Sometimes we can feel like it’s wrong to ask, “why, God?” When hard times come, it’s often a natural question of our hearts… but I don’t think it’s a wrong question. The only concern I have is that I think we don’t ask it soon enough. I want to encourage you to ask it now….
Tag: suffering
4 Helps for Hard Times
“O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek You; My soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” ~ Psalm 63:1 ~ In our 6 years overseas, we experienced a number of challenges: my husband inexplicably collapsed (all but unconscious) for 5 days,…
Your Kids Should See You Cry About These 3 Things
Sometimes we cry over personal pain or frustration. Sometimes over relational distress. Sometimes over an unexpectedly hard day. Sometimes my tears are understandable and justified. Sometimes I’ve cried selfish tears, or over dumb stuff. But there is some of my crying that my kids have seen that (I’m convinced) does good for their souls… It rises up…
Does Your Pain Isolate You From the Body of Christ?
Pain is common to all of us. But– have you noticed?– our reactions to it can be wildly different. And I’m convinced– it’s all in how you look at it. When our eyes are on our pain & circumstances: We become disconnected from others (even others in the Body of Christ). No one is “qualified”…
What Can I Do About My Problems?
“Many of the difficulties we experience as Christians can be traced to a lack of Bible study and reading. We should not be content to skim through a chapter merely to satisfy our conscience. Hide the Word of God in your heart! A little portion well digested is of greater value to the soul than…
The Stew or The Cross?
You remember the story. Twin brothers– one with a penchant for cooking, the other a hunter. The cook (the younger of the two) had the favor of his mother. The hairy hunter was his father’s delight. In a moment of desperate hunger, focused on the immediate longing of his belly, the hunter traded his birthright—…
We Need What We Would Never Choose
Lately I’ve talked with some friends who are hurting. I should say, who are *also* hurting. From my tiredness, feeling like a towel that has been wrung, all I feel is twisted and dry. I feel very cautious about saying anything about the hurt. Though poets and celebrated authors have received acclaim and income from…
5 Things To Do When Your Heart Aches
There is a level of heartache that goes beyond the normal highs and lows of life. It cannot be quantified. Words don’t do it justice. It keeps you up at night, doggedly chasing you, taxing your mental reserves all day long. Even if you’re not an emotional person, tears threaten to fly down your face without…
8 Verses That Help Me Fight For Contentment
There have been so many different seasons of my life when I’ve had to *FIGHT* for contentment. 7-months-pregnant in a grimy, coal-heated, 80’s-era-floral-couched, bugged (not the insect kind) apartment in China Months later, when my husband got gravely sick, and we went YEARS with tons of investigation but no medical answers or reasons what had…
The Sovereignty of God in the Waiting Room of Life
In life, we’ve been in limbo a number of times, and it’s where we currently sit. The waiting rooms of life happen to us all, and often without warning. Waiting for the tests to reveal, “What is this illness ravaging my body?” Waiting for the right employer to offer a position. Waiting for a proposal from…