Sarah and Elizabeth were both women in the Bible who waited a long time for God’s promises to be fulfilled. How they spent their time waiting had a long lasting effect not only on them, but the world. Both women were waiting for the same thing, a child. One took matters into her own hands and the other patiently waited for God’s will. I can relate to both responses. I want to hurry along the promise, but the truth is, the waiting is what prepares me to receive it. It’s in the waiting that I learn to trust God especially when I don’t see progress, results, healing or relief. During…

For the month of October we will discover some the many lessons that can be learned from studying the lives of Sarah and Elizabeth. Overview – God Keeps His Promises Sarah and Elizabeth were both women in the bible who waited a long time for God’s promises to be fulfilled.  How they spent their time waiting had long lasting effects not only on them, but the world. Sarah was married to Abraham and was told that she would have a son.  In the waiting she began to doubt that the promised child would come through her and took matters into her own hands.  Giving her maid to her husband to…

This last week has been such a deep reminder of God’s love especially in suffering. It’s easy to feel anything but loved when we are hurting, broken and lost. But it’s in those moments that God’s love is revealed in the most unique and compassionate ways. Sometimes we might not even feel His presence, but He is there, always close to the broken hearted. Sometimes we might see our circumstances as a punishment, but He disciplines those He loves. Sometimes we can’t hear Him through all the chaos, but He is there in the stillness, whispering words of love and encouragement. When we take a moment to look at our…

This life will hand out all types of circumstances and situations that will play an important part in our refining. You’ve often heard the saying, “On this hand you have….. and on the other hand you have……..” it’s a reminder that we always have the choice of how we will respond to our life issues. In writing this I was thinking of Joni Eareckson Tada, who at the age of 17 became a quadriplegic after a tragic diving accident. It’s hard to imagine that kind of suffering, but her trials were only beginning. She’s faced a lifetime of disability, cancer diagnoses, chronic pain, and more. She had a choice to…

At some time in our lives we have all felt that life was unfair. Something that we worked so hard for was easily given to someone else. Opportunities were offerred to others because of who they knew not what they could accomplish. Troubles always seen to fall us and we just can’t catch a break. If you’ve had any of those thoughts you know what it feels like when life is unfair. In our own circumstances it’s easy for us to judge what is fair and what is unfair. But when we look at them through our limited view we can miss God’s provision, protection and blessing especially in the…

In this fast paced world, waiting is not something we desire or like to practice. Instant gratification has become the challenge. The quicker the better. That mindset isn’t just for shopping, food or service, but it crosses over to our spiritual life as well. We want prayers answered quickly. We want problems fixed immediately. We want suffering to be kept at a minimum. No one wants to suffer.  But as believers, we are able to rejoice, even in times of suffering. Why?  How?  Because we know.  We know that God always has a purpose in all things.  We know that suffering is productive (that is, suffering accomplishes something). And we know that in those things God is working…

The definition of survived is to continue to live or exist; to endure or live through. There is a realty TV show called Survivor where the contestants have to face several different challenges and do their best to survive. Sometimes life can feel like our own version of Survivor. We often face challenges that we expect along with surprises that test us in ways that push us to our limits. There are moments of victory and moments of defeat. In the song “Held,” by Natalie Grant that I memtioned yesterday, is a phrase that says, “this is how it feels when the sacred is torn from your life and you…

Last week was such a beautiful week of revelation and in Godly fashion, it was in ways that I would never expect. While preparing for the weekly Grief Share meeting I was reviewing the material and came accoss a statement that I’d never noticed before. The statement simply said that a song had been written about the highlighted story of the week. I knew the song and was led to look up the lyrics and hear the song again and again. The song is called Held and is by Natalie Grant and speaks about the loss of a young child, the shock of the loss and the reality of where…