Does Father’s Day sting a little this morning? A day of celebrating fathers may sting a little if you have been abandoned, unloved, or have never met your father. Why celebrate today?

… because God is a father to the fatherless.

I think each of us are born with an inner longing for closeness with our earthly father, the one God chose to escort us into this world. We dream of rides on his strong shoulders, years of fatherly advice, and tears as he sees his little girl in her white wedding gown. But what if this isn’t the reality? What if our father abandons us, passes away, abuses, lies, cheats, is unknown, or is physically or emotionally unavailable in our lives?

God understands our need for a loving father. In fact, He chose to send the Messiah in this type of Father-Son relationship. Why? I’m not a Bible scholar, but I think God did this so that we could understand His love for us. As we know, Jesus spoke in parables while he was living on earth. He did this so that the people listening would have a point of reference and better understand His teaching.

I have realized that I do this with my own children. If I am trying to teach them or reinforce a lesson, I will create an example so that they can better understand and make connections to learn.

God knows our need for a father. Out of all of the important relationships in life, He chose the Father-Son one to send Jesus and to show how heart-breaking the death of Christ was for the Father. Fathers are created with the intent to love their children, protect them at all costs, and since God sent His own son to die on the cross for our sins, despite His vast love for Him…. we can then understand how much He loves us.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” ~ John 3:16

We can’t choose our fathers’ actions. We can’t control sickness or even death that may have taken our fathers away. We can’t hold on to anger, or bitterness, or grief today on this Father’s Day.

If Father’s Day stings a bit for you today, and if raw nerves deep down awaken with the disappointment and grief of being fatherless, please know that you are loved.

You belong to God, your Father, and He loves you with an unfailing love…

 

The paint didn’t look like I had expected as I examined my brush strokes on the wall. In the store, the paint color swatch advertised a delicate, pale green — “Soft Meadow” — that I thought would look calm and peaceful in my dining room. Instead, the wet paint was more of a dingy grayish-white shade.

… this isn’t what I asked for, I grumbled as I climbed the ladder for the thousandth time.

Somewhere between painter’s tape and paint runs, I thought about God and His plan. So many times, I look at things that happen in life and think “this isn’t what life was supposed to be”. We picture in our minds what a new family, marriage, baby, home, job, friendship, church, or relationship will be like. However, in reality, life is much more messy than our picture-perfect ideal. The reality of life, just like my grayish-white wet paint, just doesn’t match the advertised paint chip.

Ever feel like that?

In the times when life just seems too messy, we just have to trust that God is still in control. That somehow, in the mess and chaos of life, that He makes beauty.

When we stop fighting for control of the details, the Creator makes a masterpiece…. from the mess.

Could we even look into the mess and see His hand at work? Even when life doesn’t look like we expected, could we find the beauty within the messy?

As my wall paint dried, the unbelievable occurred. The grayish-white paint revealed a beautiful, calm green… just like a “Soft Meadow”! Amazed, I just stared at the paint brush in my hand – still wet, and very much a depressing grayish-white – and the dried paint on the wall. Amazingly, the same paint transformed as it dried to reveal a completely different color! While the paint was drying, I hadn’t noticed the change that was occurring.

God is painting a beautiful piece of art with each piece of our lives, all expertly blended to become much more than we could imagine. We might not realize that He is at work in our lives. We might not be able to tell the finished piece of art is in progress. We might even feel like giving up because His hand at work is not obvious.

… but He is working. He is creating, and molding our lives… and our hearts.

When the painters tape came off, and the wall paint had dried, I smiled at the new beautifully, peaceful green room. It turned out better than I even imagined, and the white window trim looks so beautiful against the sage green walls. All the work and mess had been worth it after all.

We have to make the choice today to trust that when God removes His painter’s tape from our lives, that we will see the beauty He has been at work creating.

Today’s mess will be tomorrow’s masterpiece.

“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it… ~ Phil 1:6

 

 

Lightening flashed between the curtains and lit up my son’s bedroom as we bowed our heads to say bedtime prayers. My youngest son’s eyes grew wide and his little body shook with each boom of thunder.

“Don’t worry”, I assured him, “You are safe here. Mommy and Daddy will watch the storm. God will keep you safe.”

… God will keep you safe…

… God will keep you safe…

… God will keep you safe?

Even as my lips spoke promises of safety and comfort, my heart waved a red flag of unanswered questions.

How can we tuck our children in at night, promising safety and comfort, when children live in an unsafe world? When children die at school, from shootings or tornadoes, how do we reconcile that God is with us, that He loves us, and that it is okay to close your eyes in sleep because He watches over us?

Even as arguments discussions abound on social media about why these tragedies happened — God’s judgement? freak of nature? Satan? — the real question is “WHY did this happened and how do we prevent this from happening again?”

If we know the cause of school shootings and tornadoes, we reason that we can “fix” the problem and avoid another disaster.

Sounds simple, right?

But what if tragedy is unavoidable? What if somehow, especially when we don’t understand, God is still sovereign?

… it just doesn’t seem like words to whisper to a child before eyes close to sleep.

I scour the Bible, looking for proof that God will always keep us safe. I find it there — God spared Isaac after Abraham raised the knife, God parted the Red Sea for the children of Israel, He delivered Jonah from the belly of a whale, God shut the mouths of lions and spared Daniel’s life.

See? Proof that God will always keep us safe…right?

… then I remember that Jesus didn’t live a life of safety. He died a horrible death.

The apostles were murdered, Paul was imprisoned, John the Baptist was beheaded, Christians were used as torches by Nero, and all around the world Christ-followers are still persecuted for their beliefs.

I definitely don’t whisper these stories to my children when I tuck them in at night.

I try to avoid the thought myself when I curl up in my nice, warm, comfy, “safe” bed.

So what do we do?

How do we reconcile that God loves us but doesn’t always keep us safe?

Perhaps we stop after the first part of the question.

God loves us.

God loves you.

God loves me.

When bad things happen, this doesn’t mean God is mad at us or that He is punishing us. When Jesus healed a man who was born blind, He told His disciples that the blindness was not at all a result of sin.  

“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” ~ John 9:1-3

God used the man’s blindness for a bigger cause, one that really had nothing at all to do with the blind man.

God wasn’t mad at the blind man. He wasn’t punishing him. God loved him. … but at the same time, this man was suffering from blindness.

Suffering for something bigger than himself.

While we know that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord, I have to say that if I was one of the parents in OK that had lost a child, hearing these words might make me sock someone right in the teeth.

I’m just being honest.

In times like these, when faith is trying, and we are clinging to the promise that God loves us and God is always with us, may I propose one option?

Stop searching for the cause.

Perhaps now is not the time to search for a cause, to assign blame, to hatch a disaster-avoidance plan, and to point fingers. When the disciples asked Jesus why the man was blind, Jesus moved the finger-pointing away from the blind man and his family. Jesus pointed to God and said that God has bigger plans that what we see.

So, when we feel like shaking a fist at God who allows tragedy, or pointing at “sinners” and saying they deserved it, or just asking why as we formulate a plan to avoid the next big disaster, maybe we should just stop.

Stop.

I don’t think God put us in charge of assigning root causes.

I never see that commandment in the Bible.

What I do see is the commandment to love each other and to love God.

Right now, hearts are breaking, homes are destroyed, families are heart-broken, and we (as “The Church”) want to just sit around in our comfy chairs and discuss causes and theological reasons why disasters strike.

Maybe God just wants the “cause patrol” to get off of our high horses and love on our neighbor.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” ~ John 13:34-35

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.” ~ Romans 12:9

“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” ~ Gal 5:6

Instead of arguing, we need to be praying. Instead of intense debates, we need to be intensely loving. Instead of social media wars, we need to use social media to ban together to support the people of OK.

We can do both, right?

Um… if I had a flat house, I think I would be encouraging energy to be used for helping instead of couch debates, but that’s just me.

God loves us.

He commands us to love each other.

Simple, but true. These are the truths I am clinging to when I don’t understand root causes of disasters. Because as far as I’m concerned, God doesn’t need my help in being the “cause patrol”. He only told me to love, and it seems like right now especially, there’s plenty of need for that…

 

Dear Stressed-Out One,

I see you there, with the plastered-on plastic smile like you have everything under control. You’re the leader, the one with the plan like a school chaperon with a CPR certificate.

… when you can’t seem to catch your own breath.

On those days when life feels like a speedway, years blur together, and you just can’t seem to jump off of the speeding train, it can be hard to breathe. The walls feel as if they are closing in, and when the room starts to spin, what do you grasp to hold on to?

Panic rises and fear cripples, and you can’t give in because little eyes are looking to you to hold it all together. When the plan doesn’t seem like much of a plan because it contains more question marks than periods, even the strongest of us get a case of the “crazy eye”.

It happens.

Stress is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of humanity.

We are weak at our core. When we rely on our own strengths, we will grow tired and weary. Breaths will come in short, frantic spurts and fear will pull us down into the murky depths as we frantically flail our arms about to reach the surface.

In those stress-filled moments, how do we breathe deeply? How do we calm fear? How do we quiet the voices of doubt and trembling hands?

We just have to remember the truths we have buried deep in our hearts. When we pull them up to the surface, and wrap our sweaty palms around them in a tight-white-knuckled grip, we begin to breathe deeply.

We remember that His strength is enough. His power is made perfect in our weaknesses.

God knows the plans He has for us, even when we don’t see the whole plan.

Because we know that He works all things together for our good, we will trust Him… even when we don’t understand.

When we are weary, he invites us to cast all of our cares on Him because He cares for us.

Why do we worry that He will not provide for our needs? He commands us to not worry about tomorrow for He has promised that He will supply all we need.

As we hang onto truths from God, we know that He will deliver us. If God is for us, who can be against us? We are more than conquerers and nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing. Not this valley you are facing, not this situation that seems hopeless, not stresses or discouragement or enemies or life or death…

Our God is sovereign in all things and as we meditate on His promises, we can breathe deep and rest in the His peace that surpasses all of our understanding.

He will be our hiding place, hear our cries, and deliver us from our fears.

We can rest in Him. Sometimes our emotions try to take control of our days, and discouragement seems like truth. However, God’s Word is Truth. He never speaks discouragement to our souls, so we can choose to reject the rising whispers of panic and fear, and to instead hang onto God’s truth instead.

I write this to me today as much as to you. When I’ve looked into the mirror lately, I’ve met the “crazy eye” of panic and fear. I’m hanging on to these truths with you. I am choosing each day to trust God’s hand at work, even when I don’t understand His plan.

… especially when I don’t understand His plan.

If you are struggling, could I pray with and for you? You can leave a comment below or email me privately at Melanie (at) OnlyABreath (dot) com. Your private messages are always kept in complete confidence, and I truly care about each of you. I would appreciate your prayers as well.

I appreciate each one of you and pray for you every day.

Let’s hang onto these truths when we are barely hanging on:

 ”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” ~ 2 Cor 12:9

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11

“casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” ~ 1 Peter 5:7

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” ~ Romans 8:28

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” ~ John 14:27

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” ~ Phil 4:19

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” ~ Matthew 6:34

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~ Phil 4:6-7

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” ~ Psalm 34:4

“You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah” ~ Psalm 32:7

“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” ~ Psalm 34:17

 

 

 

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The last thing I remember from the dream is my husband spitting in my face. My eyes popped open, but the message was crystal clear… I knew what I had to do and more importantly, what I must stop doing.

When did I fall into the comparison trap? The first time I saw her face and realized that she was more attractive than me? Is that when the seed of jealously and discontent was really planted? Did it start earlier, from years of teenage angst as an oddball during the “awkward years”? Perhaps when I signed up for Facebook and realized that my perceived shortcomings were so enormous compared with the perfect photos of someone else’s life.

…… Do you ever compare your life to someone else’s “Perfect Facebook Life”? If so, I wrote this for you, sweet friend, because I have been there, done that, and finally unlocked the comparison trap. Read more at Woman to Woman Ministries where I am honored to guest post today.

 

The Bible miniseries is now available for purchase today! I know there are lots of differing views in the Christian “circle” regarding this film. Some loved it, some think it was too far from the truth, some thought is was overly dramatic, etc.

I have to say, for me, I loved it.

Loved.

Was it perfect? No.

Was it the complete Bible? No, that would have taken a while…

Were there some unnecessary embellishments? Yes. (Ninja angels, I’m looking at you).

However, as I sat at home on Easter Sunday in my sweatpants with my sick child who had the flu, this miniseries was a blessing. As I watched the crucifiction scene, I just broke down in tears and wonder that Jesus would freely give his life in such a cruel way as a sacrifice for my sins.

I am not usually an emotional movie-watcher, but this movie completely awoke an emotional connection to Bible “stories” that had long been dormant.

I know these Bible stories. I have read them. I have taught them. I have even acted some of them out.

However, as I watched the powerful imagery on the screen, they became more than “stories” to me. They became people — real people just like me.

No, not everything in the miniseries was completely accurate, but that is where we can direct our attention to the Bible. Go see for yourselves what really happened! Look into the Word and read again the story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea! Read the betrayal of Christ and determine for yourself whether Judas was a cunning conman or was himself betrayed.

The miniseries brought our attention back to Christ on this past Sunday — away from Easter bunnies, chocolates, and even “Easter dresses” (can I say that?) For that reason, I am cheering the creators of The Bible and hope support of faith-based, Christian films will cause more to be made.

What are your thoughts? Did you watch it? To see clips or to purchase, visit this link.

 

We don’t really hear much about Jesus and equality. We talk about “equal rights” on hot topics like the gay marriage debate. We focus in on the one polarizing issue at hand, but we never really stop and think about equality as a general issue.

It seems like Jesus had alot to say about equality.

He said it with His life, death, and resurrection…

In this Holiest of Weeks, I can see Him hanging there on the cross, arms outstretched. On either side, two thieves — both equally despised in the eyes of the law. One on the right, one on the left. Equal distances from the Savior. I envision their identical crosses being raised to the same height as the dying Lamb. Eye-level with the crucified Prince of Peace.

Equally sinners.

Equally dying.

Equally in need of a Savior.

… just like me.

… just like you.

… equally.

“All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”
~ Isaiah 53:6

God sent His Son to die for the sins of each of us, equally. Jesus gave His life freely for the despicable sins of each soccer mom, faith blogger, gay rights activist, church deacon, church protester, child, grandparent, student, teacher, murderer, liar, hypocrite, adulterer, widow…. equally.

However, the choice to accept this gift and allow Christ to create a clean heart within us is up to us. We can equally choose to accept or to reject His sacrifice.

Apart from His sacrifice, we have no hope. Without Christ, we are equally condemned to death.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” ~ Romans 3:23

“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” ~ Eccl 7:20

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” ~ 1 John 1:8

Just as we are all equally condemned to death apart from Jesus, we are all equally given the opportunity to eternal life through Him. He stretched out His arms toward each of the criminals with the equal offer of hope, redemption, freedom, and forgiveness through Him.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” ~ John 3:16

“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” ~ Romans 10:9-10

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ~ Romans 10:13

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” ~ 1 John 1:9

Just like the criminals hanging on the cross, we each are faced with Jesus this week. Holy Week puts each of us at eye-level with Jesus Christ. We can’t simply ignore His existence. We must each make a choice of what to do with Him.

Jesus didn’t ask the thieves what their previous sins were or why they were convicted to die. He already knows about our messes. Our weaknesses and shame are no secret from Him.

Where could they hide from His gaze? How could they escape their death sentence?

Only one thief on the cross believed in faith. Just one, even though they were both given equal opportunity.

Today, His hand is out-stretched to you. He is gazing into your eyes, just days before we remember His horrible death.

What choice will you make?

 

*comments have been closed on this post to prevent any ugly political debate, which is not this post’s intended message. If you wish to contact me, please free to email me any time at: Melanie (at) OnlyABreath (dot) com

 

As soon as I saw the little red moleskine planner, I knew I had to have it. I’m a “techy-geek girl” who is still in love with the feel of pen and paper.

What can I say? I love making plans, and I love making them permanent with ink.

Making plans for days to come….

I added it to my Amazon “wish list” and by the end of the day, I decided to go ahead place the order. That’s why I love Amazon. I just find what I like, put it on the wishlist, and then when I want to order, it’s right there waiting.

What I want… when I want it…

On the same day, I received sad news that my friend, Lisa, was not doing well and would be removed from life support machines soon. I met Lisa online a few years ago and worked with her mentoring young women at WeUsedToBeYou.com. Lisa’s testimony is an amazing story of God’s transforming love. Only in her 30′s with 7 children, Lisa was perfectly healthy until a brain tumor was discovered in November. Although the surgery went well, one of her lungs collapsed.

So, we prayed and prayed. I asked friends to pray. I believed God would completely heal Lisa for His glory. I have no doubt that God could heal Lisa, and it only made sense to me that He would so that she could continue to tell of His power, to continue to minister for Him, to be a shining light of His love…. It just made sense to me. What could possibly be the reason that God would not heal Lisa?

But then the unexpected occurred…. My wishlist was ignored. My order obviously had not been placed correctly. My red planner arrived, but God had chosen not to heal Lisa.

I was so confused and angry. Why pray? Why ask God for miracles when He doesn’t always choose to do it? What good could possibly come from Lisa’s death? Why????

Funeral arrangements were posted.

“Rest in peace” messages created from her photos.

Sometimes God will break your heart…

I don’t understand why He chose to stop her heartbeat. I just know that He is the Almighty God. He gives and takes away.

Praying to God is not building an Amazon wishlist. I cannot approach the God who created the depths of the sea and the vast expanse of the universe to make my demands and tell God what my plans for Him are. Who am I to demand what the Creator of this universe should do?

He knows the plans He has for us…

Even more than ever, God is teaching me that life is only a breath. He is showing me that each word I say matters… words online, but more importantly, words lived out loud offline. What legacy will I leave? What will be the last words I will speak?

I still have Lisa’s last email to me, sent by her just a couple weeks before her surgery. We always prayed for each other. I prayed for requests she emailed me, and I had requested that Lisa help me pray that God would direct my blog and writing. Lisa taught me so much. She didn’t care about numbers, “followers”, and blog traffic. She cared about the Word of God. Her email said in part:

“You can’t be everything to everyone, I know that’s not what you’re trying to do, but just be yourself. Don’t worry about being preachy, just let the Word flow out of you. What draws people is sincerity of heart-truth. Even if people don’t receive what we have to say, they still read it, so it did get into them. Trust God to produce out of what went into them. You are blessed and anointed in your writing. It will come to you, as far as the direction. Your identity is Christ Jesus. Share your real life as Jesus takes you through it. That article you wrote “The I’m fine Masquerade“, was so powerful and real. That came out from inside of you. Do what you do sister…You equipped for it.”

… and that was Lisa… asking how she could pray for me, when she had a brain tumor. Amazing.

As my heart breaks for Lisa’s family, hot tears streaking my face, questions burning in my chest – why? why? why? – I just know that plans we create for ourselves, written in permanent ink on beautiful paper planners may not always be God’s plans. God sees the whole picture, and we see only a small piece. We see today, but God sees eternity.

So, we continue to pray, but not to make demands or build wishlists. We pray that God will mold our broken hearts to be more like Him. That somewhere in the brokenness and confusion of life, that He gives us a vision of eternity that puts everything else into perspective. We pray that God will remind us that our words matter, that each breath matters, and that we have only a limited time here to work for Him.

“I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God- it changes me.” ~ C.S. Lewis

We simply trust Him.

… even when He breaks our hearts.

 

—–

Please pray for Lisa’s family and that women will rise up to continue her legacy of mentoring young women in Christ.

 

I am in awe of you. Each of you, “no-name-keep-going-hug-giving-friends” of mine.

Thank you.

The feedback I’ve received about the Red Sea post — your emails, shares, comments, tweets — just amazes me. I have just sat here and read them through tears — typing this to you through tears — to tell you how much they mean to me. I wanted to respond to each one individually, but here it is already Friday night and I’m going out of town tomorrow so time is running out.

I do need you to know, though.

Your comments and notes mean the world to me.

YOU mean the world to me.

Simply saying “thank you” just sounds clumsy and too small, but I feel like you “get” my heart even through clumsy words…. so you’ll understand when I just say I am overwhelmed by your kindness. You make me want to pour that kindness out to others too.

It amazes me how God connects hearts, and He has overwhelmingly blessed mine through you. Thank you.

Love,
Melanie

It was messier than I had imagined, when they crossed the Red Sea, at least as depicted by the creators of The Bible miniseries on History Channel. I watched in awe as Moses called out for God’s help, and God miraculously parted the waters that seemed impassable.

Do I trust God to do that for me? To make a way when there is no way? … or do I just sing the words instead of really believing them?

I couldn’t help but hold my breath as they made their way through the Red Sea… even thought I know the ending. Still, to see it alive in front of me was such a powerful visual. I have heard Bible “stories” for as long as I have been alive, but to see such beautiful and powerful imagery breathed new life into the stories for me.

Which Bible “character” would I have been? Would I have been mentioned? Would it have been a good story or a tale of tragedy? Do you ever think about this as you read the stories of so many lives? Which character do you most identify with?

I thought that perhaps I am most like Sarah – We both share the need to take charge and make a plan work … many times without waiting for God’s timing.

Or maybe Noah? As the one who built an ark before a drop of rain, I know he must have felt like an oddball… which I feel so often.

Moses? We definitely both have a “crazy hair” issue… at least the Moses in this TV series.

Then, I found him. I don’t even know his face or name. His name was never mentioned in the credits at the end of the show. I doubt if he thought his part was worthwhile. Maybe only his mama noticed him there in the crowd, and recorded it to play in slow motion so her friends his face on TV.

“Keep going!“, he yelled through the wind and chaos of the crowd. “GO! You’re almost there!“

Just an ordinary man, no one special. The “no-name-keep-going-saying-man-in-the-crowd“. The Bible doesn’t mention him, but in the crowd I can’t help but think he was there.

I saw him.

My heart heard his words.

I identified with him immediately.

So many times, I am just not sure how to get through (around, over, under?) obstacles in my life. Unexpected trials and challenges arise, and I feel like giving up. The “Red Sea” of difficulties that I face just seems like too much, and I want to throw in the towel and quit.

… I want to just turn around and head on back to Egypt in slavery because, well, there’s a sea up ahead. And what in the world am I supposed to do about that?

God only asks me to trust Him, and He will take care of the impassable seas of my life in His time.

Just like the no-name man crossing behind Moses, God asks me to just keep walking. Faithfully. Trusting. Knowing that He is God.

This man wasn’t in the spotlight. He wasn’t called to lead like Moses. I wonder if that bothered him. Truthfully, I have felt discouraged lately about blogging and never really sure where I “fit in”. I have even considered just throwing in the towel. I’m not sure where my “place” is, but it’s obviously not in the big blogging cliques or websites. I won’t be headlining as a keynote speaker at a conference near you.

… and that is okay.

God didn’t ask us all to be leaders or to be in the spotlight. God only wants us to be faithful to Him. Maybe I’m the “no-name-keep-going-saying-woman-in-the-crowd”. To that calling to be an encourager, I will do my best.

Maybe you are going through a difficult time right now. I challenge you to “keep going!” and trust that God sees you. He knows your need and has not forgotten you. Remember His promises and that He is faithful, even when we don’t understand.

… especially when we don’t understand.

Maybe you have been through a difficult time but have passed through it. Could I challenge you to join me on the dry, safe banks and yell to those still in the seas to “keep going!”? If God has delivered you from pain, sin, challenges, and grief… tell someone! Speak up for God! Tell others about how He has delivered you and challenge them to keep going!

Whatever you are facing today, keep going!

 

…………..

May I pray for you? If you are struggling today, please feel free to leave a comment with a prayer request or email me any time.

What Bible character do you most identify with? I would love to hear them in the comments!

… if you like this post, please consider sharing it with someone else….

 

 

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