Suffering with hope

Breathe – A Poem for the Weary

Breathe Body and soul Waging within Between  Doubt and trust Fear and faith Broken but held. Breathe. His grace abounds. Pain and weakness Relentless tension Between Anger and acceptance Detachment  or reliance Despair or endurance.  Breathe. His strength abounds. Flesh and spirit Waging a war Between My way or his This world or the next… Continue reading Breathe – A Poem for the Weary

Suffering with hope

Peace Begins With Acceptance

Peace and joy begin with acceptance.  It’s a phrase that God has often brought to mind during the past decade of near constant trials in our family. Between a daily battle with chronic illness, a debilitating injury, suffering children, financial woes, and the strain of caring for a loved one with mental illness, God’s provided… Continue reading Peace Begins With Acceptance

Suffering with hope

Comfort in The Cross

"Where are you, LordWhen the darkness swallowsWhen your silence deafensIn a multitude of sorrows? Where is your comfortWhen pain aboundsWhen companions fleeAnd loneliness resounds? Where is your justiceWhen the innocent are huntedWhen the wicked prosperAnd their evil is flaunted? Where is your compassionWhen a heart can bear no moreWhen weariness overwhelmsAnd it's too much to… Continue reading Comfort in The Cross

Suffering with hope

Five Reminders for the Weary and Burdened Soul

Do you ever feel like you just aren’t enough? Do you feel like there isn’t enough of you to go around and, no matter how much effort you pour out, there's always something lacking, somewhere you've fallen short, or something that hasn't panned out as you expected? I sure do. Some days, I wonder why… Continue reading Five Reminders for the Weary and Burdened Soul

Suffering with hope

When Hard Places Become Holy Places

Suffering. How can one small word hold so much complexity?  Even beyond the complexity of what the circumstances entail, whether or not you believe there's a God, and whether you believe he's good and sovereign, will completely change the way you interpret the word.  Even in the Christian community, the way each interprets the pain,… Continue reading When Hard Places Become Holy Places

Suffering with hope

Seek God’s Face Before You Seek His Hand

Recently, we were discussing at Bible Study what it means to seek God‘s face, as it says in Psalm 27:8: “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” As I listened, what struck me most was the importance of distinguishing between seeking God’s hand and seeking his… Continue reading Seek God’s Face Before You Seek His Hand

Suffering with hope

He Will Create Rivers in the Dry Wasteland

There are moments in life when you find yourself standing in a metaphoric wilderness. You believe God can provide, and you see him providing for many around you. And yet, as the heat of the sun beats down on you and the streams before you begin to run dry, you begin to wonder…”Is God really… Continue reading He Will Create Rivers in the Dry Wasteland

Suffering with hope

Sustained in the Fire

“I’m thankful God that has sustained me, but sometimes I don’t want to just be sustained, I want to be delivered," I confessed to my husband. It’s difficult to admit such thoughts because as a Christian, I know that God is working in my trials and I do believe he has a purpose. But there… Continue reading Sustained in the Fire

Suffering with hope

Standing on God’s Promises When Circumstances Worsen

I stared out at the vast ocean and breathed in deep the warm salty air. I felt my mind slowly reconnecting with my body and realized, I hadn't been truly present in a long while. It took feeling my feet in the sand, the warm sun against my face, and the sound of nothing but… Continue reading Standing on God’s Promises When Circumstances Worsen

Fighting the Good Fight, Suffering with hope

Don’t Lose Hope – God’s Writing a Story of Redemption In Your Life

The past several years, God has been stripping away the frills of earthly success, independence, and self-confidence in me. Like Elijah, I have felt hidden by the Lord, severely tested by difficult and painful circumstances, and a battle of faith in response to God’s silence and the relentless furnace of affliction. My natural assumption of… Continue reading Don’t Lose Hope – God’s Writing a Story of Redemption In Your Life