Knowing God

  • Knowing God, Purposeful Living

    Fixing Our Thoughts On Truth

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    My mom loves to tell stories about my brother and I growing up. One of her favorites, was from when I was about 3 or 4 years old. We were living in Washington D.C. back in the 80’s. One night on my way to bed, I paused on my way up the stairs to my bedroom, and gave her a pensive look. I shifted my weight to one side and put one hand on my hip and said with my very best “old sage” voice, “You know Mom, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” I had heard this quote often on a commercial for the United Negro College Fund, emphasizing the importance of education. I was apparently, deeply impacted by it and in my pre-school wisdom, felt the urgent need to impress it upon all the important people in my life. My mom just smiled with a twinkle in her eye and said, “Yes, that’s true, honey. Now go to bed.”

    Although very young at the time, I was beginning to grasp that the mind is a mighty tool–worthy of strengthening, enriching and using. What I couldn’t yet know is how the thoughts in our minds have the power to shape how we see ourselves and the world around us. When focused on the right thing, our minds can be sharp and clear. But if we are bound up in deception and lies, we become captives by the enemy’s greatest tool. Because of this, it is paramount that our thoughts be firmly established in truth.

    As an adult I struggled at different times with this idea of grounding my thoughts in truth. Out in the real world, life had its ups and downs as responsibilities and stresses began to stack up. Anxiety and self-doubt would creep in from time to time. For a season, a relationship left me riddled with insecurities, shattering my confidence. The problem I had, was that I was relying on my own mind and it’s interpretation of what is true about me and about my life. I saw things through the filter of self-preservation and protection, where the path of least resistance was valued over what God was calling me to do, and who God was calling me to be.

    I felt like a prisoner to the choices I had made and stuck on a path that was leading to nowhere. It wasn’t until I read the book “Loving God With All of Your Mind” by Elizabeth George that I was challenged to change my thinking, not out of sheer self-discipline, but in response to the loving Savior who wanted to set me free from the mundane and meaningless.

    It began with an exercise of obedience, first my obedience to God, and then making my thoughts obedient to Christ. Paul gives us some great imagery of taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ.

    We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

    2 Corinthians 10:5

    In every situation, we have a chance to stop right in our tracks and choose which way we will allow our thoughts to take us. Will we see everything that is going wrong and let our minds wander to the worst case scenario? Or will we zoom out to an eternal perspective and trust that God has our very best at heart and will never forsake us? Will we allow our thoughts control us, forcing us into a defensive and reactive posture? Or will we capture our thoughts and measure them against what Jesus says is true about who He is and who we are?

    It is in the light of His truth that we can turn our minds away from the tape playing over and over in our heads and focus on Jesus instead. It takes practice and we have to work hard at it, but the reward is unrivaled peace and incomparable joy.

    Philippians 4:8 says, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

    The first word in the list of things to focus on, is whatever is true. When we hold firmly to the truth about who God is and who we are in Christ, we have freedom and joy. We are shaped to be more like Christ and we are no longer bound by insecurity or fear. We are free to love ourselves, our families, and our neighbors. We are free to step into our calling when God says go, and free to say no to the things that are not in step with the Holy Spirit’s lead. We are free to live life abundantly. Jesus even promises that when we remain faithful to follow Him, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free! (John 8:32) 

    In what area of your life could you use a little more truthful perspective? What wrong thinking is playing on loop in your mind and needs to be taken captive and made obedient to Christ? Take some time to pray this week about it. Ask God to help you seek the truth about who He is, who you are, and who you can be, in Him. We’d love to pray for you too! Feel free to drop us a line at info@experiencerevival.com and our prayer team will hold you close in prayer. Together, let’s tune our hearts to hear His voice above the noise, inviting us to a life lived in freedom and truth.

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  • Knowing God, Prayer

    Praying Confidently

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    While prayer can be as simple as talking to God about the little things in our day-to-day life, sometimes we are hesitant to go to God for the big things–the things that really matter to us. There is a level of vulnerability involved in asking God to heal a broken relationship, to save a loved one, or to bring us a miracle in a difficult situation. While my instinct is to turn to God for strength during these times, I am often afraid to truly ask for what I want. There is part of me that worries what will happen if my prayer isn’t answered in the way I’m hoping for. It’s a lot easier to pray for something big when we have nothing to lose, but so much more difficult when we do.

    When we pray, we are placing everything in God’s hands–including our control over the situation. This is not always an easy thing to do. In order to do this confidently, we have to trust that God has our best interest in mind. We must believe that God’s love for us runs deep–that He delights to give us all that He has and all that He is.

    Sometimes the best way to see this truth in our lives is to look back on God’s faithfulness to us in the past. When we are in the middle of our current circumstances, it is easy to forget how God has been there for us or answered our prayers in the past. Leaning on our remembrance of God’s faithfulness to us before, helps us to trust Him again with the future unknown. We can look back on a history of His loving faithfulness and kindness to us–the ways He has gone above and beyond all we asked or imagined.

    This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15

    “I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.” Psalm 17:6

    The power and confidence we have in prayer can only come from the power and confidence we have in Christ as God’s beloved children. We may not always feel worthy to approach God in prayer, but He has reassured us that we can do just that, simply because we are His. Our good Father delights in giving the world to His children. Nothing is too small or too big for our God. He can be trusted with our most vulnerable requests and has given you permission to ask what is on your heart and the reassurance that you can trust Him, no matter the outcome.

    And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

    Luke 11:9-13

    May God give you a deep understanding of His love for you as His daughter. May you find your confidence and power in your identity in Christ so that you may boldly come before the Throne of Grace with freedom and confidence.

    Keep on praying, my friends!

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  • Knowing God, Prayer

    Talking With God

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    When I was in college, a couple families from my church would make dinner for our college ministry’s perpetually hungry group of students. Every Monday night we would get together, pray, eat, worship and hang out afterward. A newer friend to our group, Dustin, was asked to say the blessing for the food. He didn’t have a lot of experience at church or with praying, but he was up for giving it a shot. Everyone gathered around and bowed their heads and waited for Dustin to pray.

    After a thoughtful pause, he said confidently, “Hey God! How’s it going? I hope your day is going great. Thanks a lot for the people that made all this food—the burgers smell really good and..uh..we are looking forward to eating them. Ok, that’s it.”

    A smile spread around the room as we were reminded of a very important fact: prayer is an honest conversation with God. What my friend lacked in elegant, churchy verbiage, he more than made up with sincerity and a willing heart.

    Sometimes it’s easy to forget that God just wants us to talk to Him. Dustin’s prayer, reminds me of a quote by Dallas Willard who said, “Living prayer is simply talking to God about what we are doing together.”

    God is already by our side every moment, working in the world around us, and giving us a chance to join Him. What if we talked with God each day about what we’ll do together and where we’ll go together? What eternal perspective might be granted to the things we do both great and small, if we acknowledged our Heavenly Father walking beside us?

    “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

    James 5:13-16

    God literally invites you to talk to Him about all the things. Whether you’re sick or in trouble, or happy and content, God wants to hear from you.

    God wants to be a part of your life, to be there for you and support and encourage you. He is there to cheer with you when you get that promotion you’ve been working toward, or when your little one takes their first steps. He sees your joy and delights in it.

    When you grieve, God wants to holds you close. When you cry, He’s right there waiting to comfort you and give you strength. He wants to hear from you when you feel lost or confused, when you don’t understand where He is working or what you’re supposed to do next. God is big enough to handle our real human emotions. He is secure enough to field our questions, doubts and even our anger. It’s ok to tell Him about it.

    If you are sick, God doesn’t want you to suffer alone. You are not an inconvenience. He wants you to reach out to Him and to the church to anoint you with oil and pray with you. He works through His people to encourage you and help you get the resources and care that you need to be well.

    Even when we are sinning, God wants to be in conversation together. God never moves away or abandons us when we mess up, but often our instinct is to run and hide. We withdraw in shame or sometimes even in defiance. The first step to restoration is a conversation with God. Our Heavenly Father knows and understands that avoiding temptation and sin is difficult. He sent Jesus to redeem us and the Holy Spirit to help us, knowing that we are not strong enough on our own.

    Talking to God even when we are messing up, counteracts our human tendency to withdraw. It keeps us close to our Savior and our source of strength, so that we can live differently–to live holy. Prayer can give us the courage to reach out to a trusted friend to confess our sin, seek support and find accountability. It is safe to talk to God about sin. He even says that we will be forgiven. It is in honest relationship with our Heavenly Father and our fellow sisters and brothers in Christ that we are changed and set free from sin.

    Prayer is powerful and transformative. Prayer changes our hearts and shapes us to be more like God. You and your closest friend likely have similar wardrobes or mannerisms. It’s human nature to become a little more like the people we spend time with. In spending time with God in the conversation of prayer, we start to take on more of His characteristics and perspective. We more easily recognize His voice and begin to anticipate, by the power of the Holy Spirit, where He is leading us.

    Even Jesus, who was perfect, valued and needed prayer. Luke 5:15-17 tells us that when Jesus was doing ministry “…the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

    Jesus knew that to effectively complete His mission here on earth, He had to stay connected to the Father. He talked with God about what they were doing together and poured out His heart to Him.

    Jesus not only prayed for His own benefit, but for the benefit of those watching. He modeled a healthy relationship with God so that we too could learn and implement prayer in our lives. What is amazing, is that through Jesus, we have the same access to talk to God that He did. When you are up at 2:00 in the morning with a fussy little one, God is there and ready to hear you. When you are driving home from work and feeling anxious about balancing family time with work obligations, God wants you to share it with Him. We can have a continuous conversation with God at any time and in any place. What an awe-inspiring thing to be able to share our hearts and thoughts with the very God who created us.

    Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

    “Praying continually” doesn’t mean you have to go to church in the morning and stay there praying on your knees all day long. It simply means to keep the conversation going. Check in with God, give Him your status update before you post it on social media.

    Prayer is an impactful and a powerful part of our lives as Christians. It is necessary for building a relationship with God that continually transforms us to be more like Him.

    Anyone can do it and it doesn’t have to sound fancy to please God. He simply wants to hear your heart, and to be your steadfast source of love and comfort, wisdom and peace. You don’t have to look far to find Him. He is there already, walking right beside you, ready to listen to His beloved daughter.

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  • Easter, Finding Significance, Knowing God

    You Are Worth It

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    Easter can be a perplexing time of year. It is both joyful and somber. With springtime in the air, Easter egg hunts, and church worship services, we celebrate the joy and celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and triumph over sin and death. But there is also the week leading up to Easter, Holy Week. It’s a time of reflection and remembrance that before the victory, God chose to sacrifice and Jesus chose to suffer. He took on our sin and paid the price for it. It is the most expensive ransom ever paid, and it begs the question, “Why would he do that for me?”

    Recently, I was sitting in the prayer room at my church with a friend who was wrestling with this very question. She was struggling to understand how God could love her this much, or that He would go to such lengths just to be with her. We were about to take communion together, and as she held in her hand the tiny piece of cracker and little plastic cup of juice that represent Jesus’ physical sacrifice, her sorrow was palpable.

    What she couldn’t see in that moment, is that she is worth it. God loves her so much that He dreamed of her, planned ahead for her, and created her for a purpose. Jesus willingly gave up His life for her because He believes that she is worth it. And He believes that you are too.

    God created you to know Him, love Him and have fellowship with Him. He calls you His daughter, and co-heir with Christ. He is proud to be seen with you and looks forward to time with you. If He had Facebook you’d be in his profile pic. If he had a fridge, your picture would be on it.

    After sin entered this world and separated us from God, His singular focus became to make a way for us to be with Him again. He has been working tirelessly ever since, pursuing you, loving you in every moment, good and bad. He gently whispers his promises and sings over you with love. (Zephaniah 3:17). In every moment, in every circumstance, he keeps on loving you, because you are worth it to Him.

    God’s love is not just lip service. “He demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) This is love beyond comprehension. He himself went to the cross as the ultimate sacrifice, to bear our shame and take our sin. But He didn’t stop there. He rose from the grave, He conquered death and broke sin’s hold on us forever, so we we will never be separated from His love again.

    God’s passion and love for us for us led him to the cross for the purpose of redeeming us. When the ground shook and Jesus conquered death, He declared our worth right then and there, once and for all. Because of Christ, we can lean against the very throne of God as his beloved daughter, redeemed and made whole.

    I imagine the voice of our Heavenly Father, calling out, “I love you! You are my precious daughter and there is nothing I would not do for you. I went to hell and back to save you and I would do it again. There is no height, nor depth that will keep you from my love. There’s nothing in heaven or on earth that can separate you from my love. (Romans 8:31-39) In your darkest moments, when you are at your worst, you are worth it. In your victories and triumphs, you are worth it. I am here with you. I will guide your steps and guard your heart. I love you daughter. You are worth it.”

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  • Heart Stuff, Knowing God

    He Knows My Name

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    Have you ever wondered, “Where is God?” Does He ever seem to have disappeared or gone missing? I know I have! There are times when He feels far away and I have trouble feeling His love and presence.

    With Easter coming up, I have been thinking a lot about what those days following the crucifixion must have been like for the followers of Jesus. They had just spent several years with Jesus, he knew them so well and they knew him well. He was the one they left everything for, the one they believed save the world, the one who they would follow to the ends of the earth. Yet they had just witnessed the one they loved, die on a cross and be buried in a tomb and with him, their hope. This was their darkest hour. Can you even imagine how confused and sorrow-filled they all must have felt?

    Recently when I was reading the book of John, the story of one woman in particular caught my attention. It was Mary Magdalene. Mary was one of the women that traveled with Jesus and financially supported him in his ministry. Jesus delivered her from a life of misery by driving seven demons out of her. She is mentioned by name twelve times in the gospels, showing the important role she had in the life and ministry of Jesus. Not only was she present to see all his ministry and miracles, but she was standing there at the cross (John 19:25) grief-stricken and heart-broken. As a final act of love, she purchased burial spices to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early the next morning, she went to the tomb with her spices only to discover that the tomb is empty! Jesus was missing. Can you imagine her horror and confusion?

    Now Mary [Magdalene] stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

    At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

    Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. – John 20:14-18

    Mary Magdalene was the first person to discover Jesus was no longer in the tomb. She was devastated and confused to see that the tomb was empty. She did not know what had happened, only that her Lord was missing. Even when Jesus appeared and spoke to her, she did not yet recognize him. Was she too caught up in her grief or maybe in the task of trying to find him? I wonder how many times I have not recognized Jesus when he was right next to me all along?

    Jesus simply speaks her name, and instantly she recognizes him and calls out to him. She turned to him, so excited to be with him. He was there all along. This tender moment when he simply says her name, shows how much she meant to him. Jesus had just gone through a torturous and horrible death, descended into hell itself and conquered death to come back to life. He was about to gather his followers to pass on the great commission and ascend into Heaven, yet he stopped and took the time to come alongside Mary. In the midst of her grief, he took the time to comfort her and let her know he was there. He chose Mary Magdalene to be the first to see him after His resurrection and share the most important message of all time. Jesus reassured her of her place in God’s family. All it took was her hearing him say her name, and she saw him for who he really was–her Lord and Messiah.

    Dear friend, Jesus knows you by name as well. Even in the times when it seems like He is nowhere to be found, He is with you and calls you by name. Turn your face toward Him and recognize He is right there with you. He longs to comfort you and remind you that you are loved and so very precious to Him!

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  • In The Word, Knowing God

    Something New

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    This is what the Lord says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters…“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland..to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. – Isaiah 43:16, 18-21

    Each new year brings a sense of a fresh start–an opportunity to hit the “reset button”. Whether you are a resolution maker or not, the new year is an opportunity to leave behind the things of the past, whether bad habits or simply bad memories, and look forward to new possibilities.

    This past year was one of those difficult years for my family. It was wrought with several physical ailments and the loss of loved ones. While there were also many good memories made and many wonderful things to be grateful for, it was one of those years that we are glad to leave behind.

    I love this verse because it is a reminder to me that God, my God, the God who parted the sea so His people could find a way through, is asking me to leave behind those things that are not of Him and not dwell on what has been, but rather focus ahead on what He has prepared before me. God is always in the business of making all things new. As we shift our perspective, we can see the new things he has before us.

    If you are feeling like you are coming out of the wilderness of last year; take heart, he is making a way through that wilderness and bringing His living water to the wasteland. His hope springs up before us! We are His chosen people, who He is making new each day–His beloved. He delights in making all things new and providing for His people.

    As we go into this new year, my prayer is that we can have eyes that see all that God is doing around us; that we will see His wondrous works springing up before us. We have a new start in Jesus. He is our hope and our future!

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  • Knowing God

    Awaiting the Savior

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    “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” – Isaiah 9:6-7

    The book of Isaiah was written during the time of the Prophets, 700 years before Christ’s birth. For the Israelites awaiting a Messiah, these names (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace) gave them a glimpse of their Savior, long before He was born. They foretold of a time that was to come, a promise of a world made right. How difficult it must have been for the Israelites to have to experience such a long time of waiting expectantly for this promise to come true.

    Waiting is hard and when we’ve been waiting a really long time for something, we can begin to grow restless and feel like we have to make it happen. It is easy to grow weary and start doubting God’s faithfulness and provision.

    Let me let you in on a secret…God has a plan. He always has. His plan was set forth from the moment Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, He had a plan even before time itself existed. Jesus’ birth set in motion God’s plan to secure our future with Him.

    Even when things seem hopeless and waiting seems to never have an end, we must remember that God has a plan and He is busy working that plan in His time. Our times of waiting are an opportunity to lean into God more, build our faith and exercise our trust and dependence on Him. The best way to accomplish this in the midst of the waiting is to look toward hope. One of my favorite quotes on hope is by Melissa Kruger, she says “Future hope brings present joy.”

    The word “hope” has lost its meaning in our language today. A lot of times when we use the word “hope,” we use it like “I wish”. For example: “I hope it will rain.” But real hope is to trust in a person or outcome that you’ve been assured of. There is no one better to put our hope in than in God and in His goodness, for He is trustworthy. He keeps His promises. We can trust, knowing that God has got us and He will work all things to bring good. He has a glorious future awaiting us.

    So while we are not the Israelites awaiting the first Christmas, we are still awaiting the Savior to return to set all things right. We are waiting for Him to finish the work He began that first Christmas day.

    When He left this earth, He promised He would return for us and finish what He has started. This promise is our future hope. We can rejoice today because of what God has done in the past in sending His son to earth, and we can rejoice for what is yet to come.

    As we experience this time of advent, the season of anticipation of our Savior, allow your heart to be filled with His peace, knowing God is here with us, in the waiting. He has not forgotten you or His promise. Because of this, we can overflow with joy for what God has awaiting us–the hope of His glorious future!

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  • Knowing God

    Help When We’re Weary

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    Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

    Isaiah 40:28-31

    Tired and weary. No matter what season of life you are in, it is easy to get caught up in the busyness. We have deadlines at work or at school, people in our home that we need to take care of, children that require our attention, and don’t get me started on the laundry list of to-do’s (not to mention the actual pile of laundry)! Whew!

    Sometimes we are simply weary because life hands us a stressful situation and we are completely spent emotionally and physically because it consumes all our attention and energy.

    When I try to navigate this life on my own strength, I eventually end up feeling tired, weary, hopeless and alone. The truth is that we are not alone. God is there right there ever present, waiting to give you His strength when you feel you have nothing left to give. All we have to do is let Him. As we turn our attention toward the One who created the ends of the earth, we can be filled with hope because we know He can accomplish through us what we cannot on our own.

    As you face you daily busyness and stresses, take some time each day to let God fill you with His strength so you can face whatever the day brings. As we lean on Him and allow His power to sustain us each day, we will find that we are filled with a renewed strength and hope. God’s got you!

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  • Heart Stuff, Knowing God, Resources

    God’s Favorite Ingredient

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    Over the past several years, I have had the privilege of walking alongside some truly incredible women as they navigated different crises in their lives. I say privilege because while some of the themes of my own journey may grant me certain insight, the details of my own experience don’t fully mirror theirs. It would be easy for them to say I’m underqualified. Yet they allowed me in to pray with them, to hold and comfort their children, and to hold and comfort them. I witnessed their tenacity and resolve as they would straighten up, wipe the tears from their face and plow ahead because life does not slow down for grief.

    Often, when the hurt seemed to last too long, and there was no clear end in sight, I’d find myself wondering, “How do I speak hope into a situation where I cannot see God working? What can I possibly say that doesn’t fall woefully short of the magnitude of their circumstances? How is God going to redeem this for good?” When someone you love is in the trenches, it can challenge your faith in God’s timing and methodology, just as if you were going through it yourself. I craved reassurance that God was going to come through for my friend like He did for me.

    Recently, one friend in particular was especially on my heart when Revive Ministries had a chance to attend the She Speaks conference in North Carolina. I went with the expectation of learning more about writing and speaking, but did not anticipate finding the answer to these burning questions.

    Lysa TerKeurst, President of Proverbs 31 ministries, was the first main session speaker. She spoke from her new book that’s coming out soon called It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way. She tackles some of the really hard questions about walking a life of faith in a broken world. Lysa knows trial, heartache and pain in a very real way, and by God’s grace has held onto faith and hope, even in the darkest of shadows. I sat in the packed ballroom, on the edge of my seat, ears straining to hear a message of hope that I could relay to my friend, and tuck inside my own heart for when I needed it.

    Midway through her talk, Lysa referenced a phrase that talks about God’s light shining through the places we are broken and cracked. She acknowledged that it really is a lovely sentiment, but also posed the question “What do you do when there aren’t even cracked pieces of your life left to glue back together? What do you do when all that’s left is dust? You can’t glue dust!”

    Time stopped for a moment as her words echoed in my heart and mind. What do you do when all that’s left of your life is dust?

    Lysa gently reminded us that “God’s favorite ingredient is dust.” He breathes life into dust and creates new life. When living water is added to dust, it makes clay, and in the hands of the Potter, we become the work of His hand. Jesus spits into dust, making mud that he places on the eyes of a blind man healing him and giving him sight. (Genesis 2:7, Isaiah 64:8, John 9:1-11)

    Lysa said it beautifully, “Dust does not signify the end, it is often what must be present to begin what is brand new.”

    There is no situation that is so far gone, that our Creator cannot breathe life into it. There is no mess so great that our God cannot redeem it for purpose and beauty. I don’t know about you, but when the journey stretches on just a little longer than I want, when it is hard to discern how God could possibly rebuild from the ashes, remembering God’s favorite ingredient gives me renewed hope. It was the reassurance I had been craving, from God’s own Word, breathing life into me again.  I pray it will bolster your faith and give you hope too, for your own sake or for the sake of a dear friend.

    Note: We are not receiving any compensation for promoting Lysa’s book or Proverbs 31 Ministries-we just really love what they are doing and wanted to share with you! This is one little nugget of Lysa’s awesome talk at She Speaks! She has so much more to share about how God’s love and timing truly are perfect, in her book. You can get a sneak peek of It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way & pre-order your copy here

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  • Knowing God

    Light in the Dark

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    “Through [Jesus] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” – John 1:3-5, 9-13

    Have you ever stood in complete darkness? Not just figuratively, but literally in the absence of light. Let me tell you, it is an eye-opening experience! <Pun intended>

    My husband and I are the adventurous types and love to explore new places. When we were first married, we explored the Ape Caves in Washington, an underground lava tube about a mile long. We came prepared with flashlights but what I wasn’t prepared for was how dark darkness can be when no light can be found. I grew up as a kid who was always scared of the dark, but I had never experienced true darkness up until that point.

    Just for fun, we stopped in the middle of the cave and turned off our flashlights. Even though my husband was only inches away from me, I couldn’t see him. I was surrounded by complete and utter blackness. I could not see anything! Once we turned our lights back on, I could see that he was right next to me all along. I could shine the light forward and see what was ahead of me and shine it around so I didn’t stumble on the rocks below my feet. We were completely dependent on our flashlights to get us out of this cave. Without the lights we carried, we would be forever lost in this cave.

    Just like the darkness in this cave, we can find ourselves without light to illuminate our path through this life. Without light, we are vulnerable to stumbling blocks in our path. We need light to see the way through the dark and difficult situations we face. Although the light may only show us one step at a time, we need to know we are on the right path.

    Jesus came to the world and people whom he created and knew well, as the light that shines into the hearts of people and illuminates the way to life. Not just any life, but life as God originally intended: full of love, hope and joy. He is a light that darkness cannot overcome, no matter how dark a cave we find ourselves in. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). He is the way to true life.

    If we allow the light of Jesus to illuminate our path, we can continue to put one foot in front of the other, confident that even if we cannot see Him, He is there, showing us the way.

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