All in Faith/Trust
This past winter, I enjoyed watching the Olympics. Each Olympian had one
aspiration—to be the best athlete in his or her field. They trained, practiced, and cared
for their bodies to attain the gold medal.
How would you answer the question, “What is your key aspiration?”
Spiritually speaking, the match has been struck. God’s Light has come! Isaiah
prophesied that a great Light was coming into the world. More than 700 years later,
Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
I have to say all baptism experiences are unique and glorious, but I came away with such a renewed sense of inspiration and rejoicing that morning. I wanted the joy of my salvation to shine through me just as it had done through these children.
One day, on the way home from school, my kids could tell I was stressed about finishing a
seminary paper. My son asked if I was mad that God called me to go back to school. I responded,
“No. At least He didn’t call me to prophesy naked for three years like Isaiah.”
Maybe you are walking through something similar.
Ask God to keep you safe and hide you in His shelter.
Then, watch for God’s goodness in the land of the living. It does not always come like we expect. But it’s always there.
By the end of May the Covid threat was lessening, so when aunt ‘Chelle called to recruit blueberry pickers, grandson #3 and I jumped at the chance. It was a gorgeous day. Didn’t matter that we had to drive twenty minutes. Didn’t matter that they had to take our temperature. We were free, our masks were off, and the blueberries were plentiful. Armed with the secret to efficiency—attach your pail to your belt so you can use both hands—we found a row to ourselves.
Jesus comes to help with my struggles just as He came to Joshua. Because He is with me, I will never face a battle alone. He is still the Commander of the hosts and has given me His promise, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5b).
God asks me to trust Him in both big and small situations, just as He asked the Israelites to trust Him for crossing the river. God’s previous faithfulness in my life plus biblical examples like the crossing of the Jordan fuel my trust in Him for facing new personal challenges. I have learned to trust that He holds me safely in His grip of love—just as He does for everyone who belongs to Him.
The phrase “the hand (or the gracious hand) of God was upon him” is repeated numerous times in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. God’s “hand” refers to God’s blessing and His active, sovereign engagement in the lives of people. Recently, our family has experienced the gracious hand of God upon us.
Pain and loss have deep purpose in Kingdom work. We don’t simply move through lament, find healing, and consider it the end. We should ask the Lord, “What have I learned? What do I do now with this experience?”
When we faithfully practice lament, diligently search the Scriptures, and incorporate Scripture into our prayers, we unlock the experience of profound peace. This is an experienced peace—not the resolution of every “why,” nor the sudden release of burdens that may have weighed on our hearts for years.
In lamenting, after naming your pain and honestly telling God how you feel about difficult or disappointing life experiences, the next step is anchoring yourself in Scripture. Our feelings are real and must be acknowledged, but Truth always steadies us more than emotion ever can. To do this well, we must know God’s Word and apply it.
In recent years, the topic of biblical lament has surfaced in teaching and writing. About two years ago, I began exploring it myself and realized there was something deep within me I needed to face—something I had pushed aside instead of bringing honestly before the Lord. How do you we well? What does healthy lament really look like?
Obedience is hard when clarity is missing. This article speaks to the tension of sensing God’s leading without knowing the outcome, and how trust often grows not through certainty, but through taking the next small step with Him.
Who do you know well? It may be a family member or a best friend. According to AI, knowing someone well means you grasp their core motives and can predict how they think about things because you have a history together, a shared experience that connects you.
Receiving a hand written letter feels like a gift of love! Writing one requires time, thought, and a signature—most often a simple signing with “Love Linda.”
My grandmother’s worn Bible beside her overstuffed chair held the foundational truths that provided the inner strength Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers. I pray that God will also strengthen me with His power through His Holy Spirit in my inner being. And, because of that, I pray my own grandchildren will carry with them a similar image of a Granny with God’s inner strength.
