Devotionals

God's love, folly, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, women, ministry, encouragement

Folly: The Love of God is Overwhelmingly Foolish

Devotionals, Stay SaneApril 1, 2018January 13, 2019

The love of God is folly. His love is overwhelming, and illogical. We cannot even comprehend the magnitude of His love. Nothing will stop Him from pursuing His love.

When my husband and I first began dating, we would find any excuse to spend time together. One of our favorite activities was to put together jigsaw puzzles. We would stay up so late, sitting in my parent’s living room, talking and laughing. There were times he didn’t leave until midnight, and he had to be up early the next morning for work. There was one time he came over even while he had a migraine. Nothing was going to stop him.

I also remember, as a young teenager, how in love my brother was with his now wife of 22 years. This one winter a blizzard hit our city, but that was not going to stop him from seeing his love. Once the snow stopped falling, but with the city still at a standstill, he bundled up and walked to her house without telling my parents where he was going. It was 6 miles. There was more than a foot of snow. Nothing was going to stop him.

Those overtures of love are special. To be wanted, to be loved and pursued, this makes us feel worth and value. But these are such minuscule demonstrations of love when we compare them to what God has done for us.

God’s Love

He gave up everything because of His love for us; His love for you.

He gave His child.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into this wicked world to bring to us eternal life through his death.

1 John 4:9

He gave His life.

No one can kill me without my consent—I lay down my life voluntarily. For I have the right and power to lay it down when I want to and also the right and power to take it again. For the Father has given me this right.

John 10:18

He took our punishment.

In this act we see what real love is: it is not our love for God but his love for us when he sent his Son to satisfy God’s anger against our sins.

1 John 4:10

Desperate Love

In order to understand His desperation for us, we must understand what was at stake. Because God is all good, He cannot allow evil. And we, dear friend, are an evil people born into an evil world. I know that sounds incredibly harsh, and you may be thinking, “How dare you, I am a good person!” But it is not about being good, it is about being perfect. God’s standard is perfection. Part of this standard of perfection is that we put Him above all other things. I don’t, and I know you don’t, therefore we have failed. If we are not perfect, we are sinful. If we are sinful, we are evil. There is no gray here.

Because of our evil, and His perfection, we have been separated from His presence. We owe a debt for our sins. Justice must be served. We are not, however, able to pay that debt and be reunited with Him. His desperation for us is so intense, He made a way.

Think about this, He hasn’t withheld our punishment. It’s not that He changed His mind. The punishment was given, and it was received by Jesus. He took it all. And the punishment was not just the excruciating torture and death. The punishment that truly broke Jesus was that God turned away from him. Never before had the Father and the Son not been in complete unity. But because of our sin that blackened his soul, God (who is all good) could no longer look upon him.

The debt for sin has been paid.

The Love of God is Folly

How could we ever ask for more? Yet, He invites us to do just that. He loves us so immensely, that He desires to continue to poor out His blessings. This may not mean we get what we ask for, but we have the freedom to ask, and can trust the answer given because we can trust His love for us.

So what is this kind of love that gives…and gives…and gives. It’s foolish! The love of God is ridiculously foolish. Nothing, NOTHING, is going to stop Him from being with you. The French say, L’amour de Dieu est folie! The love of God is folly.

The love of God is ridiculously foolish. Nothing, NOTHING, is going to stop Him from being with you. Click To Tweet

Do you know you are loved? Do you know the gift being offered to you? Will you accept it?

All scripture from TLB.

John Peters

turmoil, safety, Oh Lord Help Us, ministry, women, Christian, encouragement

Unavoidable: Making Peace with the Impact of Turmoil

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 29, 2018September 8, 2019

Brace for impact! Turmoil in life is unavoidable, and there is no sense of control. Do we trust God with our lives? What about the lives of our children?

Last week, I had a lengthy conversation with my sister-in-law. She told me, “You have a whole heckuva lot going on in your life right now. I’m not gonna sugar coat it for ya.” Laughing, I asked her if I could quote her on that. I tend to downplay stressors in my life. Someone always has it worse. Searing loss has not ripped through our family. Yet things simmering beneath the surface are draining. They bring me to my knees, but I’m not going back often enough.

A Dream…

My husband, Sean, awakened me from a nightmare a few mornings back…

In the pre-dawn hours, I was driving in the hills of West Virginia en route to Louisville. My kids were with me; two in the back and one riding shotgun. Charging up a steep grade, we passed several cars pulled onto the shoulder that were having mechanical difficulties.

I asked my daughter to check the weather to see what we were going to be running into. As I neared a large, dark colored truck in front of me I saw my passenger side headlight was out in the reflection. I felt frustrated because I had just been through the safety inspection. In the distance a siren was blaring, getting steadily louder as we closed in on its position. The sound was coming from a white Honda Civic which was driving in reverse on the side of the road. It was alerting oncoming traffic of a wreck. Just past the Civic there were multiple cars moved off the main road that had clearly been in a major pile up.

My daughter mentioned something about possible icy conditions ahead. The sun had begun to illuminate the mountains’ dark shadows. I was behind the wheel but I could also see what was happening from the outside. An invisible force stretched across the interstate catching the front of my car. It slowed the car, extending like a sling shot. The tail end began to lift off the ground. My breaks were no longer of any use as we went airborne across the median. We made contact with the ascending terrain only once, spinning us like a fast ball toward the stone wall of a mountain. I groaned in terror as we hurled over the oncoming traffic, suspended in air and closing fast to impact. Bracing myself I thought O God; I don’t want my kids to go like this.

I could hear my muffled moan like someone had wired my mouth shut. Reality gripped as Sean shook me awake. All was quiet.

A Promise…

Unable to fall back to sleep, I went downstairs to write. Sitting down, I smiled. I knew what my dream meant. I was Louisville bound. It’s my hometown. That’s where my mom and dad are. They represent comfort, rest, security. The cars and wrecks are the heartache and hardships in the people around me. My busted headlight stands for unrest in my own life. The invisible force could signify not being able to ignore my own turmoil any longer. Propelling through the air denotes I am 100% out of control. Bracing for impact is feeling that what is happening is unavoidable. I can make peace with that; my future is secure.

Crying out to God for my children was telling. I want to shield them from the kind of agony that could end them. I feel responsible for not protecting them from hurt. Yet I know from experience, “there is no growth without pain, no integrity without self-denial,” (Brennan Manning). I don’t want to rob my children of learning to trust God’s character for themselves. Do I trust God with the lives of those I love most? My answer must be yes. Alternatively, if it is no, I have resigned to simply existing. God loves and cares for my family more than I can conceive.

Homera Homer-Dixon said “freedom from suffering leads to uselessness.” There are some days when the onslaught of pruning feels unbearable. But God will never leave us or forsake us.

I cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me.

Psalm 57:2, NASB

There are some days when the onslaught of pruning feels unbearable. But God will never leave us or forsake us. Click To Tweet

still, quiet, listen, Oh Lord Help Us, women, Christian, ministry

Quiet: Intentionally Finding Space to Hear God’s Voice

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 27, 2018June 28, 2019

Life is busy and noisy. It takes being intentional with our priorities to be still and quiet, finding space to hear God’s voice, and follow His guidance.

As you know, I’m a planner. I like to have everything laid out just so on my schedule and roll down my check lists like an advancing army. If I have anything left undone I have a hard time moving on or stopping.

For years now I have been “on go” until I am so exhausted that I can’t take another step. Then I am so lazy and lethargic that I can’t move for a week. By then the next thing is coming around and the whole cycle starts all over again.

But I am learning the art of rest.

When I am in a frantic season of life and everything is on “GO”, my time becomes so limited. I neglect myself, my husband, and unfortunately God.

I have been seeing this more clearly lately and know that I have some priority shifting to do. God is my father. He is the creator that gives me breath and life. Clearly he should come first.

Priorities: Finding Space

In reflecting on this I can see that God is asking me to re-evaluate my priorities and give Him the ability to work in my life. It is in the quiet peaceful moments of life that I can experience God most. Therefore, I need to create these times (or leave time for these moments) more often. I try to start my day off with God and end my day with Him as well. Often I get distracted and start thinking about other things or worse – fall asleep. I totally get the disciples falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Then he came back to the disciples and found them asleep; they could not keep their eyes open. And they did not know what to say to him.

Mark 14:40, GNT

I recently was reading a new bible study called “Whisper: How to Hear the Voices of God” by Mark Batterson. He asks a question that stopped me in my tracks “Are we human doings or human beings?” I think I am often a human doing and then a human exhausted.

I am often a human doing and then a human exhausted...It is time to be a human being. Click To Tweet

As a teacher in a year round school I work for nine weeks then take three weeks off. My son has after school activities three days a week after school. On those days we often don’t get home till seven o’clock. I try to cook dinner at least 4 days a week. Our daughter plays college soccer and we go to all of her home games. That means we are on the road about two days a week from August through November. We are so busy that our house does not get cleaned like it should, our clothes can sometimes get piled up before I do laundry and the dishes occasionally spend the night in the sink.

I’m not trying to impress you with craziness, but show you I am just an ordinary wife, mother and teacher trying to “fit it all in”. What I am beginning to see as well is that I am a daughter of God and I need to give him a proper space in my life. It is time to be a human being.

Guidance: Hearing God’s Voice

The Lord says, “I will teach you the way you should go; I will instruct you and advise you. Don’t be stupid like a horse or a mule, which must be controlled with a bit and bridle to make it submit.” (Psalms 32: 8-9, GNT) This struck me in the same way as the question. Maybe I have been stupid for quite a while now. I have so much noise from the world: do this, go here, be this, achieve that, see this, hear that, think about this… I need to realize it is within my power to control this. It is time to be more thoughtful about the time and place I speak with my father daily. I can ask him for guidance and discernment in choosing my priorities.

So I’m making this pronouncement now to all of you in the hopes that I will be more faithful about my prayer time/quiet time. I will put God first in my day. Instead of trying to pray while I am getting ready in the morning, I will start my day with my bible and my prayer journal. I will find a quiet space in my house or as the weather warms up, out on my back deck. As I’m writing down my prayers I will focus on Your will.

Dear Father,

Thank you for answering my prayers faithfully. I know that you have been telling my for a while to stop and listen more carefully. Help me stay faithful to my promise to focus on You and less on the world.

Love,

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

Daria Nepriakhina

humility, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, Women, Ministry, encouragement

Humility: Five Ways Pride Can Sneak Into Our Lives

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 25, 2018January 13, 2019

No one likes to be humbled, but if humility is what allows us to truly honor the Lord, then sign me up! Here are five ways that pride sneaks into our lives.

You better believe, the Lord is sure to humble those who get too big for their britches.

Can I tell you a quick story about humility?

My husband and I were newly married, and we were going backpacking with a friend of mine, and a friend of my husband’s. (Yes, we were kinda thinking of playing match-maker. No, that didn’t happen. They are both with lovely people now. I digress). As we were preparing for the trip, I admit I was feeling pretty high and mighty, like I was a super-cool chic for being a backpacker.

This was probably the closest I have ever come to hearing God speak audibly to me. In my head I heard, “You’re going to learn humility.” Oh dear. I don’t know about you, but I HATE lessons on humility. Quickly, I acknowledged my arrogance and was hopeful I could skip the lesson.

I did not skip the lesson.

While we were hiking, I fell off a boulder. And when I stood up, we all saw that my pants were torn. It was like a doorway opened on my backside, from my knee to my not-at-all-sexy panties. Humility lesson – check! My rear end brought up the rear of our hiking party. So when I say “too big for their britches,” I literally mean britches.

Pride…

Perhaps you deal with pride too? Perhaps you would like to avoid getting too big for your britches??? Here are some sneaky forms of pride…

Comparison: Thinking we are owed something

One of the parables I most struggle with is found in Matthew 20. This is the one where the master of the field hires workers at the start of day, the middle of the day, and at the end of the day. Then pays them all the same. The people hired first and worked all day are upset they were paid the same amount as those who only worked at the very end. I’m thinking, heck yeah they would be upset, I would be too! I want to be given what I am owed. I want my fair share!

The thing is, those workers were given what they were owed. The master did not cheat them, he paid them the agreed upon amount, and he paid them promptly. They only felt cheated when they were looking at what the others had received. Like them, we are happy with what we have received, until we start comparing ourselves with others.

To expose this, we must keep our focus on the Master, and show gratitude for the kindness and generosity He has bestowed upon us.

Self-Pity: Focusing on our weaknesses

How many times have I sat and moped because I was not able to do something I felt I should be able to do. I have wished to be someone else, and have felt like God made a mistake with me.

We need to be aware of our weaknesses, but not focus on them. If we are trying to fix our weaknesses so that we have it all together, or an attempt to be perfect, or to be different, then we are focusing too much on ourselves.

To expose this, we must acknowledge our weakness and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us (Romans 12). Also, it may be that we need to humble ourselves and allow the strength of others to compliment our weakness.

Self-Reliant: Thinking we have our act together

I pride myself on being self-discipline. I am a hard worker, I don’t hide away from hard things, I am diligent until the job is done.

Having self-discipline is a good thing, but it can quickly become self-righteousness. When we think we are hot-stuff, and that we got to where we are on our own, we have forgotten that we have nothing without Christ and His generosity.

To expose this, take a step back and get a different perspective. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor, that is the beauty of grace.

Recognition: Expecting others to acknowledge us

I crave approval. To the point that if I don’t receive verbal affirmation, I take it as negative. It gets interpreted in my little brain as I let other people down, or I did not do a good enough job. Some of this response is because of my love language being words of affirmation, but it is also because of pride.

We all love to be recognized, but when we base our worth on the approval of others, instead of the approval of the Lord, we have elevated ourselves. We have placed ourselves at the center, expecting others to meet our needs. This, of course, is destined to fail, and it is our egos that will end up shattered.

To expose this, we must continually shift our focus back to glorifying the Lord, and be intentional about showing love and kindness to other people.

Expectation: Thinking others are the same as us

“Why can’t she get her act together?!?” Maybe you’ve never said that out loud, but I know I sure have thought it more than once. I am quick to expect others to learn the same way I do, at the same rate, and in the same order. I am prideful when I put the pressure on for people to be the same as myself.

It has been said that the things that most annoy us about other people are the things we do ourselves. Or possibly they are things we once struggled with and were able to move past. We so easily forget the road we have traveled to be where we are. We expect everyone to have learned the same lessons we have, and in the same way.

To expose this, we need to remember the lessons we have learned, and recognize that there are still many more lessons we have yet to accomplish.

Humility…

Now that we have exposed some areas of pride that have snuck into our lives, let’s trade it in for humility. But we must be careful about trying to do this on our own. Only Christ can provide true humility. Otherwise we may just get prideful about how humble we are.

We simply can’t achieve humility on our own.

…it is only by the indwelling of Christ in His divine humility that we can become truly humble.

…external teaching and personal effort are powerless to conquer pride or create the meek and lowly heart in a person.

Andrew Murray, Humility

...external teaching and personal effort are powerless to conquer pride or create the meek and lowly heart in a person. --Andrew Murray, Humility Click To Tweet

Your turn…

No one likes to be humbled, but if humility is what allows us to truly honor the Lord, then sign me up! What issues of pride are you dealing with? Have any good “britches” stories???

Joshua Fuller

Christian, women, ministry, encouragement, spiritual growth

Waiting: Rejoicing and Gladness While We Wait

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 22, 2018June 27, 2019

Waiting can be torture. Can it be possible that waiting on God will result in gladness, rejoicing or praise. Only if we have a heart that trusts what He promises.

I wonder how much of life I have spent waiting – for my coffee to perk (serious stuff, that caffeine), for red lights to turn green, in line at the grocery or the movies, for slow drivers to get out of the left lane, (yes, I sheepishly admit, I’m one of those drivers). How many hours have been spent in waiting rooms at hospitals, doctors’ or dentist’s offices? What about the hours or days that have been spent waiting for the phone to ring to learn of a diagnosis or the well-being of a friend or loved one?

How many hours, days or years have you been waiting for an answer to a prayer?…or just for a whisper from God?

Waiting isn’t one of my strengths; I don’t enjoy it and generally need to employ some self-talk or prayer to endure it with any amount of grace. I like action – let’s move, move, move, people! (did you hear a clap-clap?) I mean, seriously – what is gained from the waiting? Well, more seriously, if you wait politely, you get your turn or the light turns green or the slow driver moves over and those around you won’t believe you are a jerk, right? Because they won’t see what was going on in your heart while you were steaming internally behind them…oh, sorry! I was referring to me!

The older I become, and I’m getting as old as dirt, the more I realize that waiting is a huge part of God’s plan; it is all over Scripture! I must have rushed over that word when I was younger, or perhaps I assumed it simply applied to them (as in Bible them), and not me, surely not me. Didn’t God make me to be an action person? Yes, which is why I require more prayer and discipline in this area!

In the 1940’s, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote from his prison cell, “Waiting is an art that our impatient age has forgotten. It wants to break open the ripe fruit when it has hardly finished planting the shoot.” I can only imagine what he would think of today’s culture.

Not Alone in the Waiting…

You see, waiting isn’t simply a 21st century irritation, or a 20th century subject for theologians to write about; waiting is a consistent theme throughout the Bible.

Jacob

In Genesis 49:18, Jacob had called his sons together to give them a heads up about their lives after he was gone. It wasn’t all peachy. So, he had just told Dan some bad news when he suddenly throws in, “I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!” Jacob was an old man; I’d venture he had been waiting for God’s salvation for quite a while. We sometimes think waiting 15 minutes is too long to wait on God.

Jacob waited a lifetime.

David

David wrote in Psalm 25:5, “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.”

Whoa. What?! David waited all day! (Kidding; David waited years before he realized the promise to become king.)

In Psalm 40:1-3, David wrote, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth – Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”

Unbelievable. David not only waited, but waited patiently for God to bring him out of a horrible pit. And then David had a beautiful new song of praise put into his heart so that others would see and learn to trust the Lord. I wonder what your horrible pit is right now…are you waiting on God to bring you out of it? Will you allow Him to put a new song into your heart as a result?

Isaiah

A couple of my favorite verses in Scripture concerning this topic are found right next door to each other in Isaiah 25:9 and Isaiah 26:8.

And it will be said in that day: Behold, this is our God, we have waited for Him, and He will save us; This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.

Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O Lord, we have waited for you; the desire of our soul is for Your name and for the remembrance of You.

Rejoice in the waiting…

Oftentimes, waiting on God results in gladness, rejoicing or praise. I’m convinced the type of waiting these scriptures refer to can only occur in a heart that trusts what He promises – ‘You are the God of my salvation; He inclined to me, He heard my cry; He brought me out of a horrible pit; this is our God, He will save us; we will rejoice in His salvation.’

How long have you been waiting for Him to move in your life? In a situation or a loved one’s life? Can you be secure in the knowledge that He will pull you out of your pit?

In the still place between death and resurrection we wait…for peace, for answers, for hope.

During this season of Lent, of waiting for Him, is He the desire of your soul? Do you want Him to be?

He is waiting for you with His arms stretched wide.

In the still place between death and resurrection we wait...for peace, for answers, for hope. Click To Tweet

All Scripture from New King James Version

Jonatán Becerra

Christian, women, ministry, encouragement, created, Oh Lord Help Us

Self-Control: Being Healthy in Mind, Body, and Soul

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 20, 2018January 13, 2019

Self-control is essential to being healthy in our mind, body, and soul. But it can easily be twisted into becoming an obsession for control.

Before I begin, can I take a moment to be transparent? This post is going to talk about diet; And I feel really uncomfortable talking about diet stuff. I am that annoying person who has always been able to eat whatever and not gain weight. Mostly I think this is because I am very active and run a lot, but it is also genetics and I cannot take credit for that. I acknowledge that I cannot relate to so many women who struggle with weight. But I do know the struggle to be healthy. And I definitely know the struggle of self-control. So let’s encourage one another, shall we?

Within a weeks time I ate a dozen doughnuts. I lost all control. First, I ate doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. Then I had some from a grocery store bakery. After that I fully indulged in several from a local bakery. Then I wrapped it up a few unexpected ones from Duck Doughnuts. It would have been wrong to pass those up.

If you know me, you know I love doughnuts. I like other deserts, don’t get me wrong; cake, brownies, ice cream…those may tempt me, but I won’t regret not eating them. But to pass up a doughnut takes a lot of… well, self-control. Self-control has been a very prominent theme in my life over the past 6 months. Except for that week that I lost control.

My need for self-control…

Six months ago I was diagnosed with SIBO (small intestinal bacteria overgrowth). Feel free to look up details if you want, but I will spare you of those for now. This is by no means a serious, life-threatening condition (although it can lead to more serious things if not managed). It is more of a nuisance, but it is a nuisance I would like to be rid of. The problem is how to get rid of it.

There is an antibiotic, but insurance won’t cover it, and it costs $1800. Yikes! There is a back up antibiotic, but insurance won’t cover that one either. And I won’t take the back up to the back up, so that leaves treating it naturally and with diet. This is all fine with me, I much prefer the natural route if at all possible.

The natural route includes a diet low in fermentable foods. This means no sugar, and no wheat. Those are the first to go in just about any diet, so no big surprise there. The surprise is that it also means eliminating onions, garlic, mushroom, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, avocado, apples, pears, mango, cherries, and about a hundred other of my favorite foods. What the heck was I suppose to eat???

For the first time in my life I had to have self-control with my diet. It was overwhelming, but I did it. I planned, I made adjustments, I found replacements, and I did it. For six months. And then… a dozen doughnuts.

So what went wrong?

I became discouraged. Even with eliminating all those things, it wasn’t enough. Symptoms would improve, and then worsen. Therefore, I eliminated more things. Still, I would experience improvement, then worsen. Finally, I said enough; I might as well eat what I want.

Then came the consequences. Not just the the symptoms of SIBO (although those were there too), but the crazy mood swings (my blood didn’t know what to do with all that sugar), and then getting sick (eating sugar lowers your immune system). My body went through the ringer last month.

Healthy in all ways…

Now I am back fighting to be healthy in mind, body and soul.

Mind

Self-control can easily be twisted into control. We feel powerful (and therefore prideful), knowing that we can exhibit so much control. For the first time in my life I could see why many women are sucked into the destructive world of eating disorders.

Self-control can easily be twisted into control. Click To Tweet

Body

We are to take care of our bodies, using them to honor God. We are not to honor our bodies. It is easy to become obsessive with health, always feeling like we have to do more to feel better. After all, the way we feel is always the thing we feel most. We need to be wise, and willing to learn, but be careful to not be consumed.

Soul

Practicing self-control is exhausting, especially if we try to do it with our own will power. But, hallelujah! We don’t have to do it on our own. It is promised to us. It is a fruit of the Spirit.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23, NLT

If we do indeed have the Spirit within us, then we have the ability to live with all those wonderful traits, including self-control.

Encouragement for self-control…

We all deal with self-control. Maybe it’s with food, maybe it’s with money, maybe it’s thoughts, or emotions. None us can escape the need for it, or the temptation to twist it into an idol. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit we can practice self-control in a healthy way.

In what ways do you need the help of the Holy Spirit for self-control?

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

Patrick Fore

redeemed, broken, christian, women, encouragement

Masterpiece: Five Possible Responses to Brokenness

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 18, 2018July 30, 2019

There are different ways to respond to the brokenness we have experienced. One way brings glory to the Creator. God wants to use the brokenness to create a masterpiece.

Last fall, I was at a holiday vendor event and had a divine connection. There I met a lady who I knew I would be connecting with again! Kim is a wife, mother, and physical therapist. Her passion is to share God’s love with others by sharing her life experiences. Today she is sharing a valuable lesson she has only been able to learn from walking through difficult seasons. Here Kim writes…

“It was someone else’s fault.” “Don’t worry about it, no one can be perfect.” “You can pick yourself back up and do what you need to pick yourself back up.” “I can’t believe you let yourself do that.” These are all responses that we may hear from our families and friends and when we make mistakes and become broken.

Response

As Christians, what is our initial response to our own brokenness – shame, guilt, anger, coverup? I have found that responses to brokenness fall into these scenarios…

1. Do what we can to cover our brokenness so hopefully, no one finds out or notices it.

2. Isolate ourselves, pull away from others, and sink into self-pity because of feelings of shame and guilt.

3. Hide our brokenness, secretly deal with our brokenness; to the outside we have it all together but on the inside we are broken.

4. Let our brokenness be known and seen but we either don’t want to change or we don’t know how to change so we remain broken and our brokenness just becomes part of us.

5. We allow ourselves to be made into a new creation using our broken pieces to make the new masterpiece through vulnerability, repentance, love and accountability of others, and reconciliation to Christ.

The Correct Response

As I have worked through my extreme brokenness over the past several years, I am convinced that God desires the latter response even though that is probably the most difficult and most vulnerable response. It is also a response that I believe God calls us to encourage with others as His disciples. Our response to our brokenness, and to the brokenness of those in our midst, reflects our true beliefs of who God is and the characteristics of God.

Our response to our brokenness, and to the brokenness of those in our midst, reflects our true beliefs of who God is and the characteristics of God. Click To Tweet

I have walked down the path of all of these responses in relation to my brokenness. Prior to being a Christian, I would tend to accept my brokenness, not try to change it. I didn’t worry who saw my brokenness. I would say the other 4 responses are all responses that followers of Christ may give. As a Christian we have admitted that we are broken and need Christ’s forgiveness; but I know I stopped at this knowledge and initial confession. From that point of initial salvation, we have a choice of what we do with our continued brokenness. Within so many Christian communities, we feel we need to hide and coverup our brokenness because we are to be all put together since we have Christ! That is how I lived my life for years.

My view of brokenness also affected my friendships and marriage. I formed some close relationships, but not vulnerable or transparent relationships. That reflected my relationship with God. I wanted to know a lot about God, but I was scared to become vulnerable and transparent with Him. I didn’t accept His unconditional love. As I continued with this superficial, knowledge-based relationship with Christ, I did not surrender to my brokenness to allow for healing and strength to overcome temptation in that same area of brokenness. As a result, I fell into temptation again resulting in extreme brokenness.

Redeemed, Not Perfect

Over the past couple of years as I walked through extreme brokenness God has taught me several things about brokenness. The first lesson was to really believe that just because we are saved doesn’t mean we are perfect, un-tempted, or sinless. In fact, once we begin to really follow Christ as Lord and Savior, Satan will wage war within us. How much we believe that affects our response with our continued brokenness.

After my salvation, Satan attacked my view of myself which produced shame and guilt and a desire to just cover up that part of my life. I wanted God to take that from me. I didn’t want to deal with all of my brokenness that was a result of my view. So for years, I kept that part of me secret and didn’t do my part to surrender that part of me to God.

For the first time, I surrendered my whole self to Christ, broken pieces and all. I became transparent about my brokenness to those around me. I believed Christ’s promise to make me into a new creation as I walked through my brokenness beside Him. That walk included pain, consequences, hard conversations, and life change. But I didn’t do it alone nor in my own power. Through Christ’s redemption and Power, I love who I was created to be, am thankful for my brokenness, and am in intimate relationships with others and God for the first time.

His Glory

God wants to use your brokenness to create His masterpiece in you. He wants your vulnerability, your transparency, and your brokenness so He can display His love, His power, His redemption, and His glory; creatively using your broken pieces to reflect Him in you. You are His masterpiece, brokenness and all!

Thank you, Kim!!

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Annie Spratt

Broken, but God…has redeemed me.

Rest: Five Ways to Rejuvenate and Give Your Soul Rest

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 15, 2018September 8, 2019

We often rush to convenient measures to cope with tiredness, instead of practicing rest in our Father. God has promised all who are tired will be given supernatural rest for their souls.

Picture it: You get comfortable on the couch, turn off your brain, and watch a few hours of Golden Girls. Yep, hours. “Thank you for being a friend[…]” harmoniously sounding. You are genuinely thankful for their lack of judgement. You can tune out, not think, let those four friends whisk you away to some retirement-aged fantasy world. All the while, reality surrounds you. Messes, finances, relationships…

Welcome to my world…

Most recently, my daily routine consists of: Taxi-cab driver for my kids. Looking at half-done chores. Questioning the unknowns of life. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Shutting down. 🎶 “Thank you for being a friend[…]”

Disguising Rest

Like many people, most of my exhaustion happens in my brain. I internalize almost everything. Questions about life’s unknowns bounce around in there sucking bits of energy, little by little. Sometimes for weeks, or until there’s an answer to the question. My mind races around “ifs”, “whens”, and “hows”. I ultimately shut down; turn off completely.

Unfortunately, life is a great big ball of unknowns. So, as you can imagine, I’ve watched through Golden Girls and other mindless shows, more than once. Recklessly abandoning reality. I’ve found myself on the couch more often than I’d like to admit.

For some reason I believe “checking-out” brings refreshment. “I’ll have more energy, later.” Of course, this is a lie. This routine just puts important items on hold. They don’t go away. One could say this is a major procrastination habit. It is.

False Energy

Another way I disguise rest is in actual rest; sleeping. Now, I’m not sure if you are aware, but motherhood has a funny way of screwing up sleep habits. When I say screwing up, I mean turning sleep on it’s beautiful head and shaking until unrecognizable. “I can sleep when I’m dead”, has been stated five times, this week alone.

The weekends usually allow for some extra z’s. However, I am still tired. How much vitamin B do I have to take!? How many cups of coffee do I have to consume?

Ahha! There’s that glorious word. Coffee. If life had a beverage of choice, coffee would be very high on the list. If not #1. “Come here you beautiful cup of coffee, and lie to me about the things we will get done today.”

That’s just it. Another lie. Coffee is a bandaid for tiredness. I drink coffee all day. It helps me pretend I actually have the energy to finish the laundry, run errands, be taxi-cab driver. Pretend. I lie to myself and those around me that I’m operating on a full tank. Just one more cup will top me off.

Come here you beautiful cup of coffee, and lie to me about the things we will get done today. Click To Tweet

Soul Rest

We can’t pretend with God. He sees our empty tanks. He sees our check-out’s. Our lies. “Why don’t you intervene, God? Don’t you see this mountain of stuff? Don’t you see how tired I am?” Is that for real?? Did I really just say that to God?! I sat on my bum for three hours, watching fictitious characters and I’m questioning Him? No wonder I’m tired. My soul is tired.

God can’t energize me when I continually usher Him out the door. I allow convenience and tangibility to trump God. Worldly “rest” is easier than waiting on the Lord. But Jesus says…

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30, NIV

It’s my own fault I am tired. I procrastinate, lie, ignore God. Yet, He still invites me to lay it down and seek refuge. I can’t emphasize enough how GOOD our Father is. We create the mess, He helps tear it down and supplies ultimate fullness. The truest form of rest, is only found in Him.

Practicing Spiritual Rest

This is all fine to write/read about, but let’s get down to application. How in the world do I rest in God? There are obvious ways, like meditating scripture, praying, and worship music. But, sometimes the pit we are in takes a bit of ingenuity to climb out of.

Sleep. I already addressed this, but, if I’m honest, I do not get to bed at a decent time. This is so important for health, mind, and soul. Enough sleep creates clarity. Clarity allows us to actually SEE God.

Look for God everywhere. If my mind and eyes are fixed on Him, I see Him everywhere. It’s uplifting and encouraging to recognize God in my daily life.

Set boundaries. Limit ourselves. We are not super-humans. We can’t do it all. Setting achievable goals for the day, allows for spare time with the Lord.

Journal. (Scripture journaling for bonus points.) For someone like me, journalling is extremely beneficial. It gets the jumbled, unknowns out of my head. Again, creating clarity.

Get in nature. I am never regretful of time spent in nature. I’m able to quiet my mind and see the beauty of creation. Also, fresh air is so rejuvenating!

How do you seek rest in the Lord? What practices help you cope when you feel tired?

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Toa Heftiba

This is where the story changes.
You may feel tired, and worn, but God promises us comfort and rest.

Refuge: Where Can We Find Solace in Times of Anguish?

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 13, 2018September 8, 2019

Despair surrounds us. Trials abound. Where do we find refuge? Can we truly experience peace when we are feeling anguish?

I just got news that a friend’s cancer screening came back CLEAR. We are high-fiving and rejoicing all over Northern Virginia, and beyond! Several of us waiting and praying needed the win – to see God’s mercy displayed. I am crying tears of joy.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10, ESV

So much loss and heartache is swirling around in my sphere. I talked to someone earlier who feels like they’re fighting off despair with a baseball bat. We spoke about how we come into this world with nothing and we leave the same way. Everything we receive in life is a gift, but it is freaking painful when we lose them. It is difficult to believe we won’t end up humiliated if we place all of our trust in God.

But once you’ve experienced God, His presence is not something you want to be without. There is always more to discover about God. Still, it has to be personal. I can tell you my homemade chocolate pound cake with chocolate buttercream frosting is scrumptious. (And it is) But if you haven’t tasted it, how can you possibly know?

Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him!

Psalm 34:8, NLT

When you lose another job, how can you not be perplexed? When your spouse cheats on you, or you have a miscarriage, how does it not absolutely crush you? Exactly how do you not give into despair when you’re sitting in a jail cell because someone lied about you?

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.

Psalm 46:1-3, NASB

Throughout my life God has been a refuge for me. He sustained me and brought me out of darkness. He restored my marriage from the brink of divorce. I’ve experienced His deep peace in times of anguish. The kind where you tune into yourself and realize, this isn’t natural. I should be way more upset right now.

God does not often clue me in ahead of time to His plan, but I know He is at work. I am familiar with His goodness. When I feel like I’m tottering on the edge of despair, I recall to mind how He has been my refuge in the past. Then I have unwavering hope.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

Isaiah 26:3-4, ESV

What does it look like to make God your refuge?

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Everything we receive in life is a gift, but it is freaking painful when we lose them. Click To Tweet

m wrona

Pain: Cast Aside Blame and See the Purpose of Suffering and Sacrifice

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 11, 2018June 27, 2019

Life is full of pain, leaving us wanting to blame something or someone for our suffering. Can there be purpose behind our struggles and sacrifices?

If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty, He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both. This is the problem of pain, in its simplest form.

C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Eleven years ago last fall, my body began to feel like a traitorous enemy. What at first felt like aches and pains from a virus became nightly leg and feet pain that was nearly unbearable and robbed me of sleep. I was a hospital chaplain, on my feet most of the day, so I assumed that I simply needed to wear more supportive shoes instead of my usual stylish choices. However, nothing seemed to alleviate the pain that gradually began to spread throughout my body. Blinding migraines hit the following spring. By June, I had missed so many days of work that, weeping, I tendered my resignation.

Despite having classic symptoms, it still took eight months and numerous doctor visits to receive a diagnosis other than it being ‘all in my head’ or ‘depression.’ I had fibromyalgia. At the time, there weren’t many options other than pain meds, which I didn’t want because addiction runs strong in my family of origin.

There were many dark days to follow, months searching for treatments or cures, (there aren’t any), and numerous seasons questioning why, why, why. An understanding doctor, a fibromyalgia clinic in Atlanta, a husband who would stop at nothing to see me receive whatever I needed, and a patient, loving Father saw me through the next two years. Although I don’t know a day without pain somewhere in my body, by the grace of God, it isn’t the focus of my life.

A verse from a song by NEEDTOBREATHE always arrests me when I hear it because I now see pain in a different light, too:

Don’t let the night become the day
Don’t take the darkness to the grave
I know pain is just a place
The will has been broken
Don’t let the fear become the hate
Don’t take the sadness to the grave
I know the fight is on the way
When the sides have been chosen

Pain

Pain, the gift nobody wants, as Paul Brand wrote with Philip Yancey in their classic 1993 book (cleverly titled, Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants). In it, Brand described the staggering lessons he had gleaned from his work with leprosy patients, many of whom had lost the ability to feel any pain at all. One might think that was a good thing, yet Brand reported that the lepers would come to the clinic with festering, infected burns or injuries. Why had they waited so long? They could not feel the pain. Limbs had to be removed due to untreated, un-felt injuries. “The mind responded to these effects of painlessness with a feeling that could only be called suffering,” Brand wrote.

It seems pain and suffering often arrive at the same time. Many of us have suffered helplessly as we watched a loved one die slowly, painfully from a terminal disease such as cancer. Or perhaps like me, you deal with pain on a daily basis. Sometimes we question why. When I was a hospital chaplain, I can’t count the number of times I was asked why God allowed “this to happen” or allowed their loved one to suffer so much. There is an important choice to be made here – we can continue to seek God’s face in the pain or we can let the anger and sadness take us to places of bitter darkness.

Blame

God is an easy target on which to focus blame. After all, He’s in charge of everything. It shouldn’t matter if I’m an unbeliever, or I’ve been blatantly unfaithful. God is LOVE, isn’t He? Even more so if I’m a super-Christian, (aka – overcommitted and uber busy with church activities). Isn’t God supposed to step up when I am in pain and deliver me immediately?

I can’t say that has ever been my experience…has it ever been yours? Have you seen that born out in Scripture? Why, then, do we continue to question the existence of pain and suffering in our lives or in the world?

Suffering

As written in Christianity Today: Stanley Hauerwas, [American theologian and ethicist], famously said, “The great enemy of the church today is not atheism but sentimentality.” In his view, there’s no deeper sentimentality than the presumption that we (or our children) can hold convictions without suffering for them. To have true convictions is to love something bigger than the self, and we cannot love God or others without suffering…holding to our convictions might mean suffering unto death.

The entire Bible is very clear about the inevitability of pain in life. There is even a man in I Chronicles 4:9 whose name means pain! (All childbirth is painful, but wow! That’s harsh!) Interesting side note, being named Pain (or Jabez) didn’t scar him for life. In fact, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers…” Is it possible pain has a positive purpose?

If you have ever read Hebrews 11 in its entirety, you know that it contains many who died in the faith, not having received the promises…(v13, NKJV). Verses 35-40 describe types of suffering and trials which men and women of faith endured because they knew that God had provided something better for us (v40, NKJV). These were people of whom the world was not worthy, (v 38, NKJV), yet we shudder to contemplate modeling our lives after them. Their suffering seems too monumental.

Sacrifice

And of course, there is the example of Jesus, telling us boldly in John 15 that love, not emotional, flighty, what’s-in-it-for-me “love,” but genuine love, sacrificial love, love that forgets about my wants and needs in order to meet my husband’s or my child’s or neighbor’s needs when necessary, the kind that dies to self over and over and over in order to display the love of Jesus…that kind of love is His commandment. It’s not a suggestion and He isn’t telling us to do something He hasn’t done or isn’t doing.

Love lays down its life.

Jesus simply commanded His disciples to love others in the same way He had been loving them, even as He was moving inexorably toward the cross. Nothing was going to stop Him, no torture, pain, suffering or betrayal of friends; He knew what was required for our redemption.

Nothing was going to stop Him, no torture, pain, suffering or betrayal of friends; He knew what was required for our redemption. Click To Tweet

Love laid down His life.

It’s usually painful – loving, that is…and life, too. Look no farther than the evening news for proof of the latter and at the last argument, you had with your spouse or close friend for the former. But imagine this world – or your life – without a trace of His love. It’s unimaginable, isn’t it?

The older I get the more I realize that I have only touched the hem of His garment where His love is concerned.

He freely gave it. He freely died.

And He commanded us to do likewise.

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freestocks.org

God’s Love

He gave His child.

He gave His life.

He took our punishment.

Desperate Love

The Love of God is Folly

All scripture from TLB.

A Dream…

A Promise…

Priorities: Finding Space

Guidance: Hearing God’s Voice

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Pride…

Comparison: Thinking we are owed something

Self-Pity: Focusing on our weaknesses

Self-Reliant: Thinking we have our act together

Recognition: Expecting others to acknowledge us

Expectation: Thinking others are the same as us

Humility…

Your turn…

Not Alone in the Waiting…

Jacob

David

Isaiah

Rejoice in the waiting…

All Scripture from New King James Version

My need for self-control…

Healthy in all ways…

Mind

Body

Soul

Encouragement for self-control…

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Response

The Correct Response

Redeemed, Not Perfect

His Glory

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

Broken, but God…has redeemed me.

Disguising Rest

False Energy

Soul Rest

Practicing Spiritual Rest

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

This is where the story changes. You may feel tired, and worn, but God promises us comfort and rest.

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

Pain

Blame

Suffering

Sacrifice

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

This is where the story changes.
You may feel tired, and worn, but God promises us comfort and rest.