So here I sit in the waiting room. The receptionist took my name, recorded my insurance data, and gestured to a chair. “Please have a seat. We will call you when the doctor is ready.” I look around. A mother holds a sleeping baby. A fellow dressed in a suit thumbs through Time magazine. A…
What Was Meant for Evil, God Uses for Good
Joseph Son of Jacob Graduate with honors from the University of Hard Knocks Director of Global Effort to Save Humanity Succeeded How? How did he flourish in the midst of tragedy? We don’t have to speculate. Some twenty years later the roles were reversed, Joseph as the strong one and his brothers the weak ones.…
Family Wounds Are Slow to Heal
Family wounds are slow to heal. I hope your childhood was a happy time when your parents kept everyone fed, safe, and chuckling. I hope your dad came home every day, your mom tucked you in bed every night, and your siblings were your best friends. But if not, you need to know you aren’t alone.…
How to Pray in Hard Times
Alone But Not All Alone Here you are in your version of Egypt. It feels foreign. You don’t know the language. You never studied the vocabulary of crisis. You feel far from home, all alone. Money gone. Expectations dashed. Friends vanished. Who’s left? God is. David asked, Where can I go to get away from…
Forgiveness and Entrusting Justice to God
Revenge builds a lonely house. Space enough for one person. The lives of its tenants are reduced to one goal: make someone miserable. They do. Themselves. No wonder God insists that we “keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time” (Hebrews…
You’ll Get Through This
No one travels far down the road of life without discovering that this journey is not always smooth or perfect. We can pray and wish for safety on the way. We should enjoy the stretches of the ride when the sun shines and things go beautifully. We ought to thank God for the times when…
Jesus Prays for Us
I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail. — Luke 22:32 On the night before His death, Jesus made this announcement: All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’…
An Attitude of Gratitude
A grateful heart sees each day as a gift. Thankful people focus less on what they lack and more on the privileges they have. I attended a banquet recently in which a wounded soldier was presented with the gift of a free house. He nearly fell over with gratitude. He bounded onto the stage with…
Let God Define Good
God at times permits tragedies. He permits the ground to grow dry and stalks to grow bare. He allows Satan to unleash mayhem. But he doesn’t allow Satan to triumph. Isn’t this the promise of Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who…
Remembering 9/11
It seems that in the dozen years since our country’s heart and skyline were ripped apart, we still struggle with how to spend this day that represents such pain and, even to this day, fear. 9/11 has come to serve as a day of remembrance for the many trials we have endured as a nation…