It’s hard to accept death and dying, especially when it comes too close to home. Yet death and dying are part of life. No one will stay on earth forever. Yet somehow we still would like to pretend death and dying are not part of our lives. And when death claims one of our own, we might even be angry at God for taking our loved one. We’d like to have cake and eat it too. It’s human to not…
Would you like to escape your situation, your pain? It’d be nice, wouldn’t it? But that’s not how life works. Yet the plea is universal. King David wished the same when he was troubled. How could we find help for our misery? “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!I would fly away and be at rest.“I would wander far away,I would lodge in the [peace of the] wilderness. Selah.“I would hurry to my refuge [my tranquil shelter far away]From the…
Pain is inevitable in life. There’s just no way around it. So we have to deal with it. How do you do it? What’s your coping mechanism? Some people become bitter when life throws a hardball at them. That is one way to go. But there’s another option, a much better one. I highly recommend it: cast your pain on Jesus. This is why he came into the world: to save us and carry our burdens. Cast your burden on the Lord [release…
Are you in need of help? But are you too embarrassed or too proud to ask for help? Or do you think no one can ever understand what you’re going through so why bother? I hear you. Being vulnerable and weak is not fun. But denying our need for help does no good for anyone. That way we don’t get the help we’d need but we also deny others the blessing to help us. And we’d all miss God’s hand…
Are you tempted to skip Good Friday and hop straight over to Easter? I hear you. I think it’d be great to pretend that all the cruel things on Good Friday did not happen. And, especially, denying our part in it, right? But that’s not how God planned out our salvation. It does involve blood, suffering, and dying. All for our sake. Our salvation was costly. We can’t forget that. We can’t skip Good Friday. Otherwise, our Easter joy would…
A new week is here. Are you ready? Are you filled with enthusiasm and fresh courage? Don’t worry if you are not. If you’re dealing with pain or wandering in desert: It is all right. The main thing is to be authentic, to not deny your suffering. There are no quick fixes. But even when we are out of enthusiasm and fresh courage we are not out of mercy. Even when we are out of energy and clear guidance we…
Do you feel that you are buried alive? Do you feel that you’re facing a lot of dirt? Do you feel everything is dark around you? It is all right. Don’t be afraid. It might be that you’ve been (re)planted. A seed needs time to grow before it will see the light. The replanted one needs time to grow its roots deep in the new soil. It all happens in quiet invisibility but we might feel terrible growing pains. But…
