Philo of Alexandria said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” In my younger years in ministry, I was sometimes impatient with those who requested prayer for the same issue again and again. I remember thinking, “Can’t you just get past this and move on?” Thankfully, age, time with God, and […]
Get free from the struggle
Oswald Chambers once said, “Doing God’s will is never hard. The only thing that is hard is not doing His will.” I can almost hear some of you saying, “But that’s not right. It is hard to live a godly life. The struggle is real!” If you disagree with Chambers, read on. I hope you’ll see that the […]
Little hidden steps
Do you ever feel like you’ll never measure up to the men and women of faith you read or hear about? Jesus warned Peter not to compare his Christian walk with John’s (John 21:21-22), but we often do the same thing, and comparisons can feel a bit depressing. What we tend to forget is that […]
The mystery dog and painful memories
Was it a Dalmation? When I was very small we had a dog. My sister and I think it was a Dalmatian. My dad remembered it as a Weimaraner, and my mom said it was a Collie. Four different people with three different memories. The longer I live, the more I’ve come to recognize that our […]
Escape temptation
Covid lockdown motivated some people to adopt healthier eating habits and lose a ton of weight. Then there’s the rest of us. Whether it’s due to boredom, easy access to food, or a renewed interest in baking, we seem to have located the pounds others have lost. If you’re like me, and you feel stalked […]
Vultures and fixers
Anyone who suffers with chronic mental or physical illness will understand this quote by Eugene H. Peterson, “Suffering attracts fixers like roadkill attracts vultures.” When someone we care about suffers, we want to help. So we circle, ever ready to offer advice. The thing is, God doesn’t ask us to fix sufferers but to direct […]