Read Reflect Every day, every hour, we face the temptation either to put our faith in God or to establish other gods that we feel might be better suited to ground our trust in. This temptation is often stoked by our doubt and insecurity in the unseen, and fueled by the pressures of the trials […]
Read More control, trust, faith, relianceRead Reflect So often, we can be so hard-headed and stubborn. We want things our way and we want to do them how we choose. Yet just as often we find that our way may not have been the best way – sometimes finding that we’ve worked our way into precarious, but easily avoidable situations. […]
Read More forgiveness, God’s love, God’s plan, refine, chosenRead Reflect (Editor’s comment: astute readers will notice that verses 13ff. are nearly identical with Isaiah 36-39, which theStory covered last month. We have included them here with a different person’s comments as a reminder of what happened in the story.) Usually, when everything around us is going crazy, our first thought isn’t “What did […]
Read More rébellion, consequences, repentance, humilityRead Reflect Have you ever felt like you’d done everything right, only for things to still go seriously wrong? Such is the way of things sometimes. We can go above and beyond to make sure that every “t” is crossed, and that every “i” is dotted, only to find that the resulting outcomes are not […]
Read More trust, dangerRead Reflect Have you ever gotten news that was so alarming that it cut you to the core? News that so overwhelmed you to the point that you didn’t know what to do? Undoubtedly, each of us has received news that left us utterly upset and distressed to the point that our world felt as […]
Read More trust, deliverance, bad newsRead Reflect We all have the tendency to be distracted; to get distraught over the situations we find ourselves in every day. It’s our nature to worry, and thus to seek resolution (sometimes on our own) regardless of what our faith and/or trust in God might tell us. However, the example found in the story […]
Read More guidance, dependence on GodRead Reflect In the midst of a trial, we’ve all wondered where God was and why he was allowing us to go through whatever we were going through. It can be frustrating, and I’ll admit that sometimes I’ve questioned whether or not God still cares. However, this passage demonstrates that is God always with us […]
Read More restoration, doubt, assurance, feelingsRead Reflect There are consequences to every action and decision that we make. Though we have free will to make choices that may ultimately lead to unfavorable results, this in no way denies God’s sovereignty in our lives. On the contrary, his sovereignty is seen most clearly when we realize that his hand is always […]
Read More obedience, God’s sovereigntyRead Reflect Have you ever felt absolutely inconsolable? Have you ever felt as if nothing and no one could possibly comfort you because of what you’re going through? I have. The pain, the anguish, the hurt and emotions in a moment can easily make us feel as if they might completely consume us. However, today’s […]
Read More trouble, comfortRead Reflect I don’t know about you, but often, my first thought is to try to tackle something on my own. Though I know that my first thought should be to bring something to God, this is often not the case. As such, while some things work out, more often than I’d like to admit, […]
Read More encouragement, God’s faithfulness