Reflections and Responses

This morning I had one of those rare (but always welcomed) moments of hearing from God almost audibly. I heard: "God wastes nothing." I ruminated on that for a while and decided that if it is true, it also means that God redeems everything .  There is no loss, sin, hurt, disappointment, mistake, relationship, degree, or pursuit that He cannot use for Kingdom purposes - to draw His children closer to Him and bring glory to Himself. It's important for us to realize that He does not want everything to happen the way it does on Earth, but that doesn't mean that He cannot somehow use all of it. No ugliness down here is too far gone. My friend Lanise, who I respect very much, works in pediatric hospice care. Another friend's husband is a pediatric oncologist. The fact that these two occupations even exist makes me want to cry, and while I cannot read the mind of God, I imagine that it saddens Him as well. He doesn't desire for any of His children to dev...

Some days are just harder than others. Even if circumstantially, things are great, some days are just tough. Maybe you're sleep deprived, grieving something in the past, anxious about something in the future, or questioning something. This has always been true - read the Psalms! The book records serious lamenting, mourning and crying out to God. Hard days are nothing new. It's okay. We all have bad days. As Louie Giglio says, "worship displaces worry." Get in a quiet place, still your mind, and ask God to give you a worship mindset and remind you of his constant, eternal faithfulness. Park your mind there. Ask Him to help you stay there all day. He'll do it. xoxo.

A dear friend of mine lamented to me recently about her structured personality and how she wishes she could loosen up sometimes. This was a struggle I knew all too well, but I was reminded of a seemingly obvious but often forgotten truth: God made us that way.  God gave us our personalities. He created them. He decided if we would be talkative or reserved, a realist or a dreamer, a planner or a free spirit, and a million other preferences and tendencies. Like my friend. I spend a great deal of energy trying to change, circumvent or complain about certain aspects of "me." The enemy wants us discouraged. He wants to make the self critic scream louder than the voice of Truth. The truth is that God made and formed me (and you!), and all that He has made is good . We should conserve all of the energy we spend fighting our least favorite traits and use this energy to ask Him how we can channel them for His glory instead. We're wired intentionally, for a purpose greate...