Flashback Friday – Chaos of the Heart

I recently read, “Heart chaos is the result of a worship disorder, not circumstances.” You see, my world is anything but chaos free. A minister’s family with seven children ranging from age eleven all the way down to eighteen months—there is always some kind of busyness and noise. Sometimes just accomplishing dinner for that many people can be chaotic!

But it is more than just noise from the sheer amount of people living together in a small space. Sometimes there is unrest, bickering, clamoring, spitefulness, anger, frustration, irritation, and snapping at the smallest thing. And that’s just in my own heart! Now multiply that by eight more. 

I have been praying for us to have a peaceful home for many years now. Given our circumstances, many would say that’s impossible. I would have agreed with them. But then I stumbled upon that quote. It isn’t my outward circumstances that cause me to feel chaotic; it is my own heart. If I want a peaceful home, it starts from the inside with a peaceful heart. 

In the foreword to the book Christ in the Chaos: How the Gospel Changes Motherhood, Elyse Fitzpatrick writes, “Heart chaos comes from thinking that all the goodness in my personal world depends on my getting my act together. Chaos is a worship disorder: it results from worship of myself, my abilities, my plans, me. It happens when I believe the lies that if I could just ‘try harder’ and ‘do better’ everything would be okay.”

What does all the chaos in my heart boil down to? Pride. 

Lately, I have been trying to work through my own struggle with anxiety by studying Scripture and reading other Christian books on the subject. I finally pinpointed what was causing my anxiety (which also likes to morph itself into its ugly cousins, self-loathing and depression). The thing that normally causes my anxiety is fear of failure. I would think about all of the things I had to do the next day or that morning and my heart would immediately start palpitating. I was afraid of all the things that could go wrong, namely, how I would fail.

If I can’t be up at the crack of dawn doing my Bible and prayer time before the kids awake, I’m failing at being an exemplary Christian mom and pastor’s wife. 

If I can’t fix a homemade, healthy breakfast every morning (or have one already prepared from a stockpile of freezer meals), then I’m failing as a homemaker. 

If I can’t start off the morning like Snow White singing to all her animals as the kids flock around me, then I’m failing as a loving mom.

If I can’t get our kids to do their chores without a fight, then I’m failing as a leader. 

If I can’t get them to sit down and listen to our Bible lesson, or start their schoolwork, or manage the toddler tearing up the preschoolers’ activity while I try to teach the first grader how to read and field questions from the older kids, I’m failing as a teacher.

If I discipline my children in anger, or provoke them, or yell at them when they are having a fit instead of loving them, I’m failing at being a good Christian parent. 

If it all feels like too much and out of my control, then I’m failing all around. 

But I couldn’t figure out why I was afraid to fail. Until I realized the common denominator: all of the sentences above have one important thing in common—the word I.

If I can’t boast in myself, I feel like I am failing. Pride. 

If I feel like I’m failing, then I start to loathe myself. Pride. 

If I start to loathe myself, then I slip into despair that I’m never going to get myself out of this hole. Pride. 

An article from The Journal of Biblical Counseling stated it this way: 

“Even self-belittling tendencies, low self-esteem, self-pity, self-hatred, timidity, fearfulness, diffidence, fears of failure and rejection fundamentally express pride failing, pride intimidated, and pride despairing.”

When my abilities fail me, my pride starts to get intimidated. What if I’m not good enough?

When I can’t pull myself up by my own bootstraps, my pride starts to get fearful. What if I can’t handle this?

When I feel my autonomy and self-worship are in jeopardy and I might get knocked off my own pedestal, then my pride starts to despair. Call it “pride-pity.” Now I am depressed. I’ve gotten myself into this funk, and I can’t get myself out.

I know I am not the only one who struggles with this. Mankind’s fundamental problem ever since the Garden is wanting to be our own god. We have always been afraid to let someone else be in control and call the shots. If you are human, then this will resonate with you. So how can we deal with our fear biblically?

Our bodies’ natural response to fearful situations is “fight or flight.” We either fight the fearful thing, or we run from it. When we are fearful of losing our “golden” status in our own hearts and minds, a chaotic, noisy heart only makes sense. When our abilities or our plans fail us, we panic, despair, or get angry. We are either raging inside to regain control of the throne or raging at others who threaten our sense of control (fight), or we feel things spinning out of our control and want to run and hide in avoidance (flight).

So how can we get a peaceful and quiet heart?

We’ve already learned that a quiet heart does not come from a change in circumstances or being removed from them, as in “If these kids would just behave better!” or “If I just didn’t have to be around them all day long!”

Heart chaos is a worship disorder.

We must realize that our desires are not of utmost importance; instead, it’s our willingness to bend our knees to the Father, trusting that he will always give us what we need. We must pray for a heart that wants what God wants, and then our desires will be fulfilled and satisfied, but only in him (Psalm 37:4).

We must realize that we are not actually the ones in control. God is. Our perfect plans are not the end all be all of existence, neither are they perfect. God’s are (Isaiah 55:8-9).

We must realize that our strength is not what gets us through the trials of the day. We are actually pretty weak. Like the apostle Paul, we have to learn to be content with our weaknesses and even boast of them (that sounds crazy!) so that the power of Christ may rest on us (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

And we must realize that a peaceful heart is one that is steadfast. To be steadfast means to be resolutely firm, unwavering, not easily stirred up. Think of calm waters without a ripple or a wave even though they are surrounded by a tumultuous storm. Or think of a man asleep on a boat in the midst of a tempest (Mark 4:35-41). Jesus was able to sleep on the boat because he had power over the wind and the waves. We do not. 

Instead of worshipping ourselves, we must submit our chaotic, clamoring, frantic, angry, and proud hearts to worship the only One who has the power to command “Peace, be still!” We must exalt the One who will be exalted among the nations, and we must, like the psalmist says, tell our tumultuous hearts to “be still and know” that he is God (Psalm 46:10). And we are not.

The previous blog was originally published at Lifeword.org

https://lifeword.org/addiction/chaos-of-the-heart-whos-really-control-here/

The Attributes of God (Part 8) – Truth

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

There are so many “truths” out there clamoring for our attention. There’s “my truth,” “your truth,” “his truth,” “her truth.” It can be about as dizzying as a Dr. Seuss book! There are different religions, conflicting news stories, and a daily onslaught of propaganda and product-pushing in our social media feeds. So how do we know which “truth” is reliable? There is one source who does not claim to be a truth or a way to truth, but claims to be the truth, and that person is the God of the Bible.

As we explore this claim to truth, theologian Wayne Grudem’s definition is helpful: “God’s truthfulness means he is the true God, and all his knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth.”

He is the one true God.

There is only one deity over all creation—the Lord; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All other deities are false—creations of our minds and hands, or even demons masquerading as divine beings.

God constantly reassures and reminds his people in the Old Testament, “I am the LORD, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:18). Not only is he declaring his glory, but he also wants them to know they are on the right path, following the right person. But he doesn’t stop at the claims; God repeatedly demonstrates he is the one true God by doing things no one else could ever do. Sure, they can copycat a few “card tricks,” but God’s signs and wonders eventually perplex and even anger Pharoah and his magic men because they cannot figure out how he does them. He parts an entire sea so that his people can walk across on dry land. He creates food out of nothing for them to eat in the desert. He sends fire from heaven to consume Elijah’s sodden sacrifice while the prophets of Baal scream for hours around the altar with no fiery results from their false god. God shuts the mouths of lions from ravaging Daniel for dinner, and he rescues three men from an incinerator without even a singe on their clothes by going into the fire with them.

It is no wonder that the apostle Paul says we have “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:5–6).

 

All his words are true.

If God is true, then all his words are true and can be relied upon. Moses testifies in the Old Testament of the Lord’s trustworthiness and faithfulness in upholding his promises:

“God is not man, that he should lie,

or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19)

Jesus declares that all his Father’s words are true when he prays for all those who would believe in him, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

And God says of himself, “I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:19). We have every reason to trust him and all he says in his Word.

 

He is the final standard of truth.

Not only is God’s Word true, but he is the ultimate measuring rod of what is true. This is because he is truth itself. Jesus said of himself, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6, emphasis added), and since Jesus and the Father are one, this is also true of God. The same is true of the Holy Spirit since he is the third person in the triune Godhead. Jesus calls him “the Spirit of truth” who “will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

When we are looking for objectivity in our relative day and age, we need look no further than the pages of Scripture. In them, we will find the plumbline to build a solid foundation of truth, upon which we can safely lay all the other bricks of our beliefs.

 

Implications

Truth is mentioned numerous times in the Bible when describing how a Christian should live. God’s will for us is that we will know the truth (John 8:32), walk in the truth (3 John 1:4), speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), be sanctified in truth (John 17:17), rejoice with the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6), rightly handle truth (2 Timothy 2:15), and obey the truth (1 Peter 1:22).

And because God loves truth and abhors falsehood, we too should strive to speak the truth and be honest in all our dealings. We should imitate our Lord by prizing the truth and hating deceitfulness. This includes following the ninth commandment by not bearing false witness against our neighbor.

God delights in truth in our inward being (Psalm 51:6). In fact, when we lie, we are being the most unlike God we can be and the most like the devil. Satan is described in the Bible as “a liar and the father of lies” because he introduced the first lie into the world by hissing those now infamous words into Eve’s ear, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). Lying comes from his very character and there is no truth in him (John 8:44). That is why the Greek word for devil (diabolos) is also used in the Bible to talk about slanderers (Titus 2:3; 1 Timothy 3:11; 2 Timothy 3:3) and is where we get our English phrase diabolical speech. When we tell lies or say hurtful things about other people, we are acting just like Satan.

God is clear about how seriously he takes lying. Proverbs 12:22 says “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,” and Revelation 21:8 says all liars will have their portion in the “lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Being untruthful is a sin and deserves the punishment of God, just like any other sin.

Jesus says that anyone who practices sin is a slave to sin, but he also says that knowing the truth will set us free (John 8:31–34). We must know the truth—that Jesus Christ died to save sinners—and we must believe in Truth himself (John 14:6), trusting that Jesus is the only way to God and that anyone who turns away from their sin and believes in him will be set free from sin and the punishment of the second death.

This is a stark and unpopular truth in our day when everyone gets to decide their own reality. But the truth remains nonetheless and therefore must be dealt with.

We must not only ask the question, like Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?” (John 18:38), but we must also ask “Why is there truth?” Ultimately, the point of all truth is that we would know “the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent,” (John 17:3). And knowing this truth experientially is eternal life.

The previous blog was originally published at Lifeword.org.

https://lifeword.org/blog/the-attributes-of-god-part-8-truth/

Flashback Friday – Speed the Spread: Sharing the Good News in a Pandemic

When was the last time you spread the good news? 

What an odd time to think about spreading things! 

News sources speculate that COVID-19 is about to hit its peak in the United States. “Slow the Spread” hashtags abound on social media. People are thinking about social distancing, not disciple making. 

But as I read my children their Bible story about how the first century church grew, I saw these words on the page: 

“As the good news of God’s kingdom spread, still more people repented and believed. The good news spread and spread and spread! The word that was preached in Jerusalem went out all across the land. It spread to people in Judea. It spread to Samaria too. Later the apostle Paul spread it as far away as Rome. Far and near, people from every nation were beginning to follow Jesus as their King.” (The Big Picture Story Bible)

During a time when the globe is thinking about slowing the spread of a virus (and rightly so!), Christians need to be speeding the spread of something else—the gospel! 

When most people are turning inward and becoming more self-focused, Christians need to be more outward and others focused. When people are asking, “How can I meet my needs and take care of my family?” we need to be asking, “How can I love God and love my neighbor?”. 

Yes, love your neighbor by avoiding in-person gatherings. Yes, protect yourself and your family by staying home. Do your best to adhere to government guidelines and shelter-in-place orders. But that doesn’t mean we have to shut down all communication with people. We’ve been blessed with technology at our fingertips. Use it. Redeem it for kingdom purposes. Call someone up on the phone (you can still stay six feet away!) and check on them. But don’t stop there! 

Think about it. What is the big deal with this virus? What is causing people to panic?

The reason that people are so afraid of this virus is not because they are frightened of getting some cold or flu-like symptoms. Having a cough is not scary. Spiking a fever shouldn’t start a frenzy. The fear is in the underlying reality of what that cough or fever might lead to—death. 

Ultimately what’s causing people to wear paper masks and don trash-bag body suits is the fear of dying. But not just the end of life as they know it and then entering into a blissful “oneness” with the universe, or even into non-existence. Creation reveals that there is a divine, powerful, and eternal God who is worthy of their praise, and they haven’t praised him, let alone acknowledged him (Romans 1:20-21). 

But not only that. There is something in the soul of every human being that knows one day that same God will judge the secrets of men and render to each one according to his works (Romans 2:16, 2:6). God has created all of us with a conscience that knows someday we will be held accountable to the holy One who made us, no matter how hard we try to excuse away our bad thoughts and behavior (Romans 2:15). 

If you are outside of Christ, that is a terrifying thought! It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31)! But if you have repented of your sins and believed the good news, that the Son of God was born and lived a perfect life on earth, died on a cross to pay the debt of your sins, then rose again on the third day to defeat hell and the grave, then you have nothing to fear!

A pandemic is the perfect time to proclaim the good news about Jesus Christ. People are panicking. Stores are running out of toilet paper and canned goods. Hypochondriacs are hoarding hand sanitizer! Do you really think they just like having clean hands? No! They’re afraid of dying! They are afraid of coming face to face with the one, true God because they know they are unclean! They need to hear about Jesus! Faith in Christ is the only reason we don’t have to fear death because he conquered it for us! Otherwise, it IS terrifying! 

Hell is a very real and scary place! Do you really want to know that your lost neighbor or family member died from COVID-19 and you never shared with them the hope that is found in Christ? The hope that could’ve been theirs?

People are so worried that this pandemic might be a viral apocalypse, or at least a sign of the end times. What Christians should be worried about is fulfilling what Jesus himself said would be a sign of the end of the age. Jesus said that before he returns to earth “the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations” (Mark 13:10). Do we need to be more concerned that a virus might end the earth, or that there are still thousands of people groups who haven’t been reached with the gospel? 

In the 10/40 Window alone, there are 6,220 unreached people groups—about 3.09 billion people who could die and go to Hell because they never heard about Christ and don’t even have an evangelical witness present (https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/10_40_window)! That is a scary thought! 

As believers, we should want the gospel to spread and spread and spread! We should want our witness about Christ to be so infectious that it spreads to our neighbor, then spreads to the person at Walmart, then spreads to the family member in another state, and then to the unreached tribe in Africa, until they all repent and believe!   

Wouldn’t it be awesome if the end of the world did come—not because of a virus, but because so many people went out and spread the gospel to the unreached places of the planet that Jesus could return?  

As we spend these next few weeks staying home, possibly with extra time on our hands, let’s think of creative ways to spread the gospel to those around us who are perishing because they are infected by sin! Sin is deceptive. It is killing us, just not as quickly as a novel virus, so we don’t notice it. But it is the greatest pandemic known to mankind and the number one cause of death! 

Because of this, we need to speed the spread! The spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

The previous blog was originally published at Lifeword.org

https://lifeword.org/blog/its-time-to-speed-the-spread-of-the-good-news/

Standing on the Promises

“I can’t wait to see how God is going to take care of this.”

Hitting two deer in two different vehicles within three weeks of each other (one car totaled, both radiators busted, and the other car undriveable), a broken dishwasher, and an undetected leaky toilet that caused our water and sewer bill to more than triple. And all of that during the month of Christmas with seven children in an economy where the price of groceries has doubled. 

After finding out about the second vehicle-venison collision and the dollars down the toilet drain (literally) in the same night, my husband and I had every reason to be distraught. So what I said next probably sounded out of place. I turned to him and hopefully said, “I can’t wait to see how God is going to take care of this.”

Faith. 

Standing on the promises. 

Seeing God’s faithfulness in the past and knowing that he never changes. 

These are the things the Holy Spirit brought to mind that I clung to which made me able to say those words instead of panicking. 

This was all of grace. I so easily start to fret about even smaller things. But in that moment, the Holy Spirit held me up by reminding me of the things I knew to be true. The promises of God and his character.

What are those promises?

Does God promise that we will never have hardships or struggles? Does he promise Christians a life of prosperity and smooth sailing?

No.

But he does promise that he will always provide for the needs of his children. Our part is to keep our eyes fixed on him and doing his will instead of fretting over how we’re going to pay the next grocery bill. His part is to be our Provider, our Jehovah Jireh.

“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you,” (Matthew 6:31–33).

He promises that our hardships and trials serve a good purpose in our lives. They are to test and prove our faith to be steadfast so that we can have genuine hope of being his children; they are to build godly character and perseverance in us—another true marker we can look to for assurance that we are his children; and they are to make us more like his Son, Jesus Christ, conforming us to his holiness so that we are guaranteed to see his face one day.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” (1 Peter 1:6–7).

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us,” (Romans 5:3–5).

He promises that his steadfast love and compassion will never leave those who fear him. Even if we were stripped of everything else—vehicles, fancy appliances, money, houses—nothing could take God’s love from us.

“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. . . . the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,” (Psalms 103:13, 17).

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 8:38–39).

We may not be guaranteed houses or riches or lands, but these promises from God’s Word are things we can count on.

We can also count on the fact that God is faithful. As his children, we are to look to how God has acted in the past and trust that he will do it again. The Israelites were constantly recounting the mighty works of the Lord which he performed over and over again to rescue them out of seemingly impossible situations. And when they did, their courage, faith, and hope were restored and strengthened. Psalm 78 opens with the psalmist’s declaration of intent to vocalize the amazing things God has done for his people, and then the whole rest of the psalm (the next sixty-eight verses) does just that!

​Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done. Psalms 78:1–4

So as I stood in my kitchen after receiving blow after blow of bad news, wondering how we were going to get out of this financial and logistical mess, by his grace, God helped me to lift my eyes to the hills and remember from where my help comes—“my help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth,” (Psalm 121:1–2).

He helped me to recount all the times he has provided for us in the past—how we have never gone without food, a home, clothing—even when we saw no feasible human way to make ends meet. “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High,” (Psalms 9:1–2).

And he helped me to see that even if we were stripped down to the very bare necessities—the clothes on our back, a no-frills meal, a roof over our heads—but still had him, that would be enough. Because having his steadfast love is like being satisfied with the richest of foods—it is better than life (Psalm 63). If the Lord is your portion, you have everything you need.

But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3:21–24

The previous blog was originally published at Lifeword.org

https://lifeword.org/blog/standing-on-the-promises/

Flashback Friday – Tilling the Garden of Your Marriage

Springtime means gardens for many people. While my husband and I have tried our hand at vegetable gardens before, it had been a few years and we are still novices!

The big difference between this year and times prior was that we had never had to till the ground ourselves! But how hard could it be?

We planned out our garden on paper. Visions of sweet peppers danced in our heads! Towers of tomatoes, rows of corn and green beans, lettuce, zucchini, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts were all going to be ours for the picking! 

We pictured just a few quick and easy pass-throughs down the rows, the tiller shredding sod for us like lettuce leaves in a salad shooter! Then all those nice, neat rows of rich soil would be ready for planting! Simple!

We figured out how much space we needed in between each plant. My husband meticulously measured out the plot of land. Then he plugged that tiller in and got to work! “This is going to be a cinch!” we thought. 

That is, until the blades hit the grass for the very first time. 

Our hopes of magical ground-breaking vanished like a vapor. This was going to be tough! Hours of back-breaking, arm-numbing, shoulder-tiring work lay ahead of us (and by “us” I mean my husband!).

As I watched him maneuver the machine, I was instantly reminded of how this process of planting and tending a garden is like marriage. 

Just as we had high aspirations for our garden working out nice and easy, many young couples have the same expectations of marriage. When you’re a new, starry-eyed couple, you carefully plan out your hopes and dreams for a life together. 

Yet couples can be naively optimistic about the amount of work it’s going to take to maintain a marriage. It’s easy to think everything is going to be fun and romance and date nights, while underestimating how much effort a long-term love and friendship actually takes.  

As the blades of the tiller bumped and skipped all over the fresh sod, I remembered how when we first get married, the grass is new and fresh, unplowed. Then to our surprise we find the marriage ground to have bumps and jerks along the way, such as when we have our first disagreement or fight. 

Once he did break through the sod, it didn’t necessarily get easier. Sometimes he hit a rock and had to stop while we laboriously dug it out with a trowel. But sometimes digging just revealed more rock, deeper and wider than we could have imagined. 

Years into a marriage we may discover rocks, or problems, that have long been covered up and buried deep. Some problems may be easy to work through, giving you the feeling that things aren’t going to be so bad. Other problems may just expose bigger, underlying issues that you weren’t prepared to deal with. You start to unearth them only to find it’s more than a small stone that’s easily removed; it’s a brick or even bedrock that goes down deep. It covers more surface area than you were prepared to dig. It will take a lot more time, effort, and patience to expose it and remove it. 

After a full day of exhausting work, we realized it was going to take another full day just to finish the tilling. Then there would still be hours of raking, removing rocks, clumps, and debris before we could plant. And of course, after that there would be weeding to do, critters to keep out, pests to ward off—the work goes on and on! The change of season would only bring more work as harvest time requires picking and preserving. 

In a marriage, this can leave you feeling blindsided and frustrated, maybe even a little hopeless. There’s so much work involved! You work on one problem only to discover there are ten more to deal with! After all the months and years of work you’ve already put in, now you have to do more?

Yes! Gardens are a commitment! A worthy time investment! You don’t start tilling the ground and then walk away. You don’t sow seeds and then never come back to check on them or water them! Successful gardens require work and effort. Reaping a harvest requires patience and sweat. 

There is a lot of maintenance involved in a garden. Marriages can require a lot of weeding. There is “his and her” sin to deal with. The man brings his sin into the equation and the woman brings hers. Two sinners (even two redeemed sinners) trying to cohabitate, and much more than that, trying to love each other in spite of their sin, is hard! But it’s not hopeless! 

If you are a Christian, the good news that Jesus Christ died for sinners applies to more than the day you were saved. The gospel helps you love your spouse when he/she is being a giant weed! The promise that God has forgiven your sins in Christ and will not bring them up against you any more means that you can forgive spouses when they sin against you.

We must forgive much because we have been forgiven much! 

The promise that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6) means we can rest assured that God will not leave us or our spouse the way we are. Those weeds won’t be there forever! He is constantly changing us and pruning us to be more like the image of his Son as we cooperate with him to root out those weeds of sin. 

And just as Jesus is long-suffering with us, we need to be patient while God works on our spouse (and in our own hearts)!

When we hit rocks in the soil of our marriage, the God who gave us grace while we were still sinners will give us that same powerful grace to lovingly and gently unearth those rocks and patiently sort through them. 

God intended marriage to be a picture of the gospel (Ephesians 5:25-32), and that which he purposed, he will do. He supplies the grace and the power to turn our toil and perseverance in the garden of marriage into a beautiful and bountiful harvest. Seek God’s grace and trust his promises. He is faithful. 

If you have not turned away from your sins and trusted in Christ to save you, then he is your only hope, not just for a prosperous marriage, but for the payment for your sins and eternal life with God. 

Will you turn to him and trust him? He has endless storehouses of grace for you and your marriage. 

The previous blog was originally published at Lifeword.org

https://lifeword.org/blog/tilling-the-garden-of-your-marriage/https://lifeword.org/blog/tilling-the-garden-of-your-marriage/

To Be Fully Known and Fully Loved

“Deep down, our root desire is really about longing for the experience of real love, that somebody would know us totally and at the same time love us completely.” – Jared C. Wilson

What is the worst thing you have ever done? How many people have you told about it? The majority of us would say none, or maybe there’s that one friend who is “closer than a brother.” But the truth is, most of us are afraid to share the deepest parts of ourselves with someone because we think they won’t accept us. Our deepest desire is to be loved the way we are, but the way we are is messy. And so we don’t open up. We don’t let people in because that leaves open the chance that they might reject us, and we don’t want to get hurt. If love is our deepest desire, then not being loved is our greatest fear.

But what if I told you there was someone who knew everything about you—your deepest anxieties, your dirty past, your present struggles with sin—and yet loved you anyway? That the vulnerability risk was zero? Would you let that person in?

The good news is that there is someone like that. Romans 5:8 says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God saw all our messy parts, every shameful secret, every sin we would commit day in and day out, and yet he chose to give his life for us anyway. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

There is no greater love we could ever experience than the love of God.

Consider what Solomon says about human love—the love between a man and a woman:

Love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the LORD.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his house,
he would be utterly despised. Song of Songs 8:6-7

Love is powerful—it is as strong as death, has flashes of fire, and many waters cannot quench it, nor floods drown it. Love is precious—even if a man offered everything he possessed in exchange for love, it would be a ludicrous offer and never enough.

While human love is a precious and divine gift to be highly valued and enjoyed, human love will disappoint. No man or woman is perfect; no friendship is flawless. You will have your ugly days, and so will the people you love. If you are waiting for a person to give you the perfect love of being fully known and yet fully loved, you will never be satisfied.

Now, let’s consider God’s love.

God’s love will never leave you or forsake you. God knows you most intimately and yet still says he’s not going anywhere. Human love flourishes and fades like the flowers, but God’s love is faithful and endures forever.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35, 37–39

God’s love is better than life. There is nothing our hearts can crave, no human intimacy (physical, mental, or spiritual), no love in a relationship—there is nothing we can experience this side of heaven that can come close to comparing to the pleasure and satisfaction we can know in God’s love.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you. Psalms 63:3

God’s love is unchanging. It is not dependent on anything we do. God doesn’t love us less on our bad days. And he doesn’t love us more on our good days. His love emanates from the essence of who he is, and that will never change. When God set his love upon the Israelite people, it wasn’t because they were particularly loveable, but because God chose to love them. And it is the same for us.

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers. Deuteronomy 7:7–8

In God, all our fears of rejection fade away because “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18a). We are free to be messy, rough-around-the-edges kind of people. God sees every part of us—the roses and the thorns—and loves us anyway. But he doesn’t intend to leave us that way. In fact, God loved us so much that he saw all our thorns and mess, had compassion on us, and determined to rescue us so we could experience the deepest intimacy imaginable—personal, everlasting fellowship with Love himself (1 John 4:8b), the kind of relationship that comes with having faith in Jesus Christ.

Only the love of Christ can perfectly fulfill our longing for love and satisfy our deepest desire to be adored and belong to another—faults and all—with no fear of that love ever failing, waning, or giving up. In Christ, we can finally be fully known and yet fully loved.

The previous blog was originally published at Lifeword.org

https://lifeword.org/blog/to-be-fully-known-and-fully-loved/

Parker Christian Editing is One Year Old!

One year ago today, Parker Christian Editing was officially launched as my freelance editing business! To celebrate, I’m giving the first person to claim the code “PCE1” 10% off one of my editing/proofreading services!*

Becoming an editor was the dream I never knew I had until about 18 months ago and wished that I had known sooner. But now that I’ve started, I’m so thankful God has given me the chance to do what I love!

I can’t wait to serve you in your next writing project! Check out my “Services” tab for more info about what I offer.

*Offer must be redeemed by entering into an editing/proofreading service contract within 30 days of claiming, or else it will be forfeited. This offer is cross-posted on multiple media sites, so first come, first serve!

Flashback Friday – Depression: 10 Ways to Help Someone You Love

As someone who has personally struggled with depression and tried to minister to loved ones in the thick of it, I have experienced how difficult it can be to know what to do or what will help. It can be easy to throw up your hands in defeat. But before you do, know that there is hope. 

Here are ten things you can do when someone you care about is depressed: 

1) Be patient  

It’s easy to see the depressed person lying in bed again, or walking around in that familiar dark storm cloud and think, “Here we go again!” Although the depressed person may have withdrawn inwardly, what they don’t need is people to give up on them. In these situations, we need to model our Savior, who was steadfast and longsuffering, and follow the instructions of the apostle Paul who said we must walk in patience, bearing with one another in love, and bear each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2; Ephesians 4:2).

2) Don’t say, “Stop having a pity party” (even if they might need to)

The depressed person may be inward focused and fixating on all the bad things that are happening (“Why me?”), or even despairing that they are depressed, instead of thinking of all the things for which they could be thankful. But now is not the time to tell them that.

Instead of cavalierly quoting the apostle Paul, “Rejoice always! Give thanks in all circumstances!” (1 Thessalonians 5:16, 18) or preaching Proverbs at them like “A glad heart makes a cheerful face!” (Proverbs 15:13a), try living with them in a kind and understanding way.

Paul also said to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Colossians 3:12). They may need to hear the former things, but “a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).

The timing and delivery of the truth is just as crucial as the truth itself. 

3) Love them 

Building on the last point, Paul says that above everything else, we are to put on love (Colossians 3:14) and, “Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14). Whether it is through the physical expression of a hug or holding their hand, doing something nice for them, or simply saying, “I love you,” make sure they know how much you care.

No matter what you say or what you do for them, if it is not done in love, then it is useless (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Our Lord Jesus Christ also said to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39). Think about how you would want someone to treat you if you were feeling depressed and treat them the same way (Matthew 7:12) or even better! “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10).

4) Don’t ignore them 

The depressed person needs to know that they are not a burden or an annoyance. Treating them like they don’t exist or rejecting them will only make them sink into a deeper depression. It may be difficult to be around them, and you may even feel like they are starting to pull you down with them, but remember, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).

It may be hard, but commit to believe the best about them. They are not doing this on purpose. Bear with them in love. Double down on your efforts to engage them and endure, even though it may hurt to watch someone you love go through this, and even if their behavior may be difficult to take. Simply being present with them, even if they don’t feel like talking, speaks volumes without saying a word. 

5) Listen if they feel like talking

Bouts of lying in bed, sleeping, or sitting almost unresponsively may be more frequent than the depressed person being in the mood to talk. But if you catch them on an upswing and they do feel like opening up, make sure you give them your full attention. Set aside any distractions and put your to-do list on hold. The Lord knows this is more important and may have different plans for your day than your own. “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17). 

6) Ask questions

This goes hand in hand with the listening part, although you may not necessarily want to do them at the same time. Sometimes it is more appropriate to just be a good and attentive listener. However, sometimes it may be helpful and timely to offer input. If the depressed person has some moments when they are on more level ground, a “part in the clouds” so to speak, it may be a good time to help them probe a little deeper into why they are depressed. 

Ask open-ended questions about what they are feeling or thinking on the inside, what external circumstances they are experiencing. On a more spiritual level, gently ask about sins they may be struggling with that could be causing them to feel guilt. Unconfessed sin can manifest itself as depression and other physical symptoms. Although depression itself is not necessarily a sin, do not overlook how sin can have real mental and physical effects on us (see Psalm 32 and 38). 

7) Invite them to do activities they normally enjoy, but don’t push them if they’re not ready

Maybe the person you know who is struggling with depression normally enjoys walks, watching movies, or hanging out with friends. Gently ask if they might be interested in doing one of those pleasurable activities, and gladly offer to do it with them. But don’t get discouraged if they don’t want to (see #1). 

8) Encourage them to set up regular meetings with a biblical counselor or pastor 

If their depression seems to be persistent and long-lasting, or even short bouts that have a frequent repeat cycle, it would be highly beneficial to start working with someone who could help them dig deeper. Using Scripture, a biblical counselor or pastor could help find the root cause of the depression and then help set up a biblical battle plan. Another benefit is having a consistent time and person with whom they could voice their struggles.

9) Encourage them with Scripture

Again, encourage is the key word. Now is not the time to show them all the places in Scripture where they are “messing up” and heap more burdens on top of them. There is a time and place for dealing with sin (see #6). But as the writer of Proverbs says, “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body” (Proverbs 16:24).

You can help the health of their soul by sharing verses with them like the following:

“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

“Cast all your anxieties on God because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

10) Point them to Christ

Depression turns our focus inward, causing us to fixate on what we perceive to be wrong with us or wrong with our circumstances. Getting the depressed person to look outside themselves is crucial. And there is none better to have them look to than Christ. 

Christ is our propitiation (substitutionary sacrifice for sin) if there is a sin struggle that is weighing them down. We turn to Christ in repentance for forgiveness and freedom from guilt. 

Christ is our comfort. We can relate to him because Jesus was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3); he became like us in every way (except sin), and endured suffering:

“For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” (2 Corinthians 1:5)

Christ is our intercessor and mediator with God the Father. 

And Christ is our hope—the only true light to shine in our darkness, our power to lift us out of the miry pit, and source of abundant life.

The final point is the most important one. It is the only way for your loved one to experience genuine freedom from the chains of depression. If you skip all the other steps, don’t miss this one!

The previous blog was originally published at Lifeword.org

https://lifeword.org/blog/10-ways-to-help-someone-who-is-depressed/

Flashback Friday – What to Do in the Waiting

We’ve all had to wait. 

Wait in line for a package, for test results. Waiting isn’t fun. 

We are impatient people. 

We want instant turnaround. And those are just small things. It becomes even harder when you’re waiting for something of greater significance. Perhaps it’s waiting for future plans, a legal matter, or for a pandemic to end!

Right now our family is in a waiting period. We are a pastor’s family in between churches; something we never anticipated happening. We have no idea what is coming next for us. We are just living in the “in between.”

In the summer of 2002, right before he was supposed to start college, my husband felt the call on his life to preach the Word and shepherd a flock. In 2009, he was ordained into the pastoral ministry by the church we were attending. Since then he has been on staff (sometimes the only staff) at five different churches, and we have made four major moves. 

At each church we’ve served, we have always said we were in it for the long haul—and we meant it. We don’t view pastoral ministry or churches as stepping stones to go on to the next bigger, better thing. When we go to a church, we are committed to be there for life. We never have any other plans. But the Lord does. 

He continually shows us that where we go and how long we stay is not up to us. 

So here we are: a new town, a new home, and a new, non-church related job for my husband. I survey my surroundings and wonder, “Why am I here, Lord?” Not out of anger or frustration or depression (although I have had those moments), but simply because I do not understand. 

I don’t know why the Lord picked here. All I know is that the way to every other avenue we tried was shut. I don’t know how long we will be here. I’m hesitant to even unpack boxes or hang things on the walls because we could have to move again in a matter of months. Then again, it could be years. We just have no way of knowing. None of this makes any sense to us. 

But it does to the Lord. 

Perhaps you are in a similar period of waiting for God’s direction in your life. Maybe the plans you had made—well, aren’t going according to plan. Maybe you’re tired of waiting—or just plain exhausted.

I think of those waiting for a house to buy or sell so they can start the next chapter in their lives. 

I think of those who are waiting for a job so they can provide for their family. 

I think of the person remaining faithful in their singleness as they seek a godly spouse. 

My heart goes out to those who have waited months or years for their adoption to be finalized.

I hurt for those who are waiting for a serious illness to be healed, or for the one waiting for the inevitable outcome of a loved one on hospice. 

When a matter is out of our hands it can leave us feeling powerless . . . helpless . . . hopeless. While we are ultimately not in control, we know the One who is, and there are some things we can do while we wait.

We can continue to:

1. Trust that God sovereignly ordains everything that happens in our lives and that he knows best.

      “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:16)

     “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)

2. Trust that God’s plans for us are for our good because he loves us. 

      “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20a)

      “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)

“‘For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” (Isaiah 54:10)

3. Work faithfully and joyfully at the things God has given us to do.

      “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

      “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23)

4. Rejoice and give thanks.

      “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

      “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1)

5. Seek the Lord.

      “I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” (Psalm 34:4-5)

      “You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.” (Psalm 27:8)

6. Be satisfied by God’s love.

      “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” (Psalm 63:3)

7. Hope in God’s Word.

      “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.” (Psalm 130:5)

In the thirty-first Psalm, David encourages those who are waiting with these words: “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!” (Psalm 31:24).

But how can he say this, especially after he has just said there are people plotting to take his life? David could say this because he knew the God he waited on was trustworthy and had “[David’s] times in [his] hand” (Psalm 31:14-15). This gave David confidence instead of fear.

And we can have that same hope. The Creator and Lord of time, who looks at a thousand years as if they were yesterday, is also the author of our lives; the one who lovingly and purposefully adds the dashes and semicolons to our narrative. 

The Bible promises that God is good to those who wait for him and to the soul who seeks him (Lamentations 3:25).

The exhaustion that would normally come to those who have even the greatest stamina shall not be so for those who wait on the Lord; God will give us the same strength that he has:

For “have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31).

Therefore, our hearts can be glad and take courage as we patiently wait for God.

The previous blog was originally published at Lifeword.org https://lifeword.org/blog/7-things-to-do-while-you-wait/

Flashback Friday – An Encouragement to Weary Pastors

Pastors are facing depression and anxiety in record numbers this year. As if the numbers pre-COVID weren’t alarming enough, the pandemic has added an unpredictable monster in the cave that could pop out or change form at any moment. Pastors are having to make decisions they have never had to face before and for which there was no training or warning.

Many pastors have been let go while countless others are facing church closures, either from a decline in membership and tithing due to COVID or because the pandemic exacerbated underlying issues causing the volcano to erupt.  

As a pastor’s wife, I can vouch for the anomalous stress that COVID-19 placed on my husband. Trying to lead a church during a pandemic has been the most arduous time he has ever experienced in fourteen years of ministry. All of our pastor friends have unanimously agreed that the stress and pressure on them is overwhelming and their anxiety is higher than ever. 

As I see the discouragement, fear, and criticism pastors are facing right now, my heart is heavy for them. I can see the weight of this burden pressing down on their frames. Their gait is sluggish; their expressions are downcast. Many pastors are wondering what to do, how to make the next decision, or how they can keep going under these circumstances. In fact many have quit or been asked to leave. 

If I could offer any encouragement to my husband, to my friends, to all pastors, it would be this: the Word of God. 

God’s words are sweeter than honey, giving life and nourishment to the body, and are a healing balm to the weary and hurting soul.

1 Peter 5

In his first epistle, the apostle Peter writes to exiled Christians facing persecution for their faith, and he specifically addresses elders, or pastors, who are facing suffering. Read chapter five in its entirety before going on, and then I pray that these words would be an encouragement to you. As a pastor’s wife who sees the struggles pastors are facing right now, and as a believer desiring to live in light of Hebrews 13:17, I pray over them for you also, dear pastor: 

“The sufferings of Christ . . .”

Remember that your Lord has gone through sufferings as well. He was made like us in every way, yet without sin, when he condescended to earth. He understands everything you are going through. 

“The glory that is going to be revealed . . .”

Remember that all of this is temporary. There is a future glory that is going to be revealed someday that will wipe away all of the sickness, suffering, and struggles you are facing.

“Shepherd the flock . . .”

If you are struggling with what to do next or looking for a new revelation or insight into how to get through this hard time, Peter simply reminds pastors to keep doing what they have always done—be faithful to watch over the flock entrusted to them. Continue to compassionately care for souls, continue to listen and offer biblical counsel, continue to preach and teach the Word, and continue to gently and patiently lead the bride of Christ into further likeness to her Savior.

“Not under compulsion, but willingly . . .”

There is a heavy burden that comes along with caring for people’s souls, and sheep don’t always make things easy on their shepherds. But Peter reminds the elders to shepherd the flock willingly. Don’t do it because you have to. It is a great responsibility, but it is also a great blessing, gift, and calling. 

Remember the zeal you had upon first being ordained into the ministry; you saw it as a great privilege and joy to care for God’s sheep. Love them; have compassion on them like our Savior. Ask God to restore your joy and uphold you with a willing spirit. Do not grow weary of doing good, for in due season you will reap if you do not give up. 

“Not for shameful gain . . .”

In this season, it can be far too easy to worry about numbers and how people will perceive you or your ministry due to a lack thereof. It can be easy to fret about tithing being down or even whether or not you will have a job next month. I do not believe those things to be shameful gain, but it can be far too easy for them to steal the focus of your ministry, causing anxiety and fear. Remember to trust the Lord for his provision and sovereignty over all events and circumstances.

“not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock . . .”

In times of uncertainty it is easy to let fear reign. That fear can transform itself into a controlling attitude—a panic response to things that seem to be spiraling out of hand. If you let fear affect the way you shepherd, you can become forceful or angry when people don’t listen. But Peter exhorts elders not to be domineering over the flock. Instead, pray for God to help you be an example of love, patience, gentleness, and humility. 

“when the chief Shepherd appears . . .”

Remember that you are not ultimately in charge of this flock; you are an under-shepherd. Christ is the true Shepherd of his flock. This is a huge burden lifter. God has given you stewardship of this congregation and he wants you to lead it faithfully according to his Word. But the willingness of the sheep to follow is not up to you. You are responsible for that which God has entrusted you, but you ultimately cannot make or break a church. What an enormous relief this should be!

“The unfading crown of glory…”

For all your trials, you will be rewarded. Even if no one ever recognizes you here on this earth, your chief Shepherd sees all you do and patiently endure. If he is satisfied with your work, that is all that matters.

“Humble yourselves . . .”

Be humble in all your dealings with the flock. No matter what kind of flack you take for the decisions you have to make, for stepping out to lead when it’s not popular, remember to always do so in humility. Look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. Outdo your flock in showing them honor, and consider them better than yourself. Be the first to admit where you were wrong, asking for forgiveness where needed, and lovingly extend that forgiveness to others, just as Christ forgave you. 

When you submit yourself to God, he will lift you up at the right time. And again, this is not so you can be domineering. God will only exalt you when you are truly humble, because he knows that only then will you be able to trustworthily lead his flock.

“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you . . .”

At a time of sky-rocketing anxiety, feeling isolated, and like no one understands what you are going through, remember that God cares for you. He is the God who sees you. Give him your anxious thoughts, for he knows you, is with you, and loves you.

“Be sober minded; be watchful . . . firm in your faith . . .”

Remember to watch over yourself, dear pastor. It is imperative to be of sound and healthy mind during this time.  Do this by staying in the Word and prayer. It is easy to become prey to the attacks of Satan when you are stressed out, overwhelmed, anxious, and physically isolated. Do not forsake the means of grace or spiritual disciplines with which God has blessed us. Remind yourself of God’s promises and cling to what is true. 

“The same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world . . .”

Take heart and be of good courage, knowing that you are not the only one going through these difficult times. Faithful brothers all around the globe are dealing with the same kinds of hardships, or possibly worse. You are not alone. Reach out to one another and pray for each other. 

“After you have suffered a little while . . .”

This is not going to last forever. The apostle Paul says our light and momentary afflictions are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory that is greater than anything we can imagine or compare them to. The things that you can see happening right now in front of you are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Fix your eyes on the eternal and on Christ. Although we can expect suffering, there is always the hope and promise that it will come to an end. 

“God of all grace . . .”

Never forget that God has all the grace you could ever need for any and every situation. Take immense consolation in that. Immense.

“Called you to his eternal glory in Christ . . .”

Remember, none of these difficulties changes your eternal standing before God—none of the criticism, the slander, the back-biting, the anger at unpopular decisions, the “success” or “failure” of your ministry—none of it can take away your eternal inheritance in Christ Jesus. Meditate on that incomparable truth and allow it to calm and comfort your soul.

“Will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you . . .”

After all of this suffering is over, God will restore you. No matter what storms you are facing right now, he will lead you beside still waters. He will confirm your calling. He will strengthen you for what lies ahead, even if it means making you lie down to rest and feed in green pastures. He will establish you in the work he has given you to do.

To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen

The previous blog was originally published at Lifeword.org. https://lifeword.org/blog/heres-what-paul-says-to-discouraged-pastors/