I find it interesting how quickly we can form opinions about people. Sometimes those opinions are based on personal experiences, sometimes on what we have heard from others, and sometimes simply on someone's reputation. Once we have decided who a person is, it can be...
Some of the hardest questions Jesus asks are not questions we answer with words. We answer them by what we are willing to do when following Him begins to cost us something. It is possible to admire Jesus, seek Jesus, and even sincerely want what Jesus offers while...
Waiting is difficult enough when nothing urgent is happening. It becomes much harder when something we care deeply about seems to be getting worse while we wait. Those are the moments when we want God to act now, and every delay can leave us wondering why He does not...
Most of us would rather not be desperate. We like having options. We like knowing what comes next and believing that, if something goes wrong, we can figure out a way forward. But sometimes life brings us to a place where our options begin to disappear. It is...
We spend a lot of our lives searching for things we think will satisfy us. We tell ourselves that if we can just reach the next goal, solve the next problem, earn a little more, gain someone's approval, or finally get life arranged the way we want it, then we will be...
It is possible to know a great deal about God without truly knowing God. That may be one of the most uncomfortable lessons in the story of Nicodemus. He wasn't an atheist or a skeptic standing outside the faith. He was a Pharisee, a respected religious leader who knew...
There are chapters of our lives that simply do not make sense while we are living them. Joseph certainly had some. The pit did not make sense. Being sold into slavery did not make sense. The false accusation did not make sense. Prison did not make sense. Being...
Some hurts are easier to forgive than others. A careless word or misunderstanding may pass quickly. But what about the wounds caused by people who knew exactly what they were doing? Joseph knew that kind of hurt. His own brothers had hated him, thrown him into a pit,...
Joseph woke up as a prisoner but before the day was over, he would stand before Pharaoh. For years, Joseph had waited. He had been betrayed, falsely accused, forgotten, and confined. There was no indication when he woke up that morning that this day would be any...
Waiting has never been one of my strengths. Like most people, I enjoy seeing progress. I like when prayers are answered quickly, problems are resolved, and doors open without long delays. Yet as I look back over my life, I’ve come to realize that some of God’s...