Feb 12, 2014
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you; and when you pass
through the rivers, they will not sweep
over you. When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned…Isaiah 43:2
On Wednesday, February 12th, I drove from home to our church office for a meeting. The drive took me fifteen minutes. I arrived at 12:25 p.m., knowing that the weather forecasters were calling for a significant storm to hit our area around 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. that afternoon. When I entered the office building, the air outside was icy cold, the sky was heavily overcast, but no ice or snow was falling.
Dec 14, 2013
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say
it again: Rejoice!- Philippians 4:4
Does your joy come and go? Ebb and flow? Is it so connected to your feelings that when life unravels, so does your joy? The apostle Paul penned the above words when he was imprisoned in Rome. Yet he had learned to rejoice always. In every situation. Under any circumstance. I have been learning in a fresh way that choosing to rejoice can require intentional focus when things go wrong and I’m hit with multiple problems at the same time. Let me share just a few of the ones that have occurred within the two months leading up to this Christmas…
What, or who, has . . .
turned on the tap of your tears,
and tossed you in your bed at night,
and preoccupied your waking thoughts,
and blackened your hopes for the future,
and broken your heart,
and wrenched an agonized “Why?” from your trembling lips?
To our heart-wrenched cries of Why? God’s ultimate answer is, “Jesus,” as He is glorified and magnified in our lives through our suffering. Trust Him. When guilt takes the edge off every joy . . .
when there are no answers to your questions . . .
trust Him when you don’t understand.
Trust His heart.
