Patience and Perseverance

Our earthly knowledge just does not cut it. Human reason and wisdom along cannot reveal the secrets of God’s purpose for our lives. It requires process, patience and perseverance to understand God’s ways with us.

I am astounded at Joseph’s tenacity.

Real Worship

Psalm 84 comes from the depth of the psalmist’s heart. It describes the kind of worship expressed in the Westminster Catechism: “The chief end of man is to love God and to enjoy him forever.”

Worship is not something that should be pulled out of us.

Permission to Speak Freely

It’s one thing to endure hardship for a season. It’s quite another thing to suffer interminably, to languish at the miserable intersection of chronic pain and diminished hope.

Psalm 39 is a lament for the Sufferer who has endured too much for too long. It’s a prayer for the Pray-er who suspects her cries to the heavens are really just shouts into the void. It’s a liturgy for the Bewildered; a hymn for the Seemingly-Forsaken.

On My Own Again

Here I go again on my own. Or am I on my own?

Nothing disappoints me more than to watch a movie with a different ending than the one I would have chosen. I’ve invested an hour or two of my time and lo and behold, I’m left with an opposing, unsatisfying outcome.

Read More trust, control, patience, perseverance

God’s Timing, God’s Methods

Stephen rehearses the story of Moses, the person whom God used to shape Israel into a nation and lead them out of Egypt. Again God’s interventions are instrumental in advancing his plans.

We discover that Moses was forty years old (v 23) when he made an explicit attempt to become Israel’s leader and “give salvation to them” (v 23).

Finishing the Course Well

Paul leaves Greece and proceeds on his way to Jerusalem before the Feast of Pentecost. We learn from the book of Romans that Paul has an offering for the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. This financial aid had been collected from the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia.

A Peek at the Script

What happens when we pray? Does prayer make a difference? Here, almost uniquely, we are taken behind the scenes and see how Daniel’s prayer is shaping events. A vision comes in response to his praying and Gabriel comes to tell him that his prayer has been heard and an answer is on its way.

Read More prayer, perseverance, big-picture

Passionate Perseverance

Passion and perseverance may at first sight appear somewhat incompatible. Passion shines bright, with the energy of a sprint, but can be over in an instant: someone launches into a project with wonderful ideas, but flakes out at the first hurdle. Perseverance may seem very dull in comparison, like a slow marathon.

Despite Difficulty

How do we persist in telling others about Jesus despite the difficulties we face in ministry? This is an uncomfortable question in our culture which does all it can to deny pain and find happiness in everything. To some, experiencing difficulty can appear feeble or pathetic.

Tell the Truth

We tend to have a rather domesticated view of angels. Gentle, floaty creatures with delicate wings, or chubby cherubs sitting astride gravestones. The angel we meet now is of a different order. He is a colossus of a creature with a lion’s roar, threatening to release another wave of evil on the earth.