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If Not Now, When?
A number of years ago I had trouble forgiving someone. One wretched morning, as I was sort of praying, sort of ruminating, wishing things were otherwise, I sensed the question: “If not now, when?” That stopped me in my miserable tracks. Yes, I knew I was commanded to forgive. Yes, I knew that forgiving was…
Read MoreWhen a Loss is Really a Win
I lost a job I loved in a company I loved. That is clearly a loss. Isn’t it? Or is it? God moves us Not long after I lost my job, I read, as if for the first time, Deuteronomy 6:23. Moses told the Israelites to tell their sons that the Lord brought them out…
Read MoreHow to Wait
Are you waiting? Waiting when you know what will happen You know you will eventually get to the front of the line (see I want it NOW!). or You know that what the Lord promised will happen, definitely, for sure, in the Lord’s timing. That is waiting in faith based on certainty. Waiting with uncertainty Waiting…
Read MoreGive thanks. Always. In everything.
“He improves every room he walks into.” That was said about a professional athlete who maintains a cheerful attitude whether or not he is playing well. Is that true of me? True of you? How did those Jesus healed respond? The gospels often do not record the response of the person Jesus healed or that…
Read MoreWho are you grumbling at?
Three feet of new snow makes me grumpy. Okay. Okay. I grumbled. I complained. I spoke against. I moaned. I groused. I protested. I griped, I objected. I muttered. I bellyached. Lots of synonyms, huh? The Israelites grumbled: bitter water, no meat, miserable food, adversity, enemies. “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us…
Read MoreDo It Scared
My commercial pilot husband tells me that before taxi, pilots sometimes would say: “The only thing keeping us here is fear.” (That’s a joke, travelers!) Is that true in your life? Is fear the only thing keeping you in a bad situation? Is fear keeping you from doing something you know is right? How do you…
Read MoreOh, Grow Up!
Oh, grow up! Have you ever had that said to you? Probably. In a nice tone of voice? Probably not. But God says it nicely. Paul said it nicely. Peter said it nicely. “We are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). “Long for the pure…
Read MoreI want it NOW!
“O Lord, please give me patience. And give it to me right now!” This would be funnier if I hadn’t actually done that. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. As we grow as Christians, we grow in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). So … being impatient about not being…
Read MoreWhy, God? Why?
Q. Why, God? Why? A. [silence] Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist who survived Nazi concentration camps, wrote Man’s Search for Meaning. He said those who survived had to have a future goal, an aim, a purpose. “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.” But Christians are told not only to endure trials…
Read MoreOur God-Given Work
What are you going to do today? Is your God-given work on your list? “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). 1. God prepared good works for us to do, AND 2. God prepared us to do…
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