Scoot your chairs in close, kids. I have a story for you. This will help someone.

Several years ago I was working for a ministry that trained and equipped student ministers. It was a dream job in so many ways.

I’ll spare you the details, but I went through an awful season while serving in that role. Compounding it was a knowledge that I needed some answers from God Himself — it was one of those “crisis of belief” times that Henry Blackaby so eloquently talked about in “Experiencing God.”

So I prayed, and sought, and waited. Nothing, Nada.

Ultimately, I did hear from God in what was a solid, sweet fashion. God spoke in the most amazing fashion during a personal retreat at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit near Conyers, Georgia. One unique feature of this place is that you were expected to follow a discipline of silence — you didn’t speak to anyone, and no one was to speak to you. And no, I’m not Roman Catholic, nor am I any sort of a mystic. Don’t worry. I’m resolutely Southern Baptist! It wasn’t about the monks and me, but about God and me, one on one. I’ll save that story for another time (or you can contact me personally — it’s a story I love to tell.)

Years later, I’m still unpacking what God taught me during that season. Let me share with you seven takeaways. I hope these resonate with you because, if you haven’t already, you can anticipate a time in your life when the heavens are silent and hearing from God just isn’t happening,

I’d add, too, that there are plenty of stories in scripture when God didn’t speak. For years. You’re in good company.

Here are my seven:

1. Don’t Ignore the Silence

Silence can be unnerving, especially when we’re used to constant communication. But when God seems silent, it’s not an invitation to panic; it’s a call to pause. Silence can be a sacred space for reflection and growth. Think of it as God’s way of saying, “Let’s sit with this for a moment.” It’s in these quiet times we often find the deepest insights and grow in patience and perseverance.

2. Confront Sin in Your Life

Silence from God can sometimes act as a gentle nudge to examine our hearts and lives. It’s a call to introspection, asking us to confront any sin or barriers that may be disrupting our relationship with Him. This isn’t about wallowing in guilt but about clearing the air. Just as a bit of dust can cloud a lens, even small sins can cloud our spiritual vision.

3. Go Back to What You Know for Sure

In times of silence, anchor yourself in the truths you know about God and His character. Remember His promises and the ways He has been faithful in the past. This is not about ignoring your doubts or fears but about remembering that, even when the path ahead seems unclear, the foundation of your faith is solid.

4. Make a Decision and Choose Sides

When God seems silent, it’s a pivotal moment to decide where your loyalty lies. Will you follow God, trusting in His unseen guidance, or lean on your own understanding? This decision is about commitment, a declaration that, regardless of how you feel, your trust in God’s character and promises is unwavering.

5. Trust God More, Not Less

It might seem counterintuitive, but God’s silence is often the best time to deepen your trust in Him. Trusting more, not less, means leaning into faith, even when you don’t have all the answers. It’s about believing that God is at work in your life, even in the silence, shaping you for purposes beyond your current understanding.

6. Listen and Watch Closely

God’s silence doesn’t mean His absence. Sometimes, God speaks in whispers or through the actions and words of others. Pay attention to the world around you, the “coincidences,” the advice of friends, the serenity of nature. God is often at work in the subtle, teaching us to tune our senses to His gentle guidance.

7. Get Ready to Receive from Him

Finally, prepare your heart to receive from God. This isn’t about passively waiting but actively preparing—like tilling the soil for the seeds yet to be sown. It’s about making space in your life for what God is about to do, trusting that His silence is often the precursor to growth, blessing, and deeper understanding.

I hope this encourages you. Talk later!

“The Gate of the Year” is the popular name of a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins. She titled it “God Knows.” I’ll share its best-known stanza in a moment.

A quick history lesson.

According to Wikipedia, the poem was written in 1908 and privately published in 1912. King George VI quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British empire. It was thought that his wife, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Consort, shared it with him. Now it’s believed that Princess Elizabeth, aged 13, gave the poem to her father.

The Gate of the Year gave comfort to the Queen Mother all her days, and was a real inspiration to Brits in the Second World War. She had its words engraved on stone plaques and mounted on the gates of the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle.

These are some powerful words:

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

I wish I’d written this.

So why this current fascination on my part? Let me parse it.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

Here are two fundamental wishes. These are especially meaningful when you have some hard questions and answers aren’t forthcoming (hello, 2024!)

The desire for light is self-evident. You want to be able to see where you’re going.

“Tread safely into the unknown.” If light is available, then the unknown isn’t quite as scary. In these dark days, if you knew what lay ahead, wouldn’t you be comforted by knowing? (Or not; if what lay ahead is disastrous, you might not want to know.)

There have been times in my life – and, in all likelihood, yours too – when you took a leap of faith and hit the ground with a sickening thud. Your faith was misplaced. You let the clamor of the world drown out that still, small voice. Or, worse, you “followed your heart.” Ancient script teaches that the heart is deceitful above all things. Following your heart sounds noble, but it’s not a good idea.

And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

Yes yes yes.

You’ve probably said things like:

I thought God wanted me to marry him.

I thought I was supposed to take that job.

Moving to a new house felt right, somehow.

Here’s the lesson here:

• It’s not a matter of removing the darkness. It’s a matter of accepting the darkness and prevailing in it.
• God’s hand is big, protective, and firm. He doesn’t let go of you. People might. He won’t.
• If it’s safety you crave, then the most perfectly safe place in the universe is in the hand of God, and it doesn’t matter how dark it is.

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.

Here’s a subtle nuance. The picture is of someone (you? me?) moving first and then finding the hand of God. It’s knowing that He’s already there, whether you have reached Him or not. The poet draws the picture of taking God’s hand and trodding gladly into the night. No fear, no apprehension. Just the simple joy of knowing God’s got you.

It doesn’t matter the circumstances of what brought on the darkness. They might not change.  The mandate is to be glad in those circumstances. Crazy, I know. But it all is centered in God holding your hand.

And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

Sweet.

Get this picture.

• God leads, and the journey begins in darkness.
• He leads toward the hills. Hills conceal, but there is the promise of something else beyond what can be seen.
• The day breaks in the East. There is the certainty of sunrise, and, blessedly, visual confirmation that it is indeed dawn. A new day with new possibilities and new hope.

The Gate of the Year

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.^[3]

I’m all about finding hope in the midst of struggles.

Life is full of struggles, challenges, and difficulties that can sometimes make us feel hopeless and helpless.

Whether it’s dealing with sickness, financial problems, broken relationships, or any other kind of setback, it’s easy to lose faith and feel like there’s no way out. However, as Christians, we have a unique perspective on struggles that allows us to find hope even in the darkest of times.

Maybe I’m obsessive about this “hope” thing. Just this morning I was reading a Facebook post from a friend of mine who is in a horrific downward spiral. She’s “had enough.” Most of her issues grew out of a realization that some earnest, heartfelt beliefs she had were shown to be categorically untrue. It rocked her world to realize she was wrong.

Well, if I were to put my hope in some sort of man-made construct like politics, I’d despair too.

Scripture gives reason for hope in the midst of struggles. 

The Bible is full of stories of people who faced incredible struggles and yet found hope and redemption through their faith in God. Take the story of Joseph, for example. Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers, falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and spent years in prison. But through it all, he remained faithful to God and eventually became second in command of all of Egypt, saving his family from famine and becoming a hero to his people.

Similarly, the apostle Paul faced numerous struggles in his life, including imprisonment, persecution, and physical ailments. But he never lost faith and continued to preach the gospel even in the face of adversity. In fact, it was during his imprisonment that he wrote some of his most inspiring letters to the early Christian churches, encouraging them to persevere in the faith.

I know what you’re thinking, because I’m psychic like that: “I ain’t Joseph, and I ain’t Paul.”

True that. You are uniquely you. As a believer, however, you have the same resources that they had, and can find hope in the midst of struggles. 

How does that work? 

Here are four principles.

1 – Trusting in God’s Plan

One of the most powerful ways we can find hope in the midst of struggles is by trusting in God’s plan for our lives. The Bible teaches us that God is in control of everything, and that includes the challenges we face. In Romans 8:28, we read: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” 

This verse – which can’t be quoted enough –  reminds us that God can use even the most difficult situations for our ultimate good.

Of course, trusting in God’s plan isn’t always easy, especially when we’re in the middle of a crisis. But we can take comfort in the fact that God is always with us, even in our darkest moments. As Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” When we turn to God in our struggles, we can find hope in the knowledge that he is working everything out for our good.

As a Christian, trusting in God’s plan means having faith that God is in control of our lives and that he has a purpose for everything that happens. It means surrendering our own desires and plans to God and trusting that his plan for us is good, even if it may be different from what we had envisioned for ourselves. That’s a serious wakeup call. 

Trusting in God’s plan requires a deep belief in God’s character and his promises.

We need to trust that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving, and that he desires what is best for us. We also need to trust that God’s plan for our lives is ultimately for our good and for his glory, even if it may involve hardship or suffering along the way. That’s tough, but there y’are.

Trusting in God’s plan can be challenging, especially when we face difficult circumstances or when God’s plan seems to conflict with our own desires. However, as Christians, we are called to have faith and to trust in God’s sovereignty. In Proverbs 3:5-6 – another classic –  we are encouraged to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Trusting in God’s plan means having faith in his character and promises, surrendering our own plans to him, seeking his guidance and direction, and ultimately trusting that his plan for our lives is good and for his glory.

2 – Finding Community

As a Christian, finding community means being a part of a group of people who share our faith and who can support us in our spiritual journey. It means being surrounded by people who encourage us, challenge us, and help us grow in our relationship with God.

For an introvert like me, this has been a challenge. I like to be around  people, but primarily on my own terms. 

Still, finding community is an essential part of the Christian life. In the Bible, we see many examples of people who lived out their faith in community. The early church, for example, was characterized by a deep sense of fellowship and mutual support. Acts 2:42-47 describes how the believers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…All the believers were together and had everything in common…they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God.”

Finding community might involve attending a church or small group, participating in a Bible study or prayer group, or getting involved in a ministry or service project. The important thing is to be intentional about seeking out relationships with other believers who can support us in our faith. Our lives shouldn’t  operate in a vacuum.

We can find encouragement and accountability as we share our struggles and triumphs with others.

There can learn from the wisdom and experience of those who have walked the path of faith before us. We can also be a source of encouragement and support for others who are going through their own struggles and challenges. That’s a big deal. 

Ultimately, finding community as a Christian is about living out the call to love and serve one another.

In John 13:34-35, Jesus says, “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.” By finding and participating in Christian community, we can live out this command and grow in our relationship with God and with others.

3 – Cultivating Gratitude

Are you thankful? When we’re in the middle of a crisis, it can be easy to focus on all the things that are going wrong. However, as Christians, we’re called to give thanks in all circumstances. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, we’re told to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

This doesn’t mean we should ignore our pain or pretend that everything is okay when it’s not. Rather, it means that we can find hope by looking for the good in every situation.

Maybe we can be grateful for the people who are supporting us, or for the small moments of joy we experience in the midst of our struggles. By intentionally cultivating gratitude, we can shift our focus from our difficulties to the blessings in our lives.

It means acknowledging that everything we have is a gift from God, and choosing to view our lives through a lens of gratitude rather than one of entitlement or complaint.

We can make a daily habit of thanking God for the blessings in our lives, both big and small. We can also reflect on how God has worked in our lives in the past, and give thanks for his faithfulness and provision.

This doesn’t mean ignoring our struggles or pretending that everything is okay when it’s not.

Rather, it means intentionally seeking out and giving thanks for the good things in our lives, no matter how small they may seem.

Cultivating gratitude can help us to shift our focus from our problems to the blessings in our lives, leading to greater joy and contentment. It can also help us to stay connected to God and to remember his faithfulness, even when we are facing difficult circumstances.

Cultivating gratitude as a Christian involves recognizing that everything we have is a gift from God, intentionally focusing on the positive aspects of our lives, and giving thanks to God for his provision and faithfulness. By practicing gratitude, we can experience greater joy and contentment in our lives, and deepen our relationship with God.

4 – Holding onto God’s Promises

To hold onto God’s promises means to trust in and rely on the truths and assurances found in the Bible that are attributed to God. These promises remind us of God’s love, faithfulness, and power, and can provide hope and encouragement in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Holding onto God’s promises involves several steps.

First, we need to identify the promises that speak to our specific situation. For example, if we’re facing financial difficulties, we might look to the promise in Philippians 4:19: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” If we’re struggling with fear or anxiety, we might turn to Isaiah 41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Once we’ve identified the promises that apply to our situation, we need to meditate on them and internalize them. This means taking the time to read and study the relevant verses, and reflecting on what they mean for us personally. There are no shortcuts. We can also pray and ask God to help us believe and trust in his promises, even when our circumstances seem overwhelming.

Finally, holding onto God’s promises requires faith and patience.

We may not see immediate results or experience an instant resolution to our struggles, but we can trust that God is working behind the scenes and that his promises will come to pass. As Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Holding onto God’s promises involves a combination of faith, study, prayer, and patience. By relying on the truths and assurances found in the Bible, we can find hope and encouragement even in the midst of our struggles.

I hope this helped. Talk later!

I’d love to encourage you to encourage someone else. 

You may not feel that you can pull that off. Are you so far in the pits that you don’t have anything to offer? You may be the one who needs to be encouraged.

I get that. I’d suggest, though, that you will be encouraged by being encouraging. 

What stirred this up was a quote I ran across by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe. (Are you impressed by my sources? *snort*)

Correction does much, but encouragement does more.

I can attest to that. If you want to bring out the best in me, if you want me to be productive and happy, encourage me. I don’t respond well to inappropriate corrections (also known as being devalued). I know when I’ve blown it without someone having to point it out and beat me up over it. 

I’d imagine that you respond better to encouragement than unmerited criticism. (However, I want to leave some wiggle room for the times that you do need to be appropriately criticized.)

What, then, can you do to encourage other folks?

1 – Remember that God created you. God is the ultimate encourager.

You can encourage others because it’s grafted into you.

We tend to forget that since we’re created in His image that we can display His attributes to the world. The call, then, is to not bottle up that gift of encouragement but to pour it out.

It is worth pondering: What would keep you from doing that? If you’re designed to encourage others, is there something holding you back?

2 – You being an encourager might just be the best thing that happens to someone today. 

We don’t know the full details of what the people we meet might be facing. I suppose if they choose to share their struggles and hurts, it gives us some concrete steps to take to encourage them. It is safe to assume, though, that everyone is facing something. To us, it might be a matter of degree and no big deal, but to them, it’s crippling. 

I think about Job. Here he sits. He’s lost property. He’s lost family. His health is gone. “Curse God and die,” Mrs. Job said. Think he could’ve used some encouragement? 

We might never reach the level of Jobian grief. Our hurts, though, are uniquely ours and just as real. Think there may be someone in your circle who could use some encouragement? It’s safe to assume there is.

3 – There is always hope, and you can give that away.

I made the mistake just a few minutes ago of doing a quick scan of the news. Of course I know it’s appropriate to be informed, but as I’ve written several times, don’t dwell on the things you can’t do anything about – which is pretty much everything. Ask: Is what I am subjecting myself to making me more Christlike or is it poisoning my soul? Act accordingly. 

Being an encourager in this horrifically fallen world can be tough, especially if we evaluate everything we see and hear through worldly, temporal eyes. Everything, and I mean everything, that is happening around us is part of The Plan. We can grieve for the fallen state of man, and we should, but remember that it’s God’s role to fix what is broken. We cooperate with Him, and get our marching orders from Him, but to continually fret and bemoan the state of things is useless, and if we aren’t careful, can render us spiritually impotent. 

Because of that, we know there is always everlasting hope, and we should be duty bound to share that. That is supernatural encouragement.

Living like Jesus might feel like a fantasy to you. “It’s just too hard,” you say. 

Well, pilgrim, it is hard … if you think you have to figure things out. Still, God encourages us, if we take the time to graciously receive His encouragement. Once we acknowledge that, yes, everything will one day be redeemed and set right, we can encourage others with the same encouragement we’ve received. 

The key, I believe, is to evaluate all we experience and see in the light of eternity. We are assured of life everlasting. We’re just living in the “not yet.” Always be mindful that the best is yet to come. The end is in sight.

In light of all this, find someone – today – you can encourage. It matters. 

Perseverance. Hanging in there.

We need to talk about perseverance. I’d contend that a lot of the problems and issues we face are due to simply giving up too soon. We got tired, or distracted, or listened to our inner demons.

Our lives are made up of a series of adversities, obstacles, and setbacks. Perseverance means we are to persist in the face of hard times and keep working toward a goal, whatever it is. 

Let’s break this perseverance thing down. What keeps us from persevering and giving up too early? Here are three barriers. I’m sure there are more. 

Fear. Fear can take all sorts of forms, but sometimes we’re simply afraid that life is too hard. So we pivot away from what we know we should be doing, and take the proverbial path of least resistance. We could also talk about a fear of failure – I mean, who actually likes to fail?

Doubt. We might look at the times historically when we’ve messed up and we then convince ourselves that we aren’t going to be any better. We don’t persevere, because we’ve failed before. Why should this time be any different?

Disappointment. I don’t particularly like being beat up over and over again. It makes me tired. Perseverance would ask me to keep trying. I don’t want to try if it isn’t going to make any difference. I convince myself that there is a virtue in giving up, because it helps me avoid any more hurt.

Perseverance isn’t a trait that comes naturally for me, for those three reasons. Your list of reasons might be different. 

Still, I know that I could solve myself a lot of grief if I didn’t fold so easily. I’ll admit that what I’m sharing isn’t something I can personally testify to. Blind leading the blind? Maybe. I hope I can help you and me both. 

It might be helpful if we took a look at some role models, some people who displayed perseverance. You probably know most of them. I’d contend they are just like us; the difference is that they hung in there. This is pretty inspiring:

Abraham Lincoln: Lincoln faced numerous setbacks and failures throughout his life, including losing eight elections, two business failures, and the death of his son. He persevered and eventually became the President of the United States, leading the country through the Civil War.

Martin Luther King Jr.: Of course, Martin Luther King Jr. was a key figure in the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He faced many obstacles, including arrests, physical attacks, and death threats, but he persevered and played a pivotal role in the fight for racial equality.

Thomas Edison: Edison is known for his perseverance and determination. He conducted thousands of experiments in his quest to invent the light bulb, and is said to have failed over 10,000 times before finally succeeding. His perseverance led to the development of the first practical incandescent light bulb, which changed the world forever.

J.K. Rowling: J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, persevered through many rejections before finally getting her book published. Her perseverance led to the creation of one of the most beloved and successful book series in history.

Malala Yousafzai: Malala Yousafzai is a young activist who persevered through the Taliban’s attempts to silence her and her message advocating for girls’ education. Despite being shot in the head by the Taliban, Malala recovered and continued her activism, becoming the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history.

Marie Curie: The first woman to win a Nobel Prize, Marie Curie faced many obstacles throughout her life. She had to overcome poverty, discrimination, and the loss of her husband, Pierre Curie, but her perseverance and determination led her to make groundbreaking discoveries in the field of physics and chemistry, including the discovery of the elements radium and polonium.

I know what you’re thinking: These folks were superstars. I’m nowhere close to showing that level of success.They had big goals, for sure. But perseverance can help in small ways, which should be a big personal deal: for example, learning a new skill, getting through difficult times, or reaching a specific target.

It might just be that the only real difference in them and you is that they persevered. Can you “learn” perseverance?

I think you can. Here are six real benefits:

1. Achieving goals: Perseverance is essential for achieving goals, whether they are personal or professional. When individuals persevere through difficulties, they increase their chances of success. With perseverance, we are better equipped to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.
2. Developing resilience: Perseverance helps us develop resilience, the ability to bounce back from setbacks and challenges. When we persevere through difficult times, they become stronger and more capable of handling future challenges.
3. Developing a growth mindset: Perseverance is also closely linked to having a growth mindset, the belief that one’s abilities can be developed through hard work and effort. When we persevere, we learn that they can improve their abilities and achieve more than they initially thought possible.
4. Building self-efficacy: Perseverance helps us build self-efficacy, the belief that we can accomplish what we set out to do. When we persevere through challenges and achieve our goals, we develop a sense of self-efficacy that can help us tackle future challenges with greater confidence.
5. Improving problem-solving skills: Perseverance can help us improve our problem-solving skills by encouraging us to come up with new solutions to problems and to keep trying until we find the right one. This can help us become better equipped to handle challenges in the future.
6. Enhancing mental and physical well-being: Perseverance can also have a positive impact on mental and physical well-being. When we persevere through difficult times, we tend to feel more satisfied and fulfilled, which can lead to a greater sense of well-being. Additionally, when we persevere through physical challenges, we can improve their physical fitness and health.

Good, self-evident stuff there, right?  Let’s make this perseverance thing practical. 

Again, I’m sharing from a place I haven’t arrived at yet. Goals, right?

Perseverance is a trait that can be developed and strengthened over time. Here are a few ways to learn to persevere:

1. Set challenging but achievable goals: Setting challenging goals for yourself can help you develop perseverance. Make sure the goals you set are achievable, but also require effort and determination to reach.
2. Embrace failure: Failure is a natural part of the learning process and should be embraced as an opportunity to learn and grow. Instead of getting discouraged by failure, use it as motivation to keep going and try again.
3. Break down big goals into smaller steps: Breaking down big goals into smaller, more manageable steps can make them seem less daunting. This can help you stay focused and motivated as you work towards achieving your goal.
4. Learn from role models: Look to role models who have demonstrated perseverance in their own lives. Study their experiences and learn from their strategies for overcoming obstacles and achieving success. I gave you a good starter list.
5. Stay positive: Maintaining a positive attitude is crucial for persevering through difficult times. Try to focus on the progress you’ve made and the positive aspects of the situation, rather than dwelling on the negative.
6. Develop a support system: Surround yourself with people who will support and encourage you. Having a support system can help you stay motivated and on track when things get tough.
7. Look to Jesus: He was the Son of God, but He didn’t waver from His task. I truly believe that there were times when, in the flesh, He could have turned back. He didn’t. 

It’s worth mentioning that perseverance is not about being stubborn or insisting on doing something even if it is not the best option, it’s about being persistent and determined to achieve a goal or overcome a challenge, while being open to change and adapt when necessary. Additionally, it’s important to know when to take a break and recharge.

Hang in there. Perseverance. We can do this.

“Why me?” Have you ever asked that?

I have, and I’ll bet you have too. I don’t think it’s because any of us feel entitled, but it is a natural response when things are piling up on us.

Why me? It’s a hard question. I’ve prayed plenty of prayers that started out with “Why…?”

Several years ago I was serving a church in Florida. In a sister church in town, a young couple were in a car accident. The husband had a significant brain injury and was in a coma. His wife died on the scene. So when this man came out of the coma, he awoke to learn that he was a widower with two preschool children.

That seems horrifically unfair. His statement was simple, according to the youth minister at the church: “Why me?”

That’s a basic, primal question.

You may think about this story and think, “That’s not all that bad compared to what I’ve faced in my life.” Perhaps. It’s hard to be objective when you’re the one that’s hurting. We do tend to judge our troubles on a scale when comparing ourselves to others.

Here’s the fact, though: In this life, you’re going to have challenges and pain. It comes with having a pulse. Your reponse might be to ask, “Why me?”

I’d encourage you not to feel bad about asking that. It doesn’t mean you’re weak or unspiritual. It just means you want answers.

Here’s a scriptural reality check:

• Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.  – Job 5:7
• Anyone born of woman is short of days and full of trouble. – Job 14:1
• For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile. – Ecclesiastes 2:23
• Why did I come out of the womb to see only struggle and sorrow, to end my life in shame? – Jeremiah 20:18

I could go on, but I don’t need to. These are honest statements that could easily lead to a “why me?”

There is a companion thought, and this won’t win me any popularity contests, especially here at Thanksgiving: “Why not me?”

If problems and heartbreak are part of the human condition, then “why not me?” is an equally valid question, even if it’s unpleasant to think about.

Whatever grief you’re facing, you aren’t unique. You aren’t singled out.

You may be familiar with my testimony: floods, surgeries, cancer, brain injury, murder, have all been part of my story. And this isn’t a plea for sympathy, or me using this platform to play on your emotions. My story is your story. We all have troubles. It’s universal, right?

I can  ask “Why not me?” knowing that I’m not special. I am not alone.

There isn’t any inherent comfort there. So I have to dig a little deeper. If I want to be truly thankful, there are a few more layers to peel back.

I’ve come to realize there is a natural progression for me. Maybe all of us, if we’d just take time to evaluate things.

I’m about to go all scriptural on you, because that’s all I have. It’s also all I need.

Check this out:

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 18.

There is an obvious truth in these verses. The command is not to be thankful for everything (how could you be thankful for the death of a child, for instance?), but rather to give thanks in everything. There is quite the difference.

It’s a matter of recognizing that we gratefully acknowledge God’s hand in all circumstances. Circumstances change, but God does not.

The challenge is for us to remain aware of God’s goodness regardless of what things seem to be on the surface.

I don’t have to tell you that’s not easy, especially when our emotions have gripped us and our feelings are all over the map.

Part of it is just realizing there is a lot going on around us that we’ll never be aware of. That’s where the “why me?” comes in. Maybe part of it simply means that we are to be open to God in all situations and recognize that not only is He aware of what we’re facing, but that He already knows the outcome.

We can, then, ask “why me” but we also understand He’s under no obligation to answer. I’m guessing that has something to do with faith and free will.

There’s a third step, then. Here’s the progression:

• Why me?
• Why not me?
• Why me?

That third “why me?” There are some sweet promises in that one.

Here’s a hypothetical:

Say a man loses his beloved wife. He asks, “Why me?”

Then he comes to realize that people lose loved ones. All the time. There is nothing unique in his loss, even as much as it hurts. He comes to be able to sincerely say “Why not me?”

As time goes on, he grows into acceptance that he wasn’t picked out of the crowd by the hand of a capricious God Who delights in inflicting pain. He realizes that death is part of living.

The result is that he is able to identify and empathize with others going through similar challenges. He’s able to touch lives that otherwise he never could have – it’s a matter of “been there, done that.” He realizes that things happen not only for his growth and maturity, but so that he can minister in God’s name to others.

The result? He realizes that he’s supernaturally blessed. Now he can say, “Why me?” He realizes that triumph has grown from tragedy, and he has a cause greater than himself. He can’t believe how fortunate he is to serve.

This is an idealized scenario, perhaps. “I could never be so accepting of my loss,” you say.

I don’t have an answer for you. You know yourself and your heart.

My point is simply we do have so, so much to be grateful for.

Why me, indeed:

• I woke up this morning in a warm bed.
• Breakfast was simple and good.
• My car started.
• Lunch was good, too.
• I have a job.

I could go on, and belabor the obvious, but we can all rightfully say “Why me? Why do I have so much and why am I so blessed? Why is there always hope? Why was I given another day here?”

It’s because you ain’t done here yet.

O be joyful.

God knows.

Actually, God knows everything about you. He knows your thoughts before you think them. He knows what will be going on in your life on November 5, 2022, 7:13  p.m.

That’s called omnipotence. God knows all.

I don’t even begin to comprehend that.

My understanding of that truth, though, is actually pretty comforting. Maybe you knowing God knows will comfort you, too.

Hence, my very simple blog today.

There are plenty of things God wants you to know. I’ll confine my musings to just seven that are on my mind and heart today.

1.  We have to place our trust in Him. That means we have to be dependent on Him and desperate for Him.

I don’t know what your idea of “trust” involves. For me, I get this mental image of jumping off the roof of a building with nothing but asphalt below me. And I jump knowing a net will appear before I splatter.

Nuts, right? And yet, that’s not too far removed from what God offers us. It’s a matter of depending on Him to be God, first. Furthermore, it happens because we’re desperate.

God knows that we will often find ourselves in places where we’re absolutely at the end of our proverbial ropes. We are desperate for direction and relief. He moves us to a place of dependency on Him that grows out of desperation.

2.  God sees what we don’t see and God knows what we don’t know.

God’s plans for us are perfect. Not everyone seems to know that.

Aren’t we prone to second-guess or even avoid what we know to be right? The idea is that no matter where we go, God has already been there and is still waiting there. It’s that omnipotence thing, right?

The implications of this are simple and staggering. Stated in a way even I understand, it’s an acknowledgement that I am to daily put my life into His hands. No holding back. No wavering. Head down, full steam ahead. And if you want to classify that as blind obedience, good. That’s what He wants.

3.  Life is so stinking hard, but it’s even harder if we don’t have God’s perspective.

There have been times when I’ve wanted to holler, “God, if this is supposed to be a learning experience, then help me get it the first time around, because this is a class that I don’t want to have to repeat.” God knows that we are often in places in which we are clueless.

The trick, though, is to see things in our lives the way He sees them. He knows the outcome, sure, but He also knows what we’re dealing with in real-time.

We’re typically only aware of what’s happening right before our faces. God’s perspective is from a lofty place – He totally gets what we don’t get. We don’t have that vantage point, but we can sure trust the One who does. Here’s the truth: God is good, and what He does is always right.

4.  We must be willing to forgive and keep forgiving.

If you’ve hung around me, online or in person, for any length of time, you know this is a pony I ride a lot.

God knows how hard it is to forgive someone who has done you wrong. That wrong could be so monumental that you’d think there is no way in perdition you could forgive and move on.

Guess what. That forgiveness thing? I can’t find a loophole. We forgive others, period. Case closed.

The response that immediately surfaces is something like, “But Tony. You don’t know what they did to me! (Or one of my friends or family.)”

I still can’t find a scriptural out. It basically boils down to acknowledging that you’ll never go through experiences as brutal as what Jesus went through for us. Think about what they did to Him. And His forgiveness was shown by Him literally dying for those who’d abused Him.

There’s your model. God knows how hard that is for us; it’s actually impossible to have that kind of  forgiveness in our own flesh. That’s where His Spirit intervenes and intercedes. His Spirit forgives, even when our nature is rebelling. It’s all about releasing, yielding, our will to His.

5.  We’re broken people. We have to come to Him for reassembly.

Reassembly = healing.

I guarantee that the one universal with you and me is that we are dealing with, y’know, stuff. Issues, if you please.

I could offer a list of common issues, but mine aren’t yours, and vice-versa. What might be a big deal for me would be easy enough for you to blow off. God knows we’re different.

And – because we were probably raised to be self-sufficient and strong – it kills us to have to admit that we need fixing.

I’m not dismissing self-help. There are some solid ways we can improve.

I’d contend, though, that the Great Physician is also the Master Mechanic. If we’re broken, He can fix us, and His work is guaranteed.

It’s a matter of simply going to Him and admitting, “I got nuthin’.” He offers an extended warranty that never expires. Repairing broken people is a speciality of His.

6.  We have to be willing to share our stories and leave a legacy.

I’m not always encouraged by people who have it all worked out, or at least appear to or say they do. I am more ministered to by those fellow strugglers, who may not have it all together, but are on a journey of rightness with God.

This is potentially a high-risk activity, and you’ll have to determine your own tolerance for laying it all out there. But telling your story might be totally liberating for someone struggling in the same fashion you do. God knows that we need each other, and as risky as it might be for you to be appropriately transparent, you might just be the answer someone has been praying for. Cool.

That legacy thing? Yeah, you can make a lasting difference. You might accomplish that without even knowing it.

7.  Your story isn’t over yet. There’s more to come. God knows what He has you here for.

Know what? The reason you aren’t dead, the reason you’re breathing and reading this, is a clear indicator that you haven’t yet accomplished what God put you here to do.

Once I got my head wrapped around this, I felt like I was set free. I lost a lot of baggage. At the risk of sounding trite or shallow, you have a divine purpose. You have a role to fulfill in Kingdom work that is uniquely yours. No one has the same mix of gifts, talents, knacks, skills, and passions as you do.

So, yeah. God has plans for you, plans He put together before the foundations of the world were laid. God knows what He wants from you, and He will, by golly, move heaven and earth to assure you fulfill those plans. And it’s on Him to grant success.

He has more for you on earth to do, but, more significantly, He has more for you in eternity to come.

Talk later.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a hat tip to my buddy Brad Eubanks, who really got me thinking about these seven truths.

I screwed up. You did too.

Think about it. If you backtrack through your life, you can come up with a painfully long list of times you screwed up.

Some of those incidents were no big deal, like not picking up something at Walmart that was on your shopping list.

Other times you’ve screwed up might be more devastating. A failed relationship. Messing up financially. Making a really bad school or career choice. Not taking care of your health. 

Yep. We’ve all screwed up. That begs the question: is there ever a time you screwed up that wasn’t redeemable?

I’m gonna help you – us – today. In order to do that, we’re going to need to hang out for a while with a famous Old Testament character. Good ol’ Moses.

Talk about a journey. He started out poor, ended up rich, went back to poverty, had an opportunity to lead others in an epic journey (which was a bone-crushing burden). This led to a missed national opportunity, which was followed 40 years later by another chance at closure … that he wasn’t allowed to participate in.

That’s quite the story. Moses screwed up, so we’re in good company.

Check this out:

• He was born a slave.
• He grew up in a palace.
• He lived in a desert.
• He died in the mountains and was buried in an unmarked grave.
• He was never elected to any leadership role.
• He wasn’t a king, but he led a nation.
• He wasn’t a soldier, but he defeated whole armies. 

We need to think about these things. While none of us might not have a life of such sweeping events, there’s a lot we can learn – and be encouraged by. Screwing up doesn’t have to be an ultimate wipe-out.

Moses’ story isn’t one of those rags-to-riches tales. There’s more happening than that. Talk about a career change! It wasn’t like he went from being a doctor to selling cemetery plots. He went from being a slave, to a prince, to a fugitive, to a shepherd for 40 years, and finally another 40 years as a law-giver. I mean, dadgum. How would that look on a resume?

On its face, we have a guy who screwed up in spectacular form all throughout his life. He had several events in his life – bad choices aplenty – that would seem to be total disqualifiers. And yet he was called by God, and called to greatness. 

You may not feel like you’re called to greatness. Well, pilgrim, maybe you need to realign your thinking to determine just exactly what “greatness” is.

Greatness  doesn’t mean that you need to be some sort of powerful leader. It could. It doesn’t mean you need to be someone outstanding in their career. Possibly.

Greatness, to me, is discovering the niche God has placed you in and serving Him in it. 

That’s wide open, now isn’t it? If you’ll agree to my definition, you can find greatness as a friend, spouse, parent, volunteer, most anything. 

Back to Moses, though. Remember we determined that he screwed up?

For instance:

• He started out with something so awful that it should have derailed his life – he killed a guy and buried him in the sand.
• He went into hiding. 
• He tended sheep – not very prestigious for a prince of Egypt.

Hey. Have you ever tried to do something and it blew up in your face? You screwed up. It might just be, however, that it might’ve been the most important experience of your life. There’s a catch, though. When reflecting on that experience, you have to:

• Learn from it.
• Find the strength to try again.
• Let God’s presence and grace keep you from doing it again.

You aren’t the first person to mess up a potentially good relationship. You aren’t the first to watch money slip through your fingers because you couldn’t control your financial appetites. You’re not the first to watch your intimacy with God crumble. 

In short, you aren’t the first person to fail.

It’s typical to play the what-if game.

• Maybe it was your fault. Honestly assess that first.
• Maybe the situation wasn’t right to begin with.
• Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe all sorts of things.

Take some time to suss it all out, but don’t camp out in your head. Moses wandered around for 40 years, and in your context, 40 years might be a little long. It’s appropriate to ask:

• What exactly went wrong?
• What bad choices did I make?
• What’s the one takeaway lesson for me?
• Am I still called to do this?

It’s that old idea of falling off a horse. You don’t lay on the ground, or be paralyzed with fear when considering riding a horse. You saddle up and go again. And again and again.

The one thing after you’ve screwed up that makes that failure permanent is if you quit. Guess what? No one but God has the right to permanently sideline you. 

Here’s what I do all too often when I’ve screwed up. Maybe you can relate.

I focus on my disabilities, weaknesses, circumstances, and past failures rather than on God’s power and presence.

Have mercy. Moses would identify with me! He constantly threw excuses at God.

• The Egyptians won’t listen.
• My people will blow me off.
• I’m ancient. I’m, like, a very senior adult.
• I stutter. No way can I speak before a group.

Moses complained, but it didn’t help. God straightened him out in spite of the fact that he believed he’d screwed up one time too many.

Here’s God’s response. Brace for impact:

I will be with you.

I read that, and everything just leaps into focus. Because once I absorb that, I realize that nothing else matters.

It’s possible that you cringe and hide when you think about the times you’ve screwed up. You are paralyzed when you think about moving forward, because you’re afraid you’ll screw up again. You’re flat-out scared – you don’t want to hurt like that again. You don’t want to hurt anyone else. You don’t want to let anyone down. 

It might just be that God is calling you back to that place you screwed up. 

He may be taking you to the place where you got hurt. To the place you failed, the place you crashed and burned.

We can go the Moses route. We can offer God our list of disqualifiers. God will listen patiently. He’s like that.

But, at the end of all your eloquent excuse-making; at the end of all your doubts and fears; at the end of you asking Him for an easy out, here’s what He’ll say:

I will be with you.

Talk later. 

Uncertain times. Would you consider the days we live in uncertain times?

I watch the news, sometimes … if you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you know that I encourage you in uncertain times to back away from that 24-hour news cycle. It will work on you. It will diminish your soul.

These may be uncertain times but, like the author of  Ecclesiastes said, there is nothing new under the sun. Things are bad. They’ve been bad before. Are things the worst they’ve ever been? Immerse yourself in current media, and yep, you’ll be persuaded that these days are ushering us toward the Apocalypse. Maybe, maybe not. Every generation in Christian history feels like it’s the last.

So what can you do to guard your heart in uncertain times? How can you keep from gradually losing your mind? I mean – you have responsibilities to your family, your classmates, your co-workers, your church to stay sane. You aren’t done here yet.

Still – when the media keeps using terms like “historic,” “unprecedented,” “never before seen,” then you start to believe it.

I’m tempted to go through a little history lesson. I’m a history geek, and I’m wary of inflicting that on others who aren’t as fascinated as I am, so I have to curb my enthusiasm. I will, though, touch on something from World War II – actually, it’s just a quote from the great C.S. Lewis, written in 1939. Check this out:

The war creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it.

I mean.

This is quite the thought. What is happening in these days isn’t really all that different from what happened a month ago, a year ago, a hundred years ago, or a thousand years ago. People have been the same all these years – flawed, struggling, and messed-up in general. So, our world has those same traits.

I don’t mind using Lewis’ quote because it’s timeless and true. It’s tempting to think that today’s world is unique, and in many ways it is. But the universal thread running through these uncertain times is that every generation, every people group, is in needs of God’s mercy.

Here’s some ancient script, from James 2:13:

… because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

We all, no matter what is going on in our lives internally or externally, are in need of the mercy of God. There are times when we can cruise through life and not give much thought to this. Then there are those times when we are absolutely laid low and have to confront just how puny and frail we are.

When we look at the needs around us in uncertain times, we are even more aware of the need for mercy for all. God offers that to everyone – but we can’t just wish it on others. They have to ask for it.

What this kind of divine mercy does is that it brings about amazing change. It’s transformational. It moves the frightened to a place of strength. It gives hope to the hopeless. And it moves us from being selfish little clods to a place of sacrificial giving. Cool.

If you’re afraid, then, and face those moments of overwhelm, here’s some good stuff.

This courage I’m talking about – that courage that is so needed in uncertain times – is available. You do have to ask, of course. The trick, I think, comes in our willingness to step outside our miserable little selves and do something for someone else.

If all you do is look out for yourself; if you immerse yourself in your own needs to the neglect of others – you are going to continue to cower in fear and be messed up in general. I’m not saying I’m immune to this. I kinda like me. I’m pretty special to myself. But I view that as a sign of personal immaturity.

When you start letting these uncertain times keep your from thinking about the needs of your neighbor, you’ll be even that more uncertain because you are trapped in your bubble. Maybe it’s time to think of the good of others and the needs of those who are hurting. Not at the total sacrifice of your own self-care, obviously – you just can’t make it all about you all the time.

Believer, that’s what we signed up for.

Here’s some action points. Take ’em or leave ’em. I’m preaching to myself; I’m just letting you listen in.

• Your bank account looking grim? Give generously to your church.
• Afraid of getting sick? Spend some time helping some vulnerable people around you. I just bet there’s someone in the nursing home who’d love a visit.
• The news got you down and depressed? Shut yourself off from it for a season, and instead read or watch something wholesome and encouraging. Your Bible might not be a bad choice.
• Do you have negative friends who try your soul? Love ’em, but don’t submit yourself to their whining and complaining. Never, ever, ever let them bring you down.
• You know that friend on social media who posts stuff and you think “are you nuts?” Again, guard yourself. Keep scrolling. You won’t change their minds with your brilliance and research. Your experts can probably beat up their experts, anyway. It genuinely isn’t worth it.
• Finally, cultivate a life of wisdom. That doesn’t mean just being smart. It means you are going to seek God first and ask Him for that wisdom. In this season, you’re going to need it. I’m not seeing much wisdom being deployed. Pretend like sharing wisdom is all up to y0u.

Uncertain times call for those who can be certain of God. It’s a daily dependence on Him for all things, big and little. Be certain for the sake of others. People need to see that your anchor holds.

Be an agent of His love.

Talk later!

“The Gate of the Year” is the popular name of a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins. She titled it “God Knows.” I’ll share its best-known stanza in a moment. (Note: I’ve shared this blog before, but it seems ever so appropriate these days.)

A quick history lesson.

According to Wikipedia, the poem was written in 1908 and privately published in 1912. King George VI quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British empire. It was thought that his wife, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Consort, shared it with him. Now it’s believed that Princess Elizabeth, aged 13, gave the poem to her father.

The Gate of the Year gave comfort to the Queen Mother all her days, and was a real inspiration to Brits in the Second World War. She had its words engraved on stone plaques and mounted on the gates of the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle.

These are some powerful words:

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

I wish I’d written this.

So why this current fascination on my part? Let me parse it.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

Here are two fundamental wishes. These are especially meaningful when you have some hard questions and answers aren’t forthcoming (hello, 2022!)

The desire for light is self-evident. You want to be able to see where you’re going.

“Tread safely into the unknown.” If light is available, then the unknown isn’t quite as scary. In these dark days, if you knew what lay ahead, wouldn’t you be comforted by knowing? (Or not; if what lay ahead is disastrous, you might not want to know.)

There have been times in my life – and, in all likelihood, yours too – when you took a leap of faith and hit the ground with a sickening thud. Your faith was misplaced. You let the clamor of the world drown out that still, small voice. Or, worse, you “followed your heart.” Ancient script teaches that the heart is deceitful above all things. Following your heart sounds noble, but it’s not a good idea.

And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

Yes yes yes.

You’ve probably said things like:

I thought God wanted me to marry him.

I thought I was supposed to take that job.

Moving to a new house felt right, somehow.

Here’s the lesson here:

• It’s not a matter of removing the darkness. It’s a matter of accepting the darkness and prevailing in it.
• God’s hand is big, protective, and firm. He doesn’t let go of you. People might. He won’t.
• If it’s safety you crave, then the most perfectly safe place in the universe is in the hand of God, and it doesn’t matter how dark it is.

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.

Here’s a subtle nuance. The picture is of someone (you? me?) moving first and then finding the hand of God. It’s knowing that He’s already there, whether you have reached Him or not. The poet draws the picture of taking God’s hand and trodding gladly into the night. No fear, no apprehension. Just the simple joy of knowing God’s got you.

It doesn’t matter the circumstances of what brought on the darkness. They might not change.  The mandate is to be glad in those circumstances. Crazy, I know. But it all is centered in God holding your hand.

And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

Sweet.

Get this picture.

• God leads, and the journey begins in darkness.
• He leads toward the hills. Hills conceal, but there is the promise of something else beyond what can be seen.
• The day breaks in the East. There is the certainty of sunrise, and, blessedly, visual confirmation that it is indeed dawn. A new day with new possibilities and new hope.

The Gate of the Year

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.^[3]

There are all sorts of promises involving Christmas. This’ll be my obligatory Christmas blog, because I think I’ll take next week off. Or maybe recycle something.

Anyway. As Christians, we are so indeed fortunate to be able to celebrate the coolest holiday ever. I was eating lunch at a local restaurant yesterday, and the building sound system was playing Christmas music. I was struck at the blend of the secular and the sacred – it’s probably the only time of the year when overtly Christian music is played in public.

The promises of God all began in that manger. This is crazy, when you think about it. God wrapping Himself in flesh and coming to earth.

There is some amazing grace in play here, because this was the beginning of Jesus’ walk on earth, which of course culminated in His crucifixion and resurrection. In a season when we think about gifts, this is a big one. THE big one, actually.

Involved in this gift are some real promises. Here ya go:

God never made a promise He would ever break.

You can go all the way back to Genesis. Adam and Eve sinned, big time. On the backside of their sin – which impacts us to this day – He also promised that a Savior was coming. That theme and that reality tracked through the generations up until Jesus’ birth. All those Old Testament patriarchs knew of it. That promise held true. Jesus showed up. Hello, Savior!

God had a plan to go with His promise.

I often think about God creating Adam and Eve with the foreknowledge that they were going to sin. It didn’t have to be that way, I suppose, but God knew it (and did He will it? There’s some fun theological debate for you. I won’t go there.)

It wasn’t as if Adam and Eve sinned and God said, “Well, how am I gonna handle this?” No, even before creation, God knew that mankind would need a Savior. That plan was in place before creation. How about that.

God stayed faithful to His promise even when things were awful.

Stay with me here, because there’s a contemporary promise involved here for sure.

There was this worldwide flood, right? And except for a handful of folks on a really big boat, mankind didn’t go extinct. Read that again – humans facing extinction. But Noah and his crew were preserved. Know why? It’s in part because the promise of a Savior was in Noah’s genes, so to speak. This was just one family that knew this and believed.

Those promises held true. It wasn’t long after the Flood that Noah’s descendents thought they’d bail on God, what with idol worship and such. God had to start over with His chosen folks with Abraham. Jesus was going to be one of Abraham’s descendents, and that family line was preserved through some really dark periods of human history – 400 years of slavery in Egypt, 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, all sorts of wars and exile in Babylon.

Are things awful today? Are God’s promises still sound?

You bet they are. He didn’t bring us this far to abandon us.

No matter how much time passed, God hasn’t reneged on His promises.

If God went back on any of His promises, He would be unfaithful to His very nature. That won’t happen. It can’t happen.

Even when His people are unfaithful, God remains faithful to His word.

The whole history of Israel is one of coming close and falling away. They were forever turning their backs on Him. Invariably they paid the price of their unfaithfulness. Because of God’s promises, though, He would always call them back and welcome them. It’s a real shame – lather, rinse, repeat. It didn’t have to be that way. In our own lives, too, we can fall away, only to have circumstances turn us back to Jesus. I’m not sure where I got this quote, but someone said “You can take a thousand steps away from Jesus but it only takes one step to come back.” I like that.

God put together the march of history to assure every one of His promises have been kept.

There’s a great study to be had here. Scripture speaks of Jesus coming in the fullness of time – in other words, He showed up just when He was supposed to.  As an example, He was supposed to be born in the City of David. In order for that to happen, Caesar Augustus had to take a census, sending Mary and Joseph to their ancestral home. Cool, huh? And when it came time for our spiritual forefathers to spread the gospel, the Romans had the most far-reaching and sophisticated road system the world had ever seen.

So what does this mean? Does He fulfill His promises to us?

Yeah, because God is faithful. Every single promise made to us in scripture regarding us, our families, and our futures will come to pass because He is God. Even when we screw up, even when we face awful days, even when it seems that no one understands us, He will accomplish what He said He would in our lives.

It’s appropriate to pray, in light of what I’ve shared, for rest, security, and peace from Him. There are some amazing promises in scripture. We need to acknowledge them as the promises they are and relish the security they give.

O be joyful.

Talk later.

So I’m sitting here in a local restaurant, Primos Cafe, waiting on Teresa to finish up physical therapy. She’s doing pretty well after her knee replacement a couple of weeks ago.

While sitting here, I’ve been perusing social media. Y’all, I’m telling you – while Covid cases are plummeting here in my neck of the woods, I’m struck with just how many people are angry, upset, scared, threatened – actually all of the above. Terms like socialism, communism, Nazism, are all thrown around so much that they’re meaningless. Folks are bemoaning the state of the country and of the world.

At the root of this, I believe, is simple fear. I won’t analyze what kind of fear, or how it manifests itself, but it seems to be a fear of chaos, of things horribly out of order, uncontrollable, and prevalent. No one seems immune.

Some time back I developed a workshop/course called Cruising Through Chaos. My intent was to equip folks with the proper emotional, mental, and spiritual tools to not only survive the chaos we find ourselves in, but to even thrive in the midst of it.

I wanted to call it to your attention again.

This is a paid program. It’s worth a nominal investment if you think you or a loved one can benefit.

You’ll find it on my course platform, Transformational Encouragement Academy.

Some questions about it always crop up. Let me address some of them:

Is this just another self-help rah-rah program?

That term, self-help, just doesn’t explain what I want to see in you. There are a couple of gazillion self-help programs out there on every topic imaginable. I’m not knocking them … I’ve been a fan of folks like Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, Michael Hyatt, and scores of others like them. What makes this different, methinks, is that it is grounded heavily in scripture, and the principles I share will bear that out. But if it motivates you, that is a good thing.

So is this workshop just for Christians?

It’s not intended to be. I’d like to think the principles I share are universal. But, if you want to onboard with me, you do need to understand the context I’m coming from. I won’t apologize or back down from that. I’m not trying to “proselyte.” I’m an absolute truth kind of guy – truth, by definition, is not relative. I intend to bombard you with truth as revealed in scripture, but in a very applicable, meaningful way.

Is this going to smack of anything political?

Not just NO but HECK no.

Can I anticipate and expect life change in five days?

You know I’d offer a resounding “YES” to that question. Here’s why: we are all products of decisions we’ve made, and often we make a decision in the space of 30 seconds that can totally alter the trajectory of our lives. By that same token, we can take steps right now that will do the same thing. Understand this – if you embrace the principles I share, and follow them to the bone, you will absolutely see change in five days. My disclaimer? Personal growth is a process. You’ll be hammering on that all the days of your life. My goal is to plant that seed, watch it germinate, and then see that little green plant peek its head above the soil. Water and fertilizer are your responsibility then, but the growth has already begun.

I’ve tried to “fix” myself in days past. It didn’t last. What would make this any different?

Glad you asked. You won’t like my answer, but you still gotta love me. If I don’t provide you with the proper tools and teach you the proper skill set, then I’ve failed. If I don’t give you the best I have, which has been prayed over and fretted over, then I’ve blown it. But if I give you the best I have and you don’t take advantage of it – say you work one or two lessons and bail, or slough through the workbook and journaling, I’m not the one who failed. It’s going to come down to the “D” word – discipline. My sense is that anyone can manage five days. That’s the reason I wanted to put those constraints on it. It’s not supposed to be a quick fix, but I did want you to see results quickly. I’m not beating up on you. I totally get it. If you blow it, just take a break and start over. Like Zig said, “Failure is an event, not a person.”

Can I share this with others?

Well, you should. I think there’s some potential for some small group study here. Iron sharpens iron, y’know, and that extra layer of accountability sure wouldn’t hurt.

If this is so helpful, why do I have to pay for it?

Fair enough. On my end, there were development costs, hosting costs, and all sorts of other intangibles. I want this to be more than an expensive hobby for me! There also is some significant sweat equity involved in putting this thing together. I’d like to make some profit. I’m just being frank. Finally, there is seldom, if ever, something for nothing. It’s often said “you get what you pay for.” I wanted for you to have more than you paid for. I priced it so you can just grab it and go. You’re welcome!

What makes you an expert?

Simple. My story is your story.

We all deal with challenges, do we not? Life is full of joy and heartache in equal measure. Everyone faces something.

Many people respond to life with despair, or at least a sense of hopelessness.

Well, I am here to stand before you and declare that hopelessness is not an option.

I’ve had life experiences that were killer, and by God’s grace, they’ve been overcome. I’ve added those experiences to this workshop.

I am here to tell you that what I have for you is FIRE.

Check it out. Be blessed.

Once more, here’s the link.