Glorious sunlight rose over the mountains, illuminating thunderous waterfalls lining Yosemite Valley. Early in the morning, before the crowds arrived, I sat in the meadow. My ears soaked in the sounds of birdsong. My eyes witnessed gravity pulling water down granite walls. My awe-struck soul marveled at God’s creativity and sustaining power.
It had been a week. My dad passed away and four days later my dear friend, Jan, also passed. Grief paralyzed me. I needed to get out. I mean, I needed to get outside. Hence, the trip to Yosemite.
As God sustains the mighty waterflow, he is sustaining us, even when we feel crushed under the weight of schedules, responsibilities, and grief. Life feels foggy sometimes. We feel overwhelmed and under-qualified to lead lives worth of the call of Christ. During those days, where do we turn? Where does our help come from? Who can we trust?
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We live in a world where we often feel like life has become topsy-turvey, as if we have fallen through the proverbial rabbit hole in Lewis Carroll’s Alice and Wonderland. I often find myself praying for the ability to see things more from heaven’s viewpoint. I am comforted by the truth that God’s viewpoint, his judgments and actions are holy:
“There is no one holy like the Lord,,,” (1 Samuel 2:2)
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It was a moment I never saw coming. Sure, things were weird. There were red flags whipping in the winds of something I could not control. I prayed, I confronted, I prayed again, I waited. I tried and prayed again. Yet, here was the truth of the affair. And there I stood watching as my husband of twenty years (who was a pastor) drove away. He was leaving me, our daughters, and our church. My life changed in an instant and where was God?
Psalms 33:11 tells us God created the world and all that is in it. And by his power and the power of his Son, it is sustained. He does not change and his Word never fails. So, God in his perfect wisdom, before I was even born had a plan for my days.
But what about that day? What about the plans I had for my life at that time? What about my hopes, dreams, and expectations? I prayed, worked, planned, and did all the right things. Yet, on that day it didn’t matter. As I stood there nearly paralyzed with pain and fear, I questioned everything except God. Why? Because I knew from experience he could be trusted.
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What image comes to mind when you hear the words fixed or unchangeable? What emotion do these words bring up in you?
The image that comes to mind for me is the insurance commercial with crash dummies. In the commercial, the car careens toward a fixed cement wall, and you feel your body bracing for impact. Then, the inevitable happens: the front of the vehicle crumbles against the wall, the airbag explodes, and the crash dummy is tossed around inside the car—resulting in the immovable object destroying the car and “injuring” the dummies inside.
Or maybe when you think about unchangeable, you remember a time, like me, when I had to scrap the plans already in motion for our women's groups to accommodate the plans being made for the whole church—resulting in discouragement and frustration over what seemed like inflexible and unrelenting disregard for our team.
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In a world that increasingly does not fear God, the concept of holiness becomes less known and understood. Perhaps holiness has been misrepresented by Christians. How we live as Christians matters. Holiness is not to push away others or portray a sense of superiority but is to be a welcoming beacon to the mercy, grace, justice, and steadfast love of the Father. Holy living guides others to find the holiness of God. It is the way the Lord is building a nation that fears and glorifies His name and worships His righteous acts.
After we grasp the magnificence of what awaits those who have chosen the only route leading to God in all His glory and holiness, it is our responsibility to point the way for others, so they don’t remain lost. The Lord Jesus modeled this for His disciples, providing a map to guide others (Matthew 28:18-20). Imagine the impact your life could have for the sake of Christ! By meeting people where they are and inviting them to follow Jesus, they too can change their eternal destination to the holiness of God.
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Should we retreat when leaving town impacts other people? What does the Bible say about retreating when there are people who need us?
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With the grind of everyday life constantly staring at us, always asking for just a bit more, how can we even think of pausing and going on retreat? What does the Bible say about retreats? Let’s look to Jesus.
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How do you plan a personal retreat? Mary Younger shares ten ideas for how to prepare for and plan a day away for a personal, spiritual retreat.
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Where did we get the idea that some things – like books or movies or professions or fast food restaurants – are Christian and some are not? We even push that idea to believe that certain nations are Christian (or at least God-fearing) and others are not. Our classification of inanimate objects as good or evil, and even considering something secular because it doesn’t contain God’s name or have Scripture verses in it, is nothing new.
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Judy couldn’t imagine finding women’s clothes that didn’t belong to her under their bed one more time. Her husband sometimes dressed up as a woman and went out late at night. How could she forgive him?
Lindy found a text message on her husband’s phone from a woman she didn’t know. She misses him? Wanting to throw his phone at him, she asked, “What are you doing with this woman and why does she miss you?”
Susan woke in the middle of the night to see a light on in her husband’s office. She wandered by the doorway and saw he was viewing pornography on his computer. Heartbroken, she asked him, “Why are you doing this? Why can’t you stop?”
These are a glimpse into stories I’ve heard from women betrayed by their husbands. How can they forgive what seems unforgivable?
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