I curled in a fetal position, dark eddies of despair threatening to overtake me. My world was crashing down around me. I gasped out to God for help, for a small measure of peace. Over time, he pulled me from that dark place. But it didn’t come easy. I had to believe God could – and would – take those burdens I carried …
Read More prayer, hope, rest, dépression, despairBetrayal. From the time Cain lured Abel into the fields, only to turn on his brother in a jealous rage, (Genesis 4:1-16) betrayal at the hands of a loved one has been a recurrent theme through the ages. It was no different for King David. While there is no exact date attached to this psalm …
Read More friendship, trust, betrayalJesus, always the consummate storyteller, once told a tale about two builders, one wise and one foolish. The first chose to construct his home on a solid base; when a violent storm came, the house was not shaken. The second built on shifting sand. The foundation crumbled and the storm decimated his home.
Read More strength, character, integrity“Testimony” can be one of those “Christian words” that gets bandied about, as in “I shared my testimony with my friend.” Sounds holy, right? Or intimidating; after all, “testimony” is also what one gives in a courtroom. But put simply, a testimony is a story, a telling of what happened during a particular instance in your life.
Read More hope, testimony, story, followAt first the psalms may bring to mind gentle brooks and rolling meadows, beautiful poetry extolling God’s magnificence and care. Some of them, however, are anything but. A number seethe with anger. There are bad people out there, doing horrendous, evil things and the psalmist is fed up.
Read More justice, persecution, retribution, sufferingEveryone experiences hopeless times, feeling cut off from the world, trapped far away from the comforts of home, family and friends. Life’s storms rage, all hell breaks loose, and it seems the proverbial ship is going down.
David was no stranger to this sort of bone crushing weariness.
Read More protection, hope, help, shelterI like to read obituaries. It may seem morbid, but it’s a rather fascinating glimpse into lives so recently vibrant, now gone silent. Just a few hundred words to sum up lifetimes of love and loss and heartache and hope.
“We humans are only a breath,” the psalmist intones, “none of us are truly great.
Read More life, safety, peace, meaning“Lord have mercy! Christ have mercy! Lord, have mercy on us!”
I uttered those words as I read the horrendous details of the September 2013 shopping mall massacre in Nairobi, Kenya. One bright, sunny day terrorists stormed the mall, shooting and throwing grenades.
Read More suffering, death, hope, tragedyAlthough he was a king, David was no stranger to trouble. From the time he defeated the giant Goliath as a young man, his list of enemies grew. Many had it in mind to destroy David, to force their own ill-gotten agendas into play. He was a man after God’s own heart, but many were after his life.
Read More protection, trouble, assurance