Germinating Faith

Growing up on a farm, I was familiar with all the work we did to get ready for spring. We would purchase seed and fertilizer, check the planting equipment, and prepare the soil for planting. Yet for all the work we did, we could not force the seeds to germinate and grow according to our […]

When God Doesn’t Deliver

He was simply doing what God called him to do, but it seemed so far nothing was going the way he expected. By the time we read about Moses’ return to Egypt to free the Israelites from Pharaoh in Exodus 5, he has caused them to endure harsher labor. “Then Moses returned to the LORD […]

Small Faith and Big Trials

We tend to think of big jobs requiring big things. If I need to move a lot of dirt I’m going to get a big earth moving machine. Yet when it comes to faith in Jesus, how big does my faith need to be, particularly when I’m facing a mountain-sized trial? Jesus said if you […]

Heartbreak Etched in Sand

I was walking the beach last week and I came across a message etched in the sand that I’m still thinking about. It was one of those messages where at first you smile and say, “That’s nice.” A moment later your heart sinks as you feel the weight of the last half of the note. […]

Not the Answer I Expected

Difficult situations can push us to our knees in prayer, pleading to God for relief. Yet how many times does God answer that prayer in a way we did not expect or desire? I wondered this about Ananias in Acts 9. I could see him, like other followers of Jesus at the time, praying to […]

Sunday Praise

With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple […]

Viewing Life in Panorama

The other day I was taking a picture of a sunset and I could not capture all the brilliant colors splashed across the sky in the frame. So I switched the camera to panorama mode and filled the frame with the sky and setting sun. It made me think about how sometimes we have a […]

“You Can’t Name Him That!”

“And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.” Luke 1:61, NASB Tradition can be a powerful force to face. When it was time to circumcise Elizabeth’s new born son, “they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father (Luke 1:59).” After all, that was […]

Stitching Together a Remnant

The world may see remnants as discarded scraps, but God often has a different purpose in mind.

Waiting Through Trials

Waiting on God can be difficult. When we are in the middle of our struggles, when all hope is lost, we want immediate relief. It’s hard to trust God’s purposes in the pain we now experience. Job is often looked at as someone with patient endurance. He remained faithful to God even after he lost […]