trust

The Body of Christ Makes All the Difference

SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR My friend was not handling life very well. Emotions overwhelmed her as she felt the disappointment and pain of an adult child who was making bad choices, grief for a parent in hospice, and the sting of anger when relatives inappropriately demanded a share of the inheritance. She was already battling cancer, exhausted from chemotherapy and frustrated that she could not deal with all that was on her plate. Darkness invaded her world more than was visible to the eye. She had Christian friends at church who were praying for her. She had good-intentioned family members always ready with words of advice. And she had plenty of books and podcast lectures on dealing with her specific issues. But it was a wise, older Christian woman who encouraged her and imparted truth without judgement that changed everything. This woman met with my friend twice a week for months. She told me the main premise of their discussions was that the only thing you can control is yourself. My friend kept a diary of their Bible searches for God’s truth about her life versus her own self-deception. Here are a few of the key take-aways that she recounted put her back on a healthy path. She learned to guard her heart. Proverbs 4:23 says “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Guarding your heart means choosing godly thoughts (Col. 3:2; Phil. 4:8) as well as seeking wisdom and guidance from God. My friend had spent months in anger, self-pity, and dwelling on how life is unfair. She had raised her children with Christian values, only to watch a prodigal flaunt an ungodly lifestyle in her face. Why? She had always taken care of her body—good food and exercise—only to face a cancer diagnosis. Why? Betrayal had fractured her family over money issues. Why? It was a while before my friend would admit that her heart was bitter. Only she could control her thoughts, choosing godly thoughts over the evil that plagued her to the point of giving up on life. But once this realization became clear, it was a turning point...

The Body of Christ Makes All the DifferenceChristina Fox2024-03-19T13:29:44+00:00

Find Refuge in God

SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR We were standing in a circle in the dark of night. In this heavily forested area, our group was being led by a well-known ornithologist who for over 50 years has been tracking owls locally, banding them and recording information to learn more about their habits. We patiently waited for the birds to be caught in mist nets. The nets did not hurt the birds. Those caught were examined, weighed, and banded. Sexing owls in the wild can be difficult, so the ornithologist positioned each owl feet up and blew gently against the lower feathers. In many cases, the feathers would give indication of being broken or damaged, and in a circular pattern, a sign that the female had been nesting. Baby owls had recently taken refuge under those feathers. God created mother owls to protect her “owlets” from nature’s harm and predators by hiding them close to her body, providing refuge and as well shielding them from any evil one who would deliberately lay a trap to snare them. What a picture of how God provides refuge for us! Psalm 91:1-6 comes to mind: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday...

Find Refuge in GodChristina Fox2024-02-04T20:25:42+00:00

How Psalm 77 Comforts Fearful Hearts

KRISTI MCCOWN | GUEST I have a fear of driving in big cities, especially in heavy traffic with eighteen wheelers whizzing past. Anyone who has ever taught a 15-year-old how to drive knows the kind of fear I am describing. When I seek comfort for my fears, I turn to the Lord and ask Him: why am I so fearful? Fear can be a correct response to a physical threat and God designed our bodies in such a way that we respond to such threats with a fight or flight response. It’s what gets us to respond to a fire alarm or to use our defensive driving maneuvers. In a fallen world, we’ve learned to be alert to danger, such as when we look both ways before crossing the street or to watch the weather for dangerous storms. Sometimes, our fears can lead to excessive worry, especially about an uncertain future. We find ourselves anticipating something bad to happen. Our minds focus on all the “what if” scenarios. This is a place I know quite well. The Holy Spirit has used Psalm 77 to speak to my fears. As I read this psalm, I ask myself: What does this tell me about God? About who He is? About what has He done? The more I read it, the more I am reminded that God is greater than my fears. Psalms 77:1 says, “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me....”

How Psalm 77 Comforts Fearful HeartsChristina Fox2024-01-21T14:58:56+00:00

Forgiveness: A Costly Yet Worthy Obedience

ELLEN DYKAS|CONTRIBUTOR Corrie ten Boom, imprisoned during WWII for sheltering Jews in her home (along with her family), told a powerful story from a speaking event in Berlin. After sharing about God’s love, a man approached her. Oh, Miss Ten Boom, I’m so glad to see you…don’t you recognize me? She realized he was one of the cruelest guards in the concentration camp where she had been imprisoned with her sister, Betsy. He enthusiastically told her he was now a Christian, marveling at God’s forgiveness for all the cruelties he inflicted on people. But, he said, he prayed that God would give him an opportunity to ask one of his victims for forgiveness. Miss Ten Boom, will you forgive me? Corrie said, “I could not. I remembered the suffering of my dying sister through him...and I realized that if I did not forgive those who sin against me, my heavenly Father would not forgive me…but I could not [forgive him], but could only hate him.”[1] Confronting our inner hate and desperation I’ve not suffered the kind of trauma which Corrie endured, but I have been sinned against, and have confronted hatred in my heart towards evil doers, as well as believers who’ve betrayed me and mishandled my heart. What about you, sister? Today, are you weighed down with lingering pain and anger due to someone’s sin against you? A leader, friend, husband, parent, son, daughter, or boss? Do you resonate with Corrie’s desperate honesty, I can’t forgive, I can only hate?...

Forgiveness: A Costly Yet Worthy ObedienceChristina Fox2023-08-15T13:17:27+00:00

Waiting on the Lord

SHARON ROCKWELL|CONTRIBUTOR Orchids have always intrigued me, and I have received many as gifts. In high school I wore a beautiful pale pink cymbidium wristlet to the prom. For my wedding bouquet, our florist mounted a pure white cattleya in the center of my bouquet that could be removed and worn as a corsage on my going-away dress. Over the years, my husband has splurged for orchid plants as gifts to celebrate special events. They never lasted long. Only in my retirement have I been able to join an orchid society to learn the intricacies of good orchid plant care. I am convinced that God did some of his best work with orchids. There are more than 35,000 species of orchids and an even greater number of hybrids. The amount of diversity is astonishing. So is the work involved in raising them. Where I live, we can grow a number of orchid species outdoors. I have a large collection now— cattleyas, cymbidiums, dendrobiums and oncidiums, all under shade cloth on my patio. I have learned from my many mistakes to carefully watch my watering, adjusting for temperature, for the amount of light they receive, and supplementing reverse osmosis water with nutrients that optimize growth. Then there are the things to watch for that work against a healthy plant— diseases, viruses, insects, fungi, bacterial infections, all of which plague the plant itself...

Waiting on the LordChristina Fox2023-03-24T17:48:01+00:00

Jubilee in the Wilderness

SUSAN TYNER|CONTRIBUTOR “Get up! Get up! It’s Jubilee!!” my friend Sidney shouted. I didn’t understand her at first. Three of us were on a girls’ trip marred more by rain than sunshine. I was hoping to sleep in on my last morning, but Sidney’s voice broke through the sleepiness as she woke me and our other friend, Valerie. “Y’all! It’s Jubilee!” For those of you who didn’t grow up near Mobile Bay, Alabama, Jubilee is a rare occurrence when fish, shrimp, crabs, and even eels swarm close to the shoreline, making them easy to scoop from the water’s edge. No one can predict such a show, but when it happens, it feels like a surprise party thrown by God for anyone close enough to grab a net. Without brushing my teeth or my hair, I grabbed yesterday’s shorts off the floor and ran outside. Schools of fish with gaping mouths crowded near the sandy edge. Giant blue crabs hung out in the shallow water. Flounders floated under the water within striking distance. After the first adrenaline rush was over, I grabbed a cup of coffee, pulled my hair back in a ponytail and returned to the wharf to gaze at the water below. A colony of shrimp way off course hovered around the pier’s post. I saw an eel dart by. The birds clamored over the water getting their share of Jubilee, too. My choice was to watch from a safe, dry distance on the wharf or to risk ruining my tennis shoes to join in the wet fun...

Jubilee in the WildernessChristina Fox2023-03-24T17:49:11+00:00

When Life Feels Like Constructing a Puzzle

JESSICA ROAN|GUEST It happens every Christmas vacation. The anticipation, the buildup, the excitement. My boys can hardly stand it. They are so excited to sleep in, have time off, and do what they want to do. Then reality sets in. They don’t sleep in but awake at 6:30 am and are bored to tears by 8:30. Then the pestering starts. “Mom, I’m bored. What should I do?” Now, I can’t translate in any language well, but I can read pre-teen and teen boy well. They don’t really want me to tell them what to do. They know the options. They want me to tell them they can have screen time and watch television or play video games. Ugh. Raising kids in a virtual world is a daunting task. So, this year, on a whim in the aisle at Barnes and Noble, I asked my son to pick out a puzzle. It was beautiful, a picture of an idyllic Mediterranean setting. So, hoping to provide some screenless family time, we broke open the bag and started putting together the puzzle’s boarder. We have completed a few larger puzzles a before this, usually with my mother’s expert help, but I’m sorry to say that two months later, our scene is missing more than a few pieces. We are getting there, and we will finish it, but our “holiday puzzle” has sadly outlasted the holidays. A Puzzling Life Life is a bit like an unfinished puzzle. Sure, we have the promise of “everything we need for life and godliness,” but that doesn’t mean each day doesn’t require trial and error, just like constructing a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. For example, sometimes a piece simply doesn’t fit where I think it should. In our recent puzzle adventure, we complained that pieces didn’t fit in spaces where it seemed they ought to fit. This is true in our spiritual lives as well. I often have specific plans and expectations for the way God should do things. More specifically, I think I know who I ought to minister to and what that ministry should look like. Often, however, God brings me a person I wasn’t expecting with a ministry opportunity I didn’t plan for at all...

When Life Feels Like Constructing a PuzzleChristina Fox2023-03-24T17:56:13+00:00

John 15: Trust and Obey

CB CAMPANO | GUEST “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.” As I reflected recently on John 15, this simple yet profound chorus that I leaned on years ago flooded my mind. The recurring theme in John 15 is Jesus’ plea to his beloved disciples to abide in Him— that is, to stay vitally connected to Him so they may be assured of his love, experience his joy, and produce good fruit. I imagine like you, in days of clarity, there is nothing I desire more than to fully abide in Christ, to completely trust in my Savior’s unwavering love for me in all circumstances. But there are days, when I forget the mercy of God in my life and the how of abiding in Him eludes me. In John 15: 9- 11, Jesus reveals to his disciples a not-so-secret secret to abiding in Him, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” There, we have it. Keep the Lord’s commandments and we will be assured of his tenacious love for us. We will be happy in Jesus. Obedience is a Fruit, Not the Root How inconsiderate it would be for me to stop there! Inconsiderate for many reasons but especially because I would be trivializing the fierce battle we face this side of heaven. Though the call to obedience is not complicated, obeying God’s Word, as we know all too well, is terribly difficult. Our soul’s trifold enemies— the flesh, the world and Satan—war fiercely against this call to obedience. Putting sin to death is painstaking work for fallen creatures like us. This said, sisters, we must endeavor to pursue holiness of life for the glory of God and the good of our own souls. The Lord promises that obedience enables us to abide more deeply in his love and experience his joy more fully. I have, by God’s grace, experienced this to be true in my own life and have seen it to be true in the lives of many I have counseled.

John 15: Trust and ObeyKathy Wargo2023-03-24T18:07:14+00:00

The Presence of Joy, Even in the Midst of Tears

KATIE POLSKI | CONTRIBUTOR I lost my dad to cancer when I was twenty-three years old. We were close, and my dad was, in many ways, an anchor in my life, so I struggled immensely in the months following his death. One of the cards we received during this time had Nehemiah 8:10 printed on it: “The Joy of the Lord is my strength.” I remember staring at the words longing to understand what it meant to have joy in the midst of my pain. A few years later I sat in my sister’s living room while she battled the side effects of treatment for breast cancer. The world felt weighty. I pushed back tears as I looked through her music, hoping to find something uplifting, joyful. I saw a song entitled, “Joy,” so I played the music anticipating a fun and light tune. What filled the room were the words of the familiar childhood song: I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart… But the singer sounded…sad. It was almost as if she was crying as she sang the heartfelt words. I dropped to my knees and prayed. Is this what it means to have joy in you, Lord? Can I cry while remaining joyful?

The Presence of Joy, Even in the Midst of TearsKathy Wargo2023-03-24T18:07:24+00:00

John 14: Trusting the Way, the Truth, and the Life

MARIA CURREY|GUEST “Why do you think God needs you to go and potentially be in harm’s way?” Even while blasting my question, in my mind, I heard myself saying, ‘This is what he has trained his entire life and career to do and be,’ yet, my protective and possessive instincts wanted to keep him home and away from any potential danger. My husband answered me, “I know this is what God wants me to do and the way He is directing me. How about if you go and get alone with Him? Pray, and listen for what He says to you.” A late spring day fifteen years ago that seems like yesterday, the impact no less powerful. I slipped away, my husband more than willing to watch the kids; I thought I was taking myself for a walk, when actually, God directed my steps to a nearby lakeside bench. I cried out audibly to God, “Father, I know in my mind that You called Craig and me to this Army life decades ago and that this is truly his calling— to be a man after your own heart serving in the military. You called me with him to be messengers of Your light and life on this military mission field. But why, at this later point in his career, does he need to go into a completely hot war zone? —when our kids are college bound, eighth grade and fifth grade? They really need their dad! Isn’t there another option?” A selfish, hot explosion of prayer flew into the air. “God, isn’t there another WAY?”

John 14: Trusting the Way, the Truth, and the LifeKathy Wargo2023-03-24T18:08:15+00:00