I found it troubling as I read through the book of Exodus how many times Pharaoh changed his mind about letting the Israelites go. I kept wondering why chapter after chapter.
Our Champion
Have you ever just flat out found yourself down in the dumps? I have.
That is exactly how the children of Israel felt in the early chapters of Exodus. Their unbearable circumstances of slavery led them to despondency.
Obedience Rewarded
“Shiphrah” and “Puah”, I stumble over the pronunciation of their names, but they, on the other hand, did not stumble when it came to obeying God. They stood firm.
Three Women of Faith
Rahab the prostitute, seen in Joshua 2 and 6, is identified as a woman of faith in Hebrews 11:31. If Rahab were asked, “How would you define faith?” I think she might say something like this:
Faith comes from hearing about God and believing in Him. My people and I were told of how the God of Israel parted the Red Sea, delivering His people. We heard how Yahweh empowered His people to defeat mighty nations. When I heard these stories, I knew they were true. My faith was born. Later when two Israeli spies came to my door, I knew I had to act on my faith in God and protect them, even at risk to my own life. That’s what faith is. It’s acting upon your beliefs, it’s standing alone, and it’s moving forward as God leads, even when risks are involved. It’s being willing to lay down your life in order to follow the one true Lord.
Scars
My oldest daughter adopted a puppy a few weeks before her wedding. That puppy and I bonded during the weeks she stayed with us. When the newlyweds came back for their first visit, Darcy was beyond excited to see me. She ran around and around my feet, wrapping her retractable leash around my ankles. Before I could remove the leash, Darcy took off running, causing deep burns around both of my ankles. In time my ankles healed, but the scars remain. When I happen to focus on those scars, I think of “that day” and that dog.
Seeing Jesus
The hospice nurse called. Mother was close to the end. In spite of Covid, I was allowed into the nursing home to be with her. My brother joined me, and for three days we sat with Mother. Initially, she responded with her eyes to our words, but soon, her eyes were set. She could hear us, but it seemed she saw nothing—until her final moments.
Sense Out of Suffering
Day after day, week after week, year after year I went to the nursing home to visit my mother. We couldn’t carry on a conversation, because the affect of dementia left her unable to speak. For years, she was unable to walk; and eventually, she was unable to move anything except her head. Some days I knew Mother was “there.” I knew she understood me and wanted to respond, but her illness prevented communication.
Coffee Verses Snakes
My first semester of college was an adjustment—little time alone and constant interruptions while studying. I was forced to work late into the night, and I stayed awake by munching on crackers, granola bars, Twinkies… Before long my clothes became tight. Imagine! So, I turned to black coffee as my stimulant. Initially, the taste was bitter. After one or two sips, I put it down. The next time, I could endure three or four sips, and so on, until I grew to love black coffee. Today it’s one of my favorite things in life. What was offensive at first became increasingly enjoyable the more I was exposed to it.
Words of Comfort
No one said anything. They just pretended it didn’t happen.
My friend had suffered her second miscarriage in six months. Devastated, she felt her dreams of motherhood fading away.
Unseen Wounds
I don’t think I’ll ever have children. I don’t deserve to be a mother.
I looked over at my friend. She dropped her head, tears filling her eyes.
Heavenly Home
A silent nursery waited to receive the little one who would never come.
As I stood in the muddy cemetery, rain clouds building all around, I knew this was the first step of healing for the young family before me. The little casket sat next to a teddy bear. The mom, wearing a light pink dress, worshiped in the front row as her husband led the small gathering in “Amazing Grace.”
Hope of Heaven
After the funeral, we all converged at my uncle’s house. Casseroles lined the counter. Dishes filled the sink. He’d become accustomed to cleaning up the kitchen since my aunt had gotten sick. As he started covering bowls with aluminum foil, he recounted the last few hours of her life.
Loss
I knew something was wrong before I started bleeding. I hadn’t felt as “pregnant” as I did the previous two times, but I had no choice but to wait and see. When the spotting started, I knew it was the beginning of the end.
A True Story
The years tell us much that the days never knew. R.W. Emerson
God Doesn’t Need This—We Do
How often have you seen a pastor stand in the pulpit and praise God that the parking lot fund didn’t make its goal? Instead, the church (through its well-meaning representatives) will too often wheedle, cajole and extend deadlines until the money is in. No wonder outsiders draw the conclusion that God is out for “our” money.
We All Need This
How long has it been since you really thought much about honor or purity or excellence? And how do such words as these translate into actions that can be lived out in our cool, careless culture?
Do You Need This?
In these strange and unsettling times, who has not experienced an anxious moment or a fearful thought? When we turned over our calendar to 2020, could we have imagined what the New Year had in store?
I Need This
The truth is, I am a “regretter” We regretters have nets that we can cast wide and deep to dredge up something we said or did a week or a lifetime ago, then we fret and regret , chew and stew. Trust me, such a mindset is not the product of a sensitive conscience or a tender heart. Such foolishness comes from a particularly insidious form of legalism that believes that the kingdom of God is dependent on our flawless performance rather than God’s power through us.
Bearing with One Another
26 phone calls. Calls from my sister-in-law, Glenda, during the week leading up to my older brother’s death in May 2020.
Ernie suffered through Congestive Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) for seven years. He fought valiantly while isolated in his basement in Colorado.
Exceedingly Bitter
Two names. Three times bitter. One heart.
Naomi means sweet. Mara means bitter.