Living Distracted Before I started living for Christ, I lived for distractions. I had to. I needed something to take my heart and mind off the nagging feeling that something was missing in my soul. Although I longed for a life of purpose, I was experiencing something so much different. I felt like an object floating on a breeze. A dandelion seed blowing wherever the wind would take me. How I longed to find meaning in life! To wake up each day feeling alive and full of purpose. But I didn’t feel that way. Instead, I felt desperate and alone. Yet in my stubbornness, I convinced myself to just keep trying harder: To chase my earthly dreams, to find the perfect relationship, to achieve a Read More
Tag: God’s love
Praising God in Times of Disappointment
Sulking in Disappointment Some days I don’t feel like getting up out of bed and rejoicing before the Lord. Instead, I feel like hiding out in the darkness and sulking about every disappointment I’ve had in life. Instead of doing my morning devotions, I simply want to camp out under the covers, stewing about how things haven’t gone my way. Perhaps I feel abandoned by God. Or maybe I am upset about another hard lesson learned through my disobedience. In any case, my own self-pity can steal my faith and joy. It takes me far from the truth that in all things God works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). Rising Up in the Promises of God In the past, pulling myself Read More
The Simplistic Beauty of God’s Great Love
How Do I Love Jesus? One night, my young daughter looked up at me with tears in her eyes and told me with great anguish, “I don’t know how to love Jesus. Even though I try and try, I just don’t think it is enough!” As I looked at her sweet little face, cheeks flushed red and eyes filled with sadness, my heart ached for her. I was taken back in time to my own childhood, as I recalled my own feelings of not understanding God’s great love for me. In that moment, I was back in my blue flowered bedroom in the upstairs of my home, tucked under my fluffy white comforter, quietly thinking about Jesus. As moonlight poured in through the windows, the Read More
The Faith of a Leper
And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:2-3 Do you have the faith of the leper? Are you willing to approach God with full confidence that he can do absolutely anything in his great power? This leper, lacking any power of his own in regard to his physical strength or his standing in society, knew that Jesus could do anything, even cleanse a leper like himself. Approaching Jesus with humility and faith, he states, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” He doesn’t ask Jesus if he can make Read More