Faith and trust stand firm as the antitheses to doubt. Aiming this double-barrel shotgun at our doubts sends them scurrying. But sometimes, our weapons are misplaced and we stand unarmed, feeling confused, prone to uncertainty, skepticism and anxiety. We traipse through difficult...