Thriving...in Spite of It

It’s funny that with all the testing we have in our lives, from SATs to MRIs, blood sugar and skills tests, COVID and drug tests, personality assessments, and pregnancy tests, we resist the idea that our faith will be tested, too.  We rely on both the necessity and the results of tests that tell us our water is safe to drink or our 16-year-olds are ready to drive, but we question — we are even horrified and offended, if we were completely honest — the fact that sometimes our faith must be tested, too.  So, what’s the purpose? As with any test, we could look to the old business axiom that tells us “whatever gets measured gets improved.” While the original source of this quote is disputed, the concept is applied universally, whether consciously or not. The point is, assessing things periodically is the key to improving them. We need to increase our faith, whatever amount we have, so we must not only recognize when it’s being tested but also honestly and humbly accept whatever t...

Perhaps one of the most misunderstood verses in the New Testament is found at the beginning of the book of James. I love how this leader of the early church, who was also the half-brother of Jesus himself, dives right into one of the most baffling ideas about faith -- the hardest thing to understand, and also the hardest thing to do: to walk through the darkest of times with your joy intact. Like most profound truths, this is, to use one of my husband’s favorite terms, “better felt than telt.” In fact, it seems almost heartless to say it to someone who is going through a crisis--it’s hard to even read it for ourselves. Faith exists in a realm that is completely opposite of what we call reality. All our lives, we learn to trust the tangible, to rely on the factual. We cling to the lifeboat we can recognize and touch, rather than leaning on God, whom we cannot see or feel. But when our hearts are breaking, when our world is shattered by death, betrayal, or distress, when the storms come...

In a culture where marketing, hype, and the voice of pop culture "influencers" tend to define what is important, what is acceptable, and even what is even attention-worthy, we should take time to evaluate these things for ourselves. That evaluation should not be based on the ever-changing influences around us, but on the foundational truths that we say we embrace. All my life, I have been a part of the Assembly of God congregation, intently studying its core values seamlessly with my studies of God's word, but without really being able to distinguish or articulate those core values. As I took a course in AG History, I found myself intrigued by the most fundamental pieces of that organization's foundation. For the benefit of those who have attended the churches, singing the songs and enjoying the curriculum, but without really being able to articulate those core values either. The Constitution begins like this: "WE BELIEVE: That God’s purpose concerning man is (1)...

As I sat and drew twining roses around the page this morning, thinking about this verse, I began to see a very definite connection—a path, if you will—between the things I do, the things I actually want to do, and the things I want.  Oh, how I would love to have a rose garden! But unless I invest the time and energy to plant the three rose bushes sitting in the garage, that will never begin to happen. Most of fruitful, worthwhile outcomes we enjoy don’t happen overnight. And they don’t happen on their own. As good and generous as God is, he wants us to invest effort alongside our faith toward the goals and dreams we long for. He wants us to ask, believing he can help us do it, and keep asking until it happens. He wants us to seek, with all our hearts, comparing our desires to his until the two align. He wants us to knock, persistently and deliberately, putting our own hands to work toward getting that door of opportunity to open.  If you’re believing for something today, put ...

It’s so amazing how all of nature is set in motion, even before the sun rises. While it’s still dark, the birds begin singing, squirrels are rustling around...around the clock, buds are opening into blooms and new leaves, while fresh wildflowers and garden flowers pop... None of this requires the prompting or hand of man to happen. No one has to set a Siri reminder to tell the nocturnal creatures it’s time to go to sleep, or the crickets silence, to give way to the woodpecker.  No one has to tell the birds to gather food for their young, either. They already know to do this.  If a simple bird knows how to satisfy the basic needs of its fledglings, how much more does your Heavenly Father know when, what and how much you need? Like a doting parent, he sometimes even goes overboard, just to show us he cares.  Before we even ask, he knows. Before we even know, he knows. #BackyardDevo

This weekend, we re-watched “Ever After,” a historical fiction drama based on the fairy tale of Cinderella. As a most beloved daughter reduced to a despised servant in her own manor house when her father died, the girl endured heartbreak and hardship for many years...until...! Long story short, when she stood next to the throne with the royal family, the newly crowned princess and future queen, she was in a completely new position in the presence of her angry stepmother. She was no longer under the wicked woman’s control, to order around and abuse. No longer subject to her unkind words or doubled labor. No longer her slave. She has nothing to fear or dread from the woman who had held her captive in the cruelest way her whole young life, because now she wore a crown.  Imagine your life with the same kind of triumph. Freed from the voice that condemns you and tells you you’ll never be good enough. Free from the ever-increasing burden of plodding through your days with the weight of t...

I find that the quiet, soothing shade of a garden is the easiest of places to sit and talk with God. I love to go out early, before the dawn, and watch and listen as night transforms into morning. No matter how cold it is, there I am, on the back porch, bundled up in flannel and blankets, before makeup and hairdos happen, before text messages and emails begin constantly beckoning, even before the dog is awake to claim my attention. It's worth it, to hear the crickets and frogs give way to birds, to see a warm glow stretching out and pushing away the shadows, the same way God's mercy sweeps away the dark things in our past. As I huddle with my cup of coffee in the dim glow of a Bible app, I can't help reflecting on His goodness. I am in awe that His "mercies are new every morning." (Lamentations 3:23). Just like the sunrise,  it happens every day. Every single day.   The second garden is just as important as Eden, the first, because it is a place of transformat...