You win.

July 18, 2014 by 2 Comments

There are days when all my passionate topics and all the hills I’m ready to die on on get totally eclipsed by a glimpse of something bigger.  Days like December 5th.  Days like today.  When all that matters is that my God is on His throne and He is working all things for the good of those who love Him and all the foolish things that seem so important evaporate in the eternal.

Today I don’t care about scheduling or singleness. I don’t care about the fun I’m missing and I don’t care about the emails flooding my inbox. I don’t care about disputes and disagreements and I don’t care about insults or frustrations.

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Filed Under: God's bigness, God's promises

I am being restored

July 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment

He restores my soul.

It might be one of the most famous passages of scripture:  

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1-3 ESV)

He restores my soul.

My soul feels…tattered.  It feels bent and broken, by sin, by suffering, by this world.

But He restores my soul.

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Filed Under: God's bigness, God's promises, Hard days

A prayer for my pal

June 10, 2014 by 1 Comment

[Happy birthday to my sweet Hosea.  This little kiddo probably already has more words prayed over him than most people in the world, and I trust that must mean that God has glorious plans for him.  Please join me in praying for Hosea on his third birthday.]

Father,

Thank you for the fearful and wonderful crafting of the soul of Hosea.  Thank you that all the days of his life were written before one of them came to be.  

Will you send your Spirit into him even now?  Own his heart for your inheritance. Will you take this prayer for him and make it more than words? Make it real and tangible evidence of your power and grace.

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Filed Under: God as father, God's bigness

Perseverance in disguise

June 1, 2014 by 12 Comments

I still remember the way the chair squealed slightly as she twisted toward me.  I remember the thinly veiled urgency in her voice as she looked at me with pleading eyes and asked me: ‘Where is He?!’

I remember the rasp of desperation in her tone and I remember feeling a moment of doubt.  It was one of the first times I realized that my churchey answers weren’t enough for the hurting and the broken.  My simple and shallow theology didn’t know what to do with a God who wasn’t showing up.Screen Shot 2014-05-25 at 7.51.57 PM

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Filed Under: Fighting apathy, God's bigness, God's promises, Hard days

Consider Jesus

April 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment

For the hurting, for the suffering, for those in pain today: consider Jesus.

Consider Him who was by His nature exempt from all suffering, who entered into flesh and pain and death so that He could look at you today and say ‘I know.’  Consider Him who had access to any means of deliverance, (which you and I would gladly take in our pain), and yet He walked steadily into a pain beyond any we will ever experience.  Consider your great High priest who has born your sorrows.

For the failures and the flawed, for those who feel the burden and weight of shame today: consider Jesus.

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Filed Under: Fighting apathy, God as Savior, God's bigness, Hard days
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