In His Time

Sometimes, if not often times, it is hard to see how God is orchestrating our lives. Unexpected circumstances blow in and blow down our dreams. Yet, there is a part of us, perhaps even just a flicker that hopes and looks toward God, desiring and believing that He is doing something good in the midst of such uncertainty or calamity.

I purchased a quart of strawberries the other day. As I began to wash them, I realized that a small unripe strawberry was mixed in with the other red ripe ones. That little strawberry caught my attention. I have portions of me that are like that small green strawberry. I have fruit in my life that is fruit, but it is not ripe.

I yearn for it to be ripe. I feel as if I have waited and waited for it to be ripe, as I continue to abide in Jesus and hold to the Vine. And yet, it still is not ready for what God created it to be and I can get frustrated.

You see, the little strawberry is as much of a strawberry as the big red ripe ones are, it just is not ready to serve its purpose. It is not flavorful, nor is it nourishing. It is young and needs more time to grow.

I think sometimes I want to get ahead of God (not that it is possible) and I want to do things for God that clearly I am not ready for. He still has work to do in my life to make the fruit that He has produced in me perfectly ripe for the work that He has for me to do. Until the ripening has been complete, the fruit in my life, although fruit, is not ready.

When I am feeling discouraged, wanting all of this trial and suffering to have some positive and purposeful result, I must remember that just because I do not see it ripe, it does not mean that it will not be. My job is to continue to wait on the Lord. He knows what gifts and strengths that I have that are to be for His work.

Truth is, dear reader, sometimes I can trust God for the big picture, but I am lousy at trusting Him for the day to day. I am convinced that He has a plan and a purpose for my future (Jeremiah 29:11), but I forget that He also has a plan for today. I want to be ripe, and in that I miss the joys and the workings of God in the process. Even in today, God is at work. He is not just focused on the "big picture" but on the minutest of details. And each detail in today is growing us and ripening us for the specific work that He has for us to do, that which only we can do for Him. Remembering that encourages me and keeps me focused on God, not on whether my fruit is small and green or ripe and ready.

Q 4 U -- Authenticity

Ithought I would try something different -- a Q 4 U -- Question for You -- Series. When I write, I often wonder what other people's thoughts are on a matter. We all view the world differently based on our life experiences and even how God is working in our lives. Intermittently, I hope to present a word or a thought to see what insight or struggles people have about a particular subject.

One of my random ramblings on my last post was, "People crave authenticity." I am in the process of writing an article on authenticity; it is something I often think about. I have some ideas that I would like to share, but would love to get your input first. So, if you are willing to speak ...

What does being authentic mean to you? What does it look like, lived out?

Please leave a comment below or e-mail me at andreak54me@gmail.com I am eager to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks for helping me out!

Random Ramblings

Today was one of those days when I felt like I had a thousand thoughts, and couldn't hone in on any one of them. So, here are some random ramblings for today.

1. Your clothes don't have to match and your hair can be a mess, and it can be fun. (This one I noted when realizing, as I stepped out of the car to go in to a doctor's appointment, that my 5 year old's T-shirt was stained with lunch, it did not even remotely match her shorts (which I wasn't sure I even recognized) nor her flip flops. One pig tail was up, one was down, and she had chocolate chip cookie smeared on her lips. I commented, "Honey, what do you have on?" She looked down and said, "What, Mom? I'm fine with it. I like it, it's fun!")

2. It's alright to be sad and excited at the same time; it makes for a well rounded person.

3. Forgiving someone is one thing; living forgiveness moment to moment is another. It requires gut wrenching grace.

4. We don't have to hurry. Big decisions require waiting on God and time. Time and truth go hand in hand. We just need to persevere.

5. Being dependent on God does not mean your weak. It means you have extraordinary strength.

6. Plants need water and fertilizer and attention. They need to be cared for; if they are not, they start to wither and wilt. So do our relationships with the people we love.

7. Pancakes and scrambled eggs are great for dinner. I heard an older woman once say, "It's not what's on the plate, but who's in the chair." I like that.

8. People crave authenticity.

9. An unmade bed is just as comfortable as a made bed at 10:00PM at night, maybe even more so.

That's it for tonite, dear reader. My head is still spinning, and I'm heading off to nest in to my unmade bed. I'd love to hear about your random ramblings ...

Afraid of the Dark?

Today was "D-Day" for my 10 year old son and me -- "Drop off at camp for the first time - Day. We both woke up early this morning. I intended to spend my time with the Lord on the screen porch. He was just excited/nervous, and couldn't sleep. I guess I was, too.

We sat down, together, and gazed outside. Other than the sounds of morning birds, silence occupied our space. I could tell he was thinking. I was just watching him, waiting to hear about what was on his mind.

"Mom, isn't there a verse about darkness not really being dark to God. Something about darkness being like light to Him?" he asked.

"Are you concerned about night time at camp?" I queried, as I picked up my bible and hunted through the concordance.

We looked through several verses, and He chose Psalm 139:12 which says"...even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You." We talked about how God created light, and how out of the darkness that covered the earth God brought everything in to being; He had power over all darkness. The dark is nothing to Him. God sees everything, and nothing can be hid from Him. Even in the dark, in a cabin at a camp, there was nothing that God isn't taking care of, and He is right there.

Dear reader, I don't know about you but I may not as afraid of the dark at night anymore, but I can fear the darkness of my circumstances. It feels as if I can get lost in it. I can't always see very far in front of me. Like a little child who does not know what is around the corner in the dark, I can fear things. The dark can make me feel alone and isolated. It can be scary, full of uncertainties.

When I am walking through a time of darkness, I am reassured that God sees all and that He is working amidst it. Psalm 18:28 says that He turns our darkness in to light. I do not need to feel alone. He is always near, even when others can not be. He is using this time of darkness to teach me things that I need to know about Him and about myself, thus transforming my darkness in to light.

God is always present, always working. As I finally go to bed tonite, I am thinking of my little guy and hoping that He is comforted and made strong by a realization of God's presence in His life. He need not fear (and nor should I), for God is always with him, wherever He goes. When I can not hold His hand, God always is. I pray that he will not fear the dark, not just tonite but always, and trust in the One who is the Light.

Consequences

“Now what do you have?” I muttered to the dog from the other room, as if he understood, and as if I actually expected an answer. I stomped around the corner in to the living room, where the dog sat, crouched over chewing on something small. His “dietary indiscretion” (as the Vet calls it) had gone too far. Socks, candy wrappers and children’s toys were one thing, but blue food coloring – he had crossed the line for me.

Ugh. I could have screamed. Actually, I think I did. Splattered in an uneven display on my tan patterned area rug were bright blue blotches of color. The dog, responding to my "not so happy" tone of voice, sprinted for the kennel. I followed close on his heals, and dislodged the vessel from his mouth, leaving a dog with a very blue tongue and a look of bewilderment on his face.

My friend Pat came to the rescue. Pat knows every trick and can clean everything. She sprayed stain remover, and patted, and scrubbed, and patted, and sprayed. Most of it came up, but one rather large spot remained, lighter in color, but noticeably present, smack in the middle of the rug.

Throughout the day I saw remnants of the blue food coloring on my hands, and on my rug, and I began to think. Sometimes when the sin of someone else touches our lives in a significant way, consequences occur, and sometimes they remain, like a stain. It can be forgiven (and needs to be in good time) but it may not be forgotten. There may be long term consequences that we are faced to deal with, and it is hard and a great amount of grief may be experienced in the process.

Perhaps, dear reader, you have experienced this in your life. I don’t like having to suffer the consequences of someone else’s sin (my own is difficult enough to deal with). Our lives can forever be marked by some of these circumstances. Nor totally ruined by it, but changed by it.

It feels unfair – it is unfair. So, what do we do? How do we respond when we are reaping the consequences of another person’s sin? Galatians 6:7-9 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

In the process of living in this stained life we can make choices to continue to sow love, obedience and trust in the Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit which dwells in us. He will give us the grace and strength to “do good.” Action by action, word by word, thought by thought, we can sow the seeds of seeking God and pleasing Him in all things, amidst the pain. The truth is, we may still grieve the effects of sin, but we choose to walk in the light of His love.

The stains in our lives may change the landscape of our lives. Sometimes, they are big, and sometimes they are small. Either way, God has it all under control. He will not be mocked; no one makes a fool of God. Dear reader, love, obey and trust God. Let the Spirit do the work in you, to grow you. Choose to “do good” and do not give up. Do not shrink back in fear, but step out in faith and allow God to use the stain to transform you. Who knows the blessings that may be harvested?

Hesitant to Hope?

I must admit that I have been feeling a bit out of sorts the last couple of days. Kind of like I got out on the wrong side of the bed, but not as crabby, more quiet. I don't like when I feel this way. It doesn't feel natural, and I feel as if I am losing sight of what God really has for me.

I think it boils down to me dealing with disappointments. Dreams have been dashed, time and time again. Things aren't what I thought they would be. I desire to have hope, but I can tell that I am holding back. I am hesitant to hope.

I guess we hesitate for many reasons. Maybe we just don't have the strength to fight another battle in order to even potentially win the war. Perhaps it's fear; we are afraid that if we hope, we are just setting ourselves up for more disappointment or even, raw pain. Sometimes we hesitate because we lose our focus. Our circumstances seem to big, and we forget how really big God is. And maybe we even hesitate to hope because we have lost a sense of whom we are, made in the image of God, and dearly loved by Him.

Hoping requires taking a chance, and looking beyond our circumstances. We may find ourselves squished in between two parenthesis, seeing where we have been and knowing that we aren't going back, but looking forward, past the next parenthesis, and feeling very uncertain about the future. My encouragement to you, and to me, dear reader, is that God is in the parenthesis, too. He is writing your story and my story. He may have us in the parenthesis for a time, to give us perspective and rest and strength. It is here that we are pupils in the school of suffering, learning the valuable lessons that He has for us, in order that we can go out and minister His comfort to a hurting world.

Hesitant to hope? I can be. I am right now, but I am trying to look beyond and upward. My hope is not in what I see or what I feel, but in the Lord alone. He is faithful. The Psalmist says in Psalm 33:18, "But the eyes if the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love." Look toward the Lord, dear reader, not on your circumstances. He is looking down upon you. Look up and meet His eyes, He is faithful to be your all in all, no matter what, and He does love you, unfailingly.

Everything Beautiful In Its Time

My eight year old daughter and I glided through the water in a kayak this weekend. I paddled, she gazed at the surroundings. A gentle rain danced on the calm, smooth water, leaving ringlet curls that gradually grew and melded together. We travelled past Lily Pads with emerging yellow blossoms and over rocks and fish and branches that had fallen in to the lake long ago. The clouds in the western sky looked as if they had been brushed across a giant canvas.

As I dipped and lifted the paddle, the kayak slid through the water, I noticed the ripples that stretched out from each stroke of the paddle. I sighed to myself, "Ahhh, the ripples. How great I was feeling the ripple effect of consequences in my life, not of my doing."

The silence was broken by my sweet little daughters voice.

"Mom, did you know that God is an artist? But He doesn't paint with a brush, He uses His words to create everything. Isn't that amazing, Mom? Isn't it beautiful?"

And so my heart and mind immediately turned from the ripples, to the sky where I saw God's work unfolding as the sun was setting. The sky above was beautiful. I thought of how God called creation in to being with His words in Genesis, and then I thought of how He speaks to us with His words. I thought of how much I love my daughter and her insight and then I thought of how much God loves her, and me.

Dear reader, the same powerful Creator God who made the heavens and the earth and everything in it, including you, uses His words to speak tenderly to you and tell you of His love. In the midst of our pain He is creating beauty. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He made everything beautiful in its time." It can be difficult to see. Sometimes, I know that I am distracted by thinking about the consequences of the pain in my life instead of focusing on His beauty, or the beauty that He is creating in me through my circumstances. But God is the Creator of all beauty and He is at work, always. Trust Him as He beautifies you.

Vision Correction Needed

My ability to read small print seems to be increasingly challenged. I went to the eye doctor and sure enough, my eye sight is worsening; I need new reading glasses. When I read without my "readers," well, I can't read. Everything looks blurry. Either the children have to read for me, or I have to send everyone out on a bear hunt for my glasses. What I really need to do is get more pairs, but I keep on forgetting. Ahhhh, getting older. It can have its challenges.

As I was reflecting, and somewhat, perhaps, grieving the gradual loss of my vision, I began to think. Not only am I more and more dependent on my glasses, I realize that I am more and more dependent on God's Word. In the same way that I can not see to read without my reading glasses, I can't "read" and understand myself or my circumstances, without God's Word. It is essential for me to see the truth.

The truth is important to me. I want to be wise and discerning about the way in which God is asking me to walk. I want to understand what His truth is and then see how to apply it to my life. I want to be able to capture the vision that God has for my life and for my family.

Psalm 119:130 says, "The unfolding of your words gives light, it gives understanding to the simple." As we read more and and more of God's Word and seek Him in it, it is like a light that illuminates the truth and the areas of darkness. God's Word gives us understanding on how to live.

To see ourselves, dear reader, and our circumstances through the lenses of God's Word exposes truth. Truth is vital in a deep and abiding relationship with the Lord. In John 8:31 Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." We are to read it, digest it, and allow God's truth, through His Word, to nourish us and set us free.

The children and I were riding in the car the other day and the subject of lying came up. We were working through a situation, and by asking an array of questions, I discovered the truth. A little while later my ten year old son said to me, "Wow, Mom! You are 'the great lie detective!' You can figure out anything!"

Well, I don't know if I am the "great lie detective" but I do know that God calls us to seek truth. When we do, we are able to see clearer with spiritual eyes. God's Word shows us Who He is and it shows us about ourselves and the vision that He has for our lives. For me, I know that vision correction is needed. I need God's Word to help me with that. How about you?

Jesus' Tender and Merciful Hand

"Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. 'You of little of faith,'" he said, 'why did you doubt?'" (Matthew 14:31).

Jesus sent His disciples to the other side of the lake, while He stayed back to pray. While the disciples were out on the open water, a storm blew up and the disciples were likely confused, if not scared. Jesus met them in the storm, by walking on the water. When they saw Him, they were frightened, and Jesus tried to reassure them of Who He was. Peter, in his boldness, asked Jesus to show Himself to be truly Himself, by having Peter walk out on the water. Jesus replied, "Come," and Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water.

But when Peter saw his surroundings, he became afraid, began to sink and cried out to Jesus, "Lord, save me!"

Jesus, tenderly and mercifully, reached out His hand, caught Peter and said to Him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

I do not hear condemnation from Jesus, but gentleness, from a Saviour Who wants to reassure and comfort. It is such a personal touch on Jesus part. He could have just put Himself and Peter back in the boat at that instant, but instead, He grabs hold of His hand and catches him.

Storms occur in life, dear reader, don't they? Sometimes they are quick to pass, and other times they seem to last and last. You may see Jesus in your storm, and your desire may be to step out in obedience and walk closer towards Him. At first, you are amazed at what you are able to walk on or through. It almost defies understanding. Oftentimes, though, fear stirs up and we take our eyes off of Jesus and focus on our circumstances.

In the storm Jesus is there and He invites us to "Come." If you are walking out in obedience to Jesus in a difficult situation, trust Him to support and sustain you in the most unimaginable way, as you keep your eyes focused on Him and not on your circumstances.

Sometimes, in the midst of walking out in obedience, though, our faith can be tossed about and washed with worry. We may become fearful and cry out, like Peter, "Lord, save me!" We may feel as if we are sinking, but it is here that Jesus reaches out and grabs our hand, catches us and reassures us of His love. I received this small picture in the mail this past week from a sweet friend. I am reminded that when life gets hard and I feel as if I am beginning to lose my footing, that Jesus immediately is present to catch me and hold my hand. And I am confident, too, that He is faithful to deliver and calm the storm, some day, in His way.

"He Loves Me. He Loves Me Not." We Need Not Doubt

I really do know better, but sometimes I find myself doubting God's love for me. How about you? Sometimes I am like a little girl, with a daisy gripped in my hand, plucking off petal after petal, questioning whether "He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not."

I don't like to admit it. I'd rather say I am always completely confident, but trials and turmoil in life happen and I am tempted to wonder and doubt. So, why do we doubt God's love for us?

Are we afraid? Has our courage melted and we think that perhaps God's love has dissipated along with our courage? Do we fear that it may not be true?

Do we forget what God has done for us, either because we are too busy or we do not hold on to the truth of His love? Like the Israelites after being led out of Egypt, do we forget what God has rescued us from?

Do we doubt it because of our shame? Do we let the sinful experiences of our past or present stand in the way, blocking our view of who God really is and how much He loves us, despite what we have done? Do condemn ourselves when Jesus is offering us life and love?

Or are we ignorant? Do we simply not know, perhaps because we have not looked around us? Are our hearts hardened causing us not to believe and thus turning our backs on Him? Do we go our own way, and in the process, we squander precious His love?

Does our pain hold us back from believing that God loves us through and amidst the hurt that we feel? Have other people hurt us and now it is too great for us to believe that God truly loves us when others have not loved us well? Have we been betrayed, belittled, left behind, tossed out of some one's heart, and we can't believe that God has a heart for us?

There are lots of reasons that we doubt His love, but the truth is that God does love us with an unfailing love. "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent his one and only Son in to the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).

God has come and has shown His love for us. He seeks to save the parts of our hearts that doubt His love due to our fears, forgetfulness, shame, ignorance, hardness and hurts. He reaches out and shows us His love through His Word and through our circumstances.

Isaiah 54:10 says, "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you."

Regardless of what the daisy of childhood may have told us or is telling us, and regardless of what the enemy of our souls is whispering to us (or screaming to us!) we need to believe what God’s Word tells us, to be true. And if we are willing to look at the experiences that God has given us, we will see how He is actively expressing His love for us. He loves us. He loves us. He loves us. We need not doubt.

Fully Equipped with the Armor of God

Simply put, we do not have what it takes, only God does. Whether it is as a spouse, a parent, a sibling, a friend, or a worker we can not fight the battle against sin without God's equipping power. He gives the orders, we suit up and stand firm in to the battle, by faith. There are battles to fight every day -- big battles. Let's face it, every battle against the heinousness of sin is big.

Ephesians 6:10-17 says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, which to you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

The armor of God is not something that we can pick up at a department store or a convenience store. It will not be found in a magazine, a self-help book, or through talking to other people. It is not found inside of us by our own intelligence, ability, power. The armor belongs to God and He is the One who provides it for us to fight the battle.When you wake in the morning and get dressed, also dress yourself with this most precious and impenetrable armor. When you are in the midst of a trial, do not forget it. There are 4 things to put on, and 2 things to pick-up.

Put on the:
Belt of Truth -- God's truth
Breastplate of Righteousness - being right with God and pursuing holiness
Shoes of the Gospel of Peace -- feet made strong with the knowledge and understanding of the Gospel
Helmet of Salvation -- the protective covering of the security of who we are in Jesus and what He has done for us

Pick-up the:
Shield of Faith -- extinguishes the arrows of the evil one
Sword of the Spirit -- depending on God through his Word and prayer for the strength that is needed

Each day, when you are faced with a battle against evil and sin, remember that it is a spiritual battle, only to be fought with spiritual weapons. Donn the armor, step out and stand firm. Put on the full armor; don't leave any parts off, leaving you vulnerable and ill-equipped for the battle. Trust God to fully equip you with His armor for the battle that He asks you to stand firm in. Dear soldier of the Lord, keep up the good fight, stand firm and be strong in the Lord.

A Bruised Reed He Will Not Break

I walked along the edge of the lake in shin high water. My toes flexed in to the sand and left foot prints that soon melted and were gone. The water lapped along the shore with a rhythmic beat and the sun reflected little sprinkles of light across the waves. I wandered along thinking of what was transpiring in my life, what God was doing and what it meant to trust in Him. I was feeling tired and discouraged.

I noticed a small patch of reeds along the shore Some of the reeds appeared strong and reaching upward, swaying freely in the light breeze, but a few were bent over. They were still green and alive, but they were not upright. The patch of reeds was not present the year before; the water was too shallow, and the reeds did not grow unless they were firmly footed below the water. The verse from Isaiah 42:3 came to my mind. "A bruised reed He will not break, and a smouldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness He will bring forth justice" (NIV).

The bruised reed and smouldering wick represent those who are weary and in need of strength. The bruised reed symbolizes someone who has been damaged by something in its environment, and is feeling bent down and unable to carry the burdens. The smouldering wick symbolizes someone whose inner strength is diminishing, feeling as if they are lacking hope and resisting giving up.

In some sense, we are all bruised and smouldering. The effects of sin have taken their toll. We are all fragile and vulnerable to the world around us. Some of us can hide them better. We have become very good at it after years of having to do so. Sometimes, there is no hiding. It is open for all to see, and we may now have the added burden of shame weighing us down.

Dear reader, have you been bruised? Are you weak and burdened by the trials and pain of this world? Are you feeling damaged, like a reed who is still alive, but has been bent over by the winds and storms? Is your passion smouldering? Are you feeling like you are lacking hope? Are you discouraged, wounded, disappointed, dismayed, or afraid?

Choose Jesus. He will not break you, but restore you to a full life with Him. He will not allow your hope to be extinguished, but will fan in to flame your hope and allow it to burn brightly in a very dark world, where His light is so desperately needed to illuminate the way for others who are hurting. When your heart is set firm in the One who is the Living Water, you can believe that He will, one day, right all the wrongs and all will be well.

The hard part is that we do not always know what that will look like. We may have desires for one thing, but Jesus knows that it is another that is right for us. We must trust, though, that He holds all justice in His hands and knows just what He is doing.

Take heart, dear reader. You are cared for and loved by a powerful God, and yet, nothing escapes His tender care. Your brokenness and weariness matter to Him. Allow Him to lift your downcast face and turn it to Himself. Trust Him. He is faithful.

Face to Face with Grace

I knew that it was time. God made it evident. I dreaded coming face to face with realities that were the result of something I had not asked for; something I had been hurt deeply by.

I called out to the Lord, asking Him for His strength and trusting that He would go before me. He did, as always. I stepped in to the situatin realizing that what I was coming face to face with in my pain was grace, God's grace. I knew, instantly, that as I moved forward in faith and obeyed His call for me to face this place of pain, that He was ready to meet me there and hold my hand and my heart. He did not let go.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." His grace is sufficient. As I dealt with facts that were hard for me, I realized that I was experiencing the power of the living God in my life; His perfect power. Only by His grace could I begin to work through the pain, and believe that He had something for me in it.

In our weakness, God gives us His strength. It can be scary to face things that are hard. When we realize the time is at hand, we can call out to Him, and trust that He will answer.

Psalm 138:3 says, "When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted." To be bold is to be fearless and daring. To be steadfast is to be firm, steady, unfaltering, unwavering and unshakable. Other translations of the Bible say that when we call to God he makes our life large with strength. He energizes us. He gives us the strength that we need, making us great with strength in our soul. We can and will be bold and stouthearted when we walk with God.

Dear reader, perhaps God is calling you to face hard times from your past or your present. It can be overwhelming and filled with uncertainty. Call out to God. Ask Him when and in which way you should walk, and trust that as you do, in obedience to Him, He will make you "bold and stouthearted." He will not fail you. As you face the past and the present, dependent on Him, you will come face to face with His grace, and you will see that His strength is made perfect in your weakness. It is a powerful experience to be filled with the One true God.

Our Grief Unraveled Our God Redeems

Have you ever unraveled a skein of yarn in order to knit a project? First you must dig down in to the skein to find the end piece. When you reach in, you discover a tangled mass of threads, bound together and wrapped around one another. As you pull out the mass, you notice that the strands run across one another, up and down, back and forth, without any order.

After searching and teasing out the strands, you eventually find the end of the yarn, however, your work has just begun. Now the mass of strands must be untangled before you can start creating what you set out to create, like a sweater or a scarf.

This is how it can be when we begin to discover and get to the bottom of our grief and its complexities and mysteries. We may discover that the myriad of emotions entangled in our grief are great. Disappointment and regret and fear and rage and dread and loneliness and inadequacy and helplessness, and a great amount more, are all wound together.

As we desire to live the life that God has for us and try and work out the mess of our grief, we realize that in order to do so we may have to dig down deep and find the end of our grief (which may be the beginning) and untangle the emotions and the memories. There may be a lot of work that needs to be done in order to make sense of the mess and begin to straighten it all out.
Without God, of course, it is impossible to understand any of it. We need Him to help guide us through the process. He holds our hand to help us untangle the mess, and then takes the mess and shows us how to make something of great beauty.

In the end, we may realize that the emotions that we experience in grief are the same emotions that we can experience in living a full life. Now, however, they are laid down differently, not tangles, but side by side in a pattern that is vibrant, useful and honoring to God.

Seek the Lord our God, dear reader, with your grief and your sadness and ask Him to make something beautiful with it. Entrust the tangled mess to the Master's Hand and perfect plan. Psalm 34:22 says that "The Lord redeems His servants." God can and will redeem the lives of those He loves. He takes our messes and makes them lovely. Trust Him to unravel your grief and give you life, today.

Be Strong in the Lord

I surprised myself the other day! I went to my boot camp, begrudgingly. It was testing day, and I do not like testing day. It is enough for me to get there, let alone to have to be tested!

We had three different skills to do. They were the same ones that we did last time. This time we would see if we improved. I grumbled under my breath, "I suppose I'll do worse this time." (I know, being pessimistic isn't healthy, but we all have our crabby days.) I got down in to the modified push-up position. The test was to do as many push-ups as one can until "fail," in other words, your muscles are shivering and shaking, and you can not push your body up off of the ground one more time. So, I went at it. Thirty. Forty. Fifty. Fifty-five. Fifty-seven. (I was determined to hit a round number). Sixty -- and that was it. Not only could I not get up, I couldn't even roll over. However, I was shocked. I did 30 more than I did one month ago!

I couldn't believe that I had made that much progress. Was I really getting stronger? Was all that work I was doing really more than misery and pain? I had been going, faithfully, to the boot camp three times a week for the past month, but each time I felt worn out. I was working on modifying my diet, as well, but I just couldn't believe it!

I think it is a parallel to our gaining strength in the Lord. There are times when we are going through some serious "resistance training." Not only are we having to work against alot of pain or sadness or suffering, but we are feeling like we want to resist having to do it. In the process, though, we learn that staying committed to the Lord is the key to our growing stronger in Him. We develop perseverance over time (unfortunately, it's the only way that perseverance can be developed) and this adds to our strength. We learn more about what to take in to our minds (the truth) and what to fight to leave out (the lies). We develop a focused faith that takes one day at a time.

1 Peter 5:10 says, "And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

Strong, firm and steadfast. That is what I was feeling, physically after realizing that I had become stronger by being committed to coming to the workouts, eating well and working hard. I didn't give up, even though I wanted to, sometimes. Spiritually, it may be a bit different, but God gives us opportunities to grow stronger in Him as we stay committed to Him, watch what we take in to our minds and hearts and pursue a life of obedience to Him. Don't give up. It's not always easy to do the right thing, but blessings do come along the path.

Be strong in the Lord, dear reader. God uses our circumstances to strengthen us for the calling that He has for our lives. Trust in Him. Obey Him. Seek Him. You will grow stronger and stronger, and you may even surprise yourself one day.

Let Us Encourage One Another

"Don't fear the future -- God's already there."

"Be strong in the Lord."

"When you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, turn to the Light of the world."

Stuck to the mirror in my bathroom were three sticky notes. I was not expecting them when I looked up from brushing my teeth this morning. A friend had put them there the day before. I smiled. I knew the Lord was using her to encourage me, and it was working.

They were simple notes, with simple truths. Simple to read, but not always simple to truly believe. They are truths that I need to be reminded of, time and time again.

God gives us one another. My post is brief tonite, as it is late. But I want to encourage you to encourage others in their faith, as I was encouraged today. It was a little thing; it did not cost much in money or time, but it was a gift of great value to me as I looked in to the mirror, feeling insecure and uncertain, wondering what God had for me in this day.

What God had for me was the encouragement of a dear sister in the Lord, who took the time to fill me with God's truths and remind me of God's love.

Hebrews 10:22-25 in the call to persevere says, "let us draw near to God ... let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess ... let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds ... let us not give up meeting together ... let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Dear reader, never underestimate the power and the grace that God fills the smallest act of kindness with. It overflows and brings refreshment to His people, strengthening them to persevere and to continue to walk upright in the path that He has asked them to walk. Take time to reach out and make a difference in the life of a friend who is hurting. Your investment will have eternal rewards.

Grabbing Hold of God (and Letting Go)

"Watch me, Mom!" my little girl ran to the monkey bars and climbed to the top. She reached across to the first bar and began swinging forward, grabbing hold of the next bar. Grabbing hold and letting go. Grabbing hold and letting go. Her legs wiggled as she seemed to almost float through the air, making her way across the set of bars, reaching the end with a giggle, she climbed down, "I did it!"

In order for her to move forward, she had to grab hold of what was in front of her, and then let go of what was behind. She had to do it in that order. She could not let go first and then grab hold; if she did, she would fall to the ground and not get to the end. At least not on that try. Grabbing hold and letting go required strength and timing and endurance.

So it is when we trust God. We reach ahead, holding on to Him as we look forward, but in order for us to move forward with God, we also need to be willing to let go of what is behind.

In reaching forward and grabbing hold, we need to be confident of what we are reaching for --Whom we are reaching for. We need to be able to trust that which we are holding on to is dependable and firm. We need to know what to hold on to. In life, God is the only firm support we can hold on to. We can depend on Him to be present and to be faithful. He is always there; sometimes we just need to make the choice to reach out and grab on to Him.

Perhaps the trickier part (at least for me) is the letting go. I'm not sure why it is; maybe it requires more faith. It can be scary. But letting go, and trusting God, does not mean ignoring the circumstances or the pain. It does not mean minimizing it, denying it, or rationalizing it. It does not mean forgetting hurtful things that have happened. (It may mean forgiving the person, however). Letting go does not make the circumstances that occurred null and void. They are still real. It does not mean that our pain is not valid. It just means letting go of trying to control the outcome, seeking His good and perfect will and trusting God to handle it.

Psalm 37:5 says, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this. He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." Trusting God to handle it means seeking Him, committing our way to Him, asking Him for the wisdom and discernment necessary to move forward. In doing this, we must believe that He will show us the truth and what needs to be done next. It requires a great amount of strength, timing and endurance, all which God will give.

It is a series of grabbing hold and letting go, one after another on our journey of faith through fair and stormy weather. In the process of grasping more and more of God and Who He is, we may also need to be willing to let go of more and more. It is hard to move forward in our relationship with God and our trust in God if we are holding on to controlling our own future.

These are truths that I must remember and believe every day. What about you, dear reader? In which way is God asking you to grab hold of Him today? What may He be asking you to let go of? Seek Him for the truth and for the way. Trust Him to care for you and to take care of what is burdening you. He is faithful and just. He will do what is right and good, for He loves you very much, with an unfailing love.

God "Forgets-Us-Not"

Yesterday, I glanced down along my front path, and noticed a small flowering plant that had sprung up, through the mulch. It was a "Forget-me-not." It is such a lovely, fragile little flower, but yet must be one of great strength, that it could make its way up through the tangled, matted mulch that covers the ground around the bushes in my front yard.

"Forget-me-not!" I sighed to the Lord, "Please, forget-me-not!"

Then today, I opened the overhead garage door and two birds flew in to the garage. As I got in the car, they landed on the windshield wiper in front of me. They both looked at me, cocked their heads to the left, then to the right, and flew away. It was very odd.

Now, I will admit that I have been feeling a bit fuzzy lately. I'm not sure if it is due to the busy schedule that I have been keeping, coming off of speaking at bible study or just (did I just say just?) the chronic wear and tear of the trials, but my mind has been a bit, well, disconnected. I can care for and love on my children and do my "activities of daily living" but it seems like I just can't "think" anymore. I feel as if I have lost my creativity and my energy.

But, true to God's faithfulness, He brings things by my path and to my attention, anyway, despite my limitations. A "Forget-me-not" plant that is lovely and fragile and strong and two sparrows? What was God trying to tell me?

So, I went to God's Word and read for awhile. He reassured me of His love and His care through the Psalms. He exhorted me to continue doing good in the book of Titus. And then He brought me to Luke 12. Of course He did, I thought. My pastor preached on it on Sunday.

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows" (Luke 12:6-7).

And this is what I heard, "Do not be afraid, dear one, of what you are facing. You are worth more than those sparrows that I placed in front of you. You are worth more than many sparrows. You are worth alot to me! I have not forgotten them, and I have not forgotten you. You are like that fragile, lovely little flower, that I have made strong, and have helped to come out of much (mulch). I know that you are tired and your mind is full of many details. I want you to fill it with Me. I can not forget you; do not forget Me. Come and spend time with me, and I will give you rest and I will care for you through my Word."

Having just taught on "Abiding with Jesus," I would think that I would learn. But, I forget. Praise God that He does not. Dear reader, be strengthened and encouraged in this truth; He forgets us not. "He has remembered His love and His faithfulness ..." (Psalm 98:3). What is God showing you?

He Can Move the Mountains

The sky started out blue in the early morning hours, with patchy clouds sewn across the horizon. But before long, thick dark bands of gray marched in from the west. I could almost see the layers upon layers of clouds, like rows of enemy soldiers marching towards a battle front.

The wind picked up and then I heard it, faintly at first, rolling in from the distance. Quite quickly, the irregular thunderous drum roll increased in intensity and frequency. The cracking and booming grew, rolling across the landscape, bellowing from the clouds; the thunder brought with it the rain, slowly at first and then rapidly pelting the ground like machine gun fire. The storm had arrived just as I rounded the turn on to my street and home.

As a child, much like my own children, I was afraid of thunder. There was something hollow and deep and scary about it. As years went by, I convinced myself that it was "angels bowling" or "God moving furniture," but I was never fully satisfied.

Today, however, the cracking and the booming and the rolling sounded more like mountains moving. There are certainly a few mountains in my life that I could use moved. I had recently been thinking about the mountains that seemed to be between me and what I thought looked like a sweeter, gentler more peaceable time. The way over them looked too daunting. The way around too laborious. Oh, how I wish they could just be moved! (And I had asked God a time or twenty for just that thing).

But today I thought, "What if they are moving?" Maybe amidst all the noise and commotion that I witness from time to time in the circumstances of my life, God is moving the mountains that are before me out of the way. Maybe, just maybe, what I thought was not moving, really was, but it just was being done differently that I thought. (Imagine that!) God wasn't making the mountains disappear, but He was doing something.

Psalm 46:1-3 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."

Today, when I heard the thunder, I also heard the gentle voice of God in it saying, "Does that thunder sound like mountains moving to you? Well, be assured, I am ever-present in your storms. The sounds you may be afraid of are not for you to fear. It is Me doing my work for you. Remember that when you fear the thunderous circumstances in your life, it is Me moving out of the way that which separates Me from you and you from you. I am moving that mountain, dear daughter. Trust Me."

When I feel as if all is crumbling apart and not going as I had hoped, I will chose to remember that perhaps what appears to be things falling apart, may actually be God moving the mountain. When my dreams and desires seem to be giving way, maybe God is placing them somewhere else to be better used for Him. Either way, no matter what, I know that on my walk with the Lord when the storms come, He is my refuge and my strength from the rains and from the winds, and I need not fear.

God Lifts Us Out and Sets Us Free

It is raining today. A chilling kind of rain, that you can almost feel seep in to every pore of your body and settle there, leaving you wanting for warmth, all day.

As I walked through my back yard today with the dog, I noted a low spot. The grass reaches out towards a path that wanders through the woods, but at the opening of the path, the ground dips down. When it rains, water almost always pools there.

There was something about it that reminded me of my own heart. It has a low lying spot, too, where the tears of my sorrow seem to all flow and pool. When the rainy days of life stir up my tears, they seem to all run in to this place of grief; grief from the past and grief from the present, mixed together, they accumulate.


The spot in my yard can get pretty sloppy, slippery and slimy. The water dries up eventually, but for awhile, it stagnates, only slowly seeping in to the ground or evaporating, producing a miniature swamp of sorts, muddy and stinky. It's a mess to step in, and easy to get stuck in.


More and more as I grow and mature, I realize that I can get stuck in the pool of my tears as well. The tears come for a reason, and they are good, but sometimes they begin to gather and pool and instead of soaking in to my heart and nourishing it, they can stagnate. I get stuck in the mud and the mire, and I need help to get out.


Psalm 40:1-3 says, "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to my God."


I know that there is a time and a season to grieve. It is important and it serves a purpose for our hurting hearts as it drives us to call out to and depend on God, the only One we really can depend on. The problem is that sometimes I, and perhaps you do to, dear reader, get stuck there. We feel hopeless and helpless. We lose sight of Who God is and what He is doing in our lives. We think that all of life is going to be muddy and sticky and yucky, and we forget that God is right there standing with an outstretched arm to pull us out and rescue us. He has a rock for us to stand on, a place of great strength and stability, Jesus. And not only that, but He has a song for us to sing, that only we can sing for Him.

As I look at my back yard, I see that beyond the path where the muddy mire sits today, are two chairs. I can almost hear the Lord beckoning to me, "Grab hold of Me, I am here to lift you out and to set you on solid ground where you are free. Remember I am your strength and in Me you are strong. Come sit with me awhile, child, and let me sing to you the song I have for you to sing. It is a song of great beauty and of great joy, not of sorrow. You do not need to be stuck in your grief, but free in my love. Have hope for I am here to help."

And so, again, I chose to trust God and hold tight to Him -- no matter what, no matter when, no matter how, no matter where. I will trust in Him alone.

God's Gentle Hand Prunes to Produce More Fruit

On the previous post, I wrote about abiding in Jesus and the fruit that results when we do so, in Him alone; fruit that is beautiful and nurturing and vitalizing. It is the fruit of the character of Christ in us.

In addition to the importance of abiding in Jesus, John 15:1-5 also talks about God's pruning purpose in our lives, in regards to fruit bearing. John 15:2 says, " ... every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit" (NASB).

Every branch that bears fruit, God prunes that it may bear fruit? I wish that more fertilizer and watering would produce more fruit, not something painful like pruning. But that is not what Jesus says. He says that in order for there to be more fruit, pruning must occur.

Unfortunately, and don't we all know it in some sense or another, pruning hurts. It hurts, but it helps. We do not enjoy it, but it is necessary. It is essential if we are to be more like Christ.

In the physical world of vines and fruit trees, it is the gardener's job to prune the branches in order to bear more fruit. The gardener is trained to know how to best prune. In our case, God already knows, because He knows everything so we can trust Him. He knows where to cut, how to cut, what angle to cut at, and when to cut. I am thankful that God can not make mistakes when He prunes.

He prunes off the things in our lives that are not good for us -- our sin. He prunes away (to note only a few) our anger, bitterness, love of self praise and selfishness. He cuts away that which is not good or necessary so that the strength of Jesus may be put in to full force to produce more fruit in our lives. And, as the verse says, he often cuts away fruit that we are already producing. Has this ever happened to you? You were serving the Lord, doing what you thought He had called you to do. You had prayed. Perhaps circumstances seeming from the Lord had led you in a direction of a certain project or ministry for Him, and -- poof! -- it was cut off. It can be hard to understand, and great amount of sorrow can be experienced as you see that fruitful portion of the branch lying on the ground. It can seem as if we are left bare and with out much of anything at all, but we can trust that no cut is too sharp or too many, if it helps us to be more like Jesus.

But we can have hope that God does have a purpose. Romans 8:28-29 reminds us that "...we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to
His purpose ... to be conformed to the likeness of His Son." God prunes us for His glory, for the good of others, and as a result, for our benefit as we are made to reflect the beautiful character of Jesus more and more.

He uses His Word, the Bible, to help prune us. God's Word convicts us with the truth and changes our thinking. In addition, God uses circumstances in our lives to prune us. It can be scary when we know the pruning Hand of the Father is up on us in our times of suffering, and yet it is a gentle and loving Hand.

God increases the holiness of His children by the circumstances that he places them in. He uses the circumstance as an instrument to make us more fruitful, helping us to draw closer to Jesus, His Word, the Bible, and prayer. He uses it to help us to not love the world so much, but love Jesus more. Our hearts become humbled and become more sensitive to the Word of God which comes in and transforms our lives.

Dear reader, I do not always (okay, ever) enjoy the pruning process, as I am sure you do not, as well. It is painful, sometimes, horribly painful; and yet, as I walk through these current times of pruning, I can sense the beginning of new growth. And I can trust God's Word that this new growth will eventually lead to more fruit; more fruit to benefit others and to glorify Him. And so I will choose to continue to trust His all-knowing and tender hand as He trims and shapes my life to be more like Jesus.

Abide in Jesus

For the past couple of months, I have been working on the bible study lesson that I am speaking on tomorrow. John 15:1-5 has occupied most of my thoughts, as I have sought the Lord to show me what He wants me to see. I feel as if I have eaten it, breathed it and soaked very cell of my body in these verses. They have become a part of me; although I am still nervous about speaking tomorrow.

I can now see that God has also been showing me what I needed to know during this time of trial. Out of my deeply hurting heart, I am now more and more deeply confident of the love of Jesus and His strength in us, when we trust in Him. Jesus says in John 15:5 "I am the vine and you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."


Jesus is the Vine. We are the branches. He is the source of all life, strength, vigor and beauty. We, the branches, are all different, with different gnarls and different bends, but we all need Him.


Jesus calls for us to abide in Him, as He abides in us. To abide is to remain; to stay connected. We can do this by being in His Word and in prayer. Abiding in Jesus is having an active relationship with Him and living with a continual awareness of his strength in us. It is living with a constant connection to Jesus, in our thoughts, choices, plans and behaviors.


The good news is that when we abide in Him, we bear fruit. The problem is that we tend, in our sinfulness, to abide in things that do not bear fruit in our lives. We attach ourselves to "idols" that we think bring us strength and fruit in our lives, but really are just a lie. We connect ourselves to money, popularity, things, accomplishments and self-reliance to name a few. I know that I need to constantly be aware of these pulls on my life. Jesus is the only one that can give us the strength and life we need to produce fruit.


The fruit produced in our lives, as a result of our abiding in Jesus and He in us, is real fruit. It is not "fake fruit." Real fruit is not success, or numbers, achievements, or an impressive outward appearance. Fake fruit can look good on the outside, but it is hollow on the inside. It does not sustain. It will do nothing for those who eat it, other than maybe make them sick, and turn them away from the love of Jesus.


Real fruit is Christ like character in us. It is not for our own benefit, but for the glory of the Gardener (God) and for the benefit of those who eat it. It is the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5: 22; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It is the fruit of good works and service (Colossians 1:10), fruit of giving (Romans 15:26,28), fruit of growing in holiness and obedience (Romans 6:22), the fruit of praising God (Hebrews 13:15), and the fruit of sharing the truth of Jesus with others (John 4:32-36).


We can not bear the fruit that God has for us to bear without staying connected to Jesus, actively and continually in thought, word and deed. It is loving the Lord Jesus with our heart, soul and mind, regardless of where we are, what we are doing or what we are walking through.


We can not bear fruit by trying, only by abiding. This is a great encouragement, dear reader. Do you want to be gentle with a difficult person? Abide in Jesus. Do you want to be patient with your children? Abide in Jesus and He will give of His patience. Are you weary and in need of strength? Abide in Jesus and He will make you strong. Are you feeling useless? Abide in Jesus and you will bear real fruit. Are you fearful? Abide in Jesus and He will give you peace. Are you need of help? Abide in Jesus and you will know Him as your only true help. Are you tired and feel as if you can not do one more thing? Abide in Jesus, and He will give you rest and strength.

Times will be difficult. Perhaps they are right now. I can relate, but time and time again, the Lord has held me with His gentle arms, leaned over and whispered in to my ear, "Abide in me. I love you very much and I will give you my strength. Trust me. I have fruit for you to bear that you can not bear separate from me, and it is fruit that will bring glory to God and be a blessing to others." My prayer is that you will hear His call, as well, and abide in Him.

God Enables Us to Stand on the Heights

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He enables me to stand on the heights" Psalm 32-33.

In general, I have a fear of heights. Yes, I did sky dive one time, but my fear lies more when I am climbing something and there is the potential that I may lose my footing and fall and be injured. I am nervous about climbing ladders with rickety rungs and unstable footings.

One time I went to a state park with my children. There was a tall, wooden observation tower, that naturally, they wanted to climb. Boldly putting my fears behind, I began the trek upward with them. Back and forth, the wooden steps (the ones that have holes in between where you are almost certain your foot and whole body could fit through if you stumbled) coursed, up and up. The wind was blowing cold and brisk that day. I found that I hung close to the core of the tower, holding tightly to the railing, and self-talking "Don't look down. Don't look down." Once I got to the top, I knew that it still was not a good idea for me to look down; too scary, too nauseating, but I did look out. And I realized that high about the trees, on the top of a hill, looking out over the water, I had a perspective that I could never have even imagined being on the ground.

And so it is with our trek with God. There are times when he asks us to climb towers in our lives that seem too scary and too risky. We are not sure of our footing. Will we slip and fall and be injured? But God makes our feet like the feet of a deer, and gives us a sure footing. We are not sure, but He is. He guides our steps. Proverbs 15:24 says "The path of life leads upward for the wise." As we seek God and His plan and purpose for our lives -- His wisdom -- we will climb upwards. And when we get to the top of the tower, He enables us to stand on the heights.

It is hard to imagine what we will observe from the heights that God will bring us to. " 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him' but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit" 1 Corinthians 2:9. God, in His strength and love, brings us to the heights that He has for us, and shows us, by His Spirit, what He desires for us to see.

Dear reader, do you feel scared on the journey that God has you on? Do you feel as if your footing is unsure? Are the winds of doubt and anxiety circling around you, making your trek more difficult? Do not look down, but look out. Look out and in to the face of Jesus. He will guide your steps. Cling close to Him and He will make your footing clear. You will not slip through the holes that threaten you. And when God brings you to the top, look out and observe what He has for you to see. He will give you, through His Spirit, a new and greater perspective. He makes our way perfect, arms us with strength, guides us in our steps, and brings us to the heights. We truly can not imagine what God has prepared for us who love Him. His love is unfailing.

The Peace of God On Guard

There are times in our lives when we feel much more vulnerable than others do. We may be hurting, either acutely or chronically, and feel as if even the slightest brush up against another difficulty or difficult person, sends a chill down our spine and in to our hearts. We want to be out and about, and yet we may feel insecure, sorrowful and weary.

When an animal is in the wild and injured, it becomes vulnerable to further harm. When a wounded soldier is on the battle field, they are more vulnerable to attack. And so it is with us. When our hearts have been broken or our emotions are raw or fears beset us or life's circumstances seem too much to bear, we feel susceptible to being wounded and hurt, again.

I was reading through my bible tonite, seeing what God had to speak to my heart and I came across Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." The word "guard" jumped off the page. What did God mean by "the peace of God" guarding our hearts and minds?

In the Greek, the word guard means to protect by military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion or to keep the inhabitants of an attacked city from flight. We can envision the peace of God like military sentries or soldiers standing guard around our hearts and minds. This peace that is beyond our ability to understand and explain, the peace that comes to us only through the power of Jesus, protects us from attacks from the outside and inside. It is God's protective care to the very core of those who are in Jesus.

The verses that precede talk of rejoicing in the Lord, being gentle to all men, avoiding anxious cares and presenting our requests to God. Then it says, "And the peace of God ..." As we try to do the preceding things, God is giving us peace.

As I go about my day, sometimes feeling vulnerable, I am going to remember that the peace of God that He has given me is a protective force around me. It is guarding me. I need not fear vulnerability or be insecure. A garrison of the peace of God is wide and high and thick around my heart and mind, and is helping me Dear reader, as you trust in Jesus in all the happenings of life, remember this for you, too. His peace, possible only by the perfect power of Jesus, is on guard.

Anticipating Our Heavenly Home

"Are we there yet?"
"Are we almost there now?"
"When are we going to be there?"

It is almost always some variation of the above. No matter whether we are going to grandma's, to school, or to the grocery store, my youngest is eager to know when we are going to arrive. I suspect you have experienced the same thing, if you've ever been the parent or passenger in a car with kids.

Then no matter what I answer, she responds with, "Is that a long time?"

I'm not sure if her questions come from excitement over the destination or weariness over being in the car yet again. She is the baby (she'd say the little sister!) of 5 children and does spend alot of time being shuffled around in the car.

I thought today, "I wish I knew the answer, dear." I wasn't thinking of how long it was going to take to get to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, but I was thinking of Heaven.

I think that there is a vein in all of us that runs with the question "When are we going to get there or when will Jesus come again?" Is it due to the anticipation of arriving in the presence of the Lord and experience the beauty and glory of Heaven where we will be able to worship God day and night or the eagerness to part from our troubles here and have it all behind us?

I am sure it is both, but as we walk through difficulties our hunger for heaven seems to be at a peak. The life hear can become weary, almost seeming futile. The battles can be intense. The grief over relationships lost can be deep. The storms can be torrential; the emptiness, vast; physical pain overwhelming; uncertainties lurking at every corner.

We are caught in the tension of living for the Lord in today, no matter what He has for us, blessings or pain, and yet pressing on, persevering, towards what He has called us to in Jesus, in Heaven (Philippians 3:14).

A friend of mine reminded me of a song that mutual friends of ours wrote, "There is a Place." Dear reader, if you are struggling, today, like I am, wanting to glorify God in the now in the midst of all sorts of uncertainty and trials, and yet tired and yearning for our heavenly home, I hope it will encourage you. You can link to the song at: http://www.philipmusic.com/There_is_a_Place.html .

"Is it a long time?" That's what my daughter asks. I ask it of the Lord, too. How long until He comes and takes us home? I'm not sure, but I will continue to persevere for Him in this life, in His Word and in His love until He chooses the perfect time, and then I will run and embrace Him, and I will be whole. I know that He has alot of work for each one of us to do, now, as we shine for Him in a world where there is much pain and much need for the love of Jesus. I thank Him that we are His ambassadors. However, what a comfort to know that God will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain (Revelation 21:4). All will be well.

God Knows Where We Will Bloom Best

Today was a beautiful day, with a crystal blue sky and a gentle warm breeze. My mom and I walked through a garden nursery, enjoying the many colors and designs of flowers that were for sale. Rows and rows of flowers and plants were nestled in their pots, under the canopy of an arched greenhouse. The air smelled of fresh soil and new growth.

I was looking for flowers to plant in my shady backyard. Although I always admire the plants that grow in direct sunlight, I know from years of experience that the flowers that grow in the shade are really the only ones that work for my yard. This year, I found the most beautiful Double Impatiens. The blossoms are delicate and bold in color, resembling little ballerina tutus. I chose the ones that I liked and brought them home to pot them up.

I knew that God had something to say to me today through these flowers, but at first I wasn't sure. However, as the day went by, I kept feeling His gentle touch and voice say to me, "I chose you, too, Andrea." Later in the afternoon I went on a walk, and the Lord and I began to have a conversation that went something like this.

"Why did you choose the flowers that you did today?"

"Because I knew that they would grow best in the shade, and they would make my yard look the prettiest."

"What if you planted the ones you bought in the sun, instead?"

"They would not bloom. They would not thrive and they may even dry up and not live."

"And how will you care for them?"

"I will plant them in good soil, fertilize and water them."

"And what do you think of those flowers?"

"I think they are beautiful."

And then I understood what the Lord wanted me to hear today. "Just as you chose those flowers for the spot in which they would best grow, so have I chosen for you the spot in which I know you will best grow. Like the Impatiens, who thrive in the shade, so I have chosen the shade for you. This is where you will bloom brightest and best. I will care for you. I will plant you in this place and I will fertilize you and water you with my grace and my love. This is the best place for you, trust Me. If I were to plant you anywhere else, you would not flourish and blossom like I know you have the potential to do. And by the way, I created you and I think you are beautiful, too."

Dear reader, perhaps you find yourself planted in the shade of affliction. Sometimes life may seem darker to us than it is for others around us (and it can be!), or darker than we would like ourselves. It can be hard to understand God's ways. But God loves each of us very much. He chooses what is right for us, for our good, that we would bloom and grow, and that we would bring glory to Him. He cares for each of us tenderly. He plants us in a place that will bring us life, and life abundantly. He truly does know what is best. It may take time for us to see the beauty that God has in store for us, just as it will take time for my flowers to be full and overflowing, but He is faithful.

"Put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption" Psalm 130:7.

God Does Not Slumber Or Sleep -- What a Relief

It usually starts around ten or eleven at night. Finally, the house is quiet. I slip under the covers, set the alarm for the morning, squish my pillow in to just the right shape and turn off the light. Then I, unfortunately, often reach for my imaginary magnifying glass. and begin to have an enlarged look at my difficulties. Perhaps you know the feeling. I have an overwhelming sense of exhaustion all day, but seem to be never more awake than when I get in to bed, and then I begin to think, well, ok, worry.

Whether it is acute or chronic trials, they take their toll on one's physical and emotional well-being. Pain of any sort seems to be magnified at night, when the distractions of the day come to a halt. Now, however, we are tired and the uncertainties look bigger, the fears are greater and the sorrow is deeper. Troubles of the day, concerns for tomorrow, questions unanswered, although real, seem even more sensitive and fragile at night. Maybe it's the darkness that leaves us feeling alone and vulnerable. It is hard to see accurately in the darkness.

Laying in bed at night and thinking is causing me to not get enough sleep, I'm physically tired and I'm getting alittle tired of it, no pun intended. So, what do we do? How can we take captive our emotions and our thoughts and get some sleep?

I believe that it goes back to remembering who God is. We can choose to let our words of worry be few, and for God's Words to overflow, seep in and soak our weary souls. By reading and meditating on His Word we can remember it at night, and let it bath over us. We can listen to God's Word on a tape or CD and we can listen to music that glorifies Him and brings comfort to our troubled hearts. Instead of dwelling on our troubles, we can choose to dwell in Him.

With the Psalmist we can say, with confidence, "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8). We can rest secure in Him, for He shields us all day long (and night!) and we can rest between His shoulders, for we are His beloved (Deuteronomy 33:12). What safer place is there?

Keeping God in clear view is always the solution. He brings peace, even in the darkness, because even the darkness is light to Him (Psalm 139:12). So, dear reader, when at night, you are finding it difficult to sleep as your mind is meandering and magnifying, and you are feeling vulnerable and fragile, look to the Lord, your help comes from Him. He is the Maker of Heaven and earth and the One who loves you very much. He will not let your foot slip, even when the way is treacherous, and He who does not slumber or sleep, watches over you (Psalm 121:1-4).