God's Hidden Hand

God's Hidden Hand

My friend was adopted by a missionary couple from the United States and grew up in Ghana. After his family moved back to the US, he began college but had to drop out. Later, he signed on with the military, which eventually helped him pay for college and took him all over the world. Through it all, God was at work, preparing him for a special role. Today, he writes and edits Christian literature that ministers to an international audience.

His wife also has an interesting story. She failed her chemistry exams during her first year of college due to the strong medication she had to take for epilepsy. After some careful deliberation, she switched from studying science to studying American sign language, which had a more manageable workload. Reflecting on that experience, she says, " God was redirecting my life for a greater purpose. " Today, she is making His life-changing Word accessible to the hearing -impaired.

Do you sometimes wonder where God is leading you? Psalm 139:16 acknowledges God's sovereign hand in our lives: " Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to b." We don't know how God will use the circumstances of our life, but we can rest in the knowledge that God knows everything about us and is directing our footsteps. Though His sovereign hand may seem hidden, Hes never absent.

Dear Lord, help me to trust You when I don't understand.

What steps can you take to discern God's leading or to act on His call for your life?

A Hand Up

A Hand Up

My children have enjoyed the thrill of a backyard ice skating rink-during the cold Idaho winters. When they were young, learning to skate was challenging: persuading them to deliberately set foot on the hard, icy surface proved difficult because they knew the pain of falling. Each time their feet slid from under them, my husband or I would reach out to pull them again to their feet, setting them upright and steadying their frames.

Having someone there to help us up when we fall is the gift of a helping hand depicted in Ecclesiastes. Working with another makes our work sweeter and more effective, and a friend brings warmth to our lives. When we encounter challenges, it helps to have someone come alongside with pratical and emotional support. Thee relationships can give us strength, purpose, and comfort.

When we find ourselves flattened on the cold ice of life's hardships, is there a helping hand nearby? If so, it might be from God. Or when someone else needs a friend, could we be God's answer to lift them up? In being a companion, we often find one. If it appears that no one is nearby to lift us to our feet again, we can find comfort in knowing that God is our ever present help. As we reach out to Him, He's ready to steady us with His firm grip.

Thank You, Father, for helping me up when life knocks me down. Thank You for the people You've used to encourage and strengthen me. Yours is the most faithful I have.

How can you open yourself more fully to God's presence in your life?

Questions at Christmas

Questions at Christmas

Well before the calendar flips to December, Christmas cheer begins to bubble up in our northern town. A medical office drapes its trees and shrubs in close fitting strings of lights, each a different color, illuminating a breathtaking nighttime landscape. Another business decorates its building to look like an enormous, extravagantly wrapped Christmas present. It's difficult to turn anywhere without seeing evidence of Christmas spirit_or at least seasonal marketing.

Some people love these lavish displays. Others take a more cynical view, But the crucial question isn't how others observe Christmas. Rather, we each need to consider what the celebration means to us.

A little more than thirty years after His birth, Jesus asked His disciples, " Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They gave responses others had given: John the baptist, Elijah, maybe another prophet. Then Jesus made it personal: " Who do you say I am?" Peter replied, " You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

Many will celebrate Christmas without a thought about who the Baby really is. As we interact with them, we can help them consider these crucial questions: Is Christmas just a heartwarming story about a baby born in a stable? Or did our Creator visit His creation and become one of us?

Father in heaven, may our Christmas celebrations this year, whether lavish or small, honor the Messiah who came to redeem His creation.

Who do you say Jesus is?

Thanks for being You!

Thanks for Being You!

When I served as my mom's live-in caregiver at a cancer center, I got to know Lori, another caregiver who lived down the hallway from us with her husband, Frank. I would chat, laugh, vent, cry, and pray with Lori in the shared living areas. We enjoyed supporting each other as we cared for our loved ones.

One day, I missed the free shuttle that took residents to buy groceries. Lori offered to drive me to the store later that evening. With grateful tears, I accepted her offer. " Thanks for being you, " I said, I truly appreciated her as a friend.

Psalm 100 demonstrates an appreciation of God for who He is, not simply for all He does. The psalmist invites " all the earth" to worship the Lord with gladness," being confident in knowing " the Lord is God." Our Maker invites us into His presence to " give thanks to him and praise his name". Yes, the Lord remains worthy of our ongoing thankfulness because He " is good," His " love endures forever," and His " faithfulness continues through all generations."

God will always be the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and our intimately loving Father. He deserves our genuine joy-filled gratitude.

Lord, thanks for being You!

Who can you share God's love with today?

A Safe Place

A Safe Place

My brothers and I grew up on a wooded hillside in West Virginia that provided a fertile landscape for our imaginations. Whether swinging from vines like Tarzan or building tree houses like the Swiss Family Robinson, we played out the scenarios we found in the stories we read and movies we watched. One of our favorites was building forts and then pretending we were safe from attack. Years later, my kids built forts out of blankets, sheets, and pillows-constructing their own " safe place" against imaginary enemies. It seems almost instinctive to want a hiding place where you can feel safe and secure.

When David, the singer-poet of Israel, sought a safe place, he looked no further than God. Psalm 17:8 asserts, " [God]" keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings." When you consider the Old Testament record of David's life and the almost constant threats he faced, these words reveal an amazing level of confidence in God. In spite of those threats, he was convinced his true safety was found in Him.

We can know that same confidence. The God who promises to never leave or forsake us is the One we trust with our lives every day. Although we live in a dangerous world, our God gives us peace and assurance-both now and forever. He is our safe place.

Father, the world around me can feel threatening, overwhelming, and dangerous. But You give me peace, strength, and help.

Give God thanks for being your hiding place today.

God Hears

God Hears

Diane listened as the others in the group asked for prayers for their family members and friends facing challenges or illness. She had a family member who had been struggling with an addiction for years. But Diane kept her request silent. She couldn't bear to see the looks on people's faces or hear the questions or advice that often followed whenever she spoke the words aloud. She felt that this request was usually better left unspoken. Others simply didn't understand how her loved one could be a believer in Jesus and still struggle daily.

Although Diane didn't share her request with that group, she did have a few trusted friends she asked to pray with her. Together they asked God to set her loved one free from the very real bondage of addiction that he might experience freedom in Christ-and that God would give Diane the peace and patience she needed. As she prayed, she found comfort and strength from her relationship with Him.

Many of us have earnest, persistent prayers that seem to go unanswered. But we can be assured that God does care and He does hear all our requests. He urges us to continue to walk closely with Him, being " joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." We can lean on Him.

Lord, Your Word urges us to pray continually. Help us to be persistent in prayer, and enable us to be faithful partners in prayer with others.

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.

Great News!

Great News!

The article in the local newspaper was short but heart warming. After attending a faith based program on building stronger family ties, a group of prison inmates were given a rare treat of an open visit with their families. Some hadn't seen their children in years. Instead of talking through a glass panel, they could touch and hold their loved ones. The tears flowed freely as families grew closer and wounds began to heal.

For most readers, it was just a story. But for these families, holding one another was a life-changing event-and for some, the process of forgiveness and reconciliation was begun.

God's forgiveness of our sin and offer of reconciliation, made possible through His Son, is more than a mere fact of the Christian faith. The article's news of reconciliation reminds us that Jesus's sacrifice is great news not just for the world, but for you and me.

In times when we're overwhelmed by guilt for something we've done, however, it's news we can cling to desperately. That's when the fact of God's unending mercy becomes personal news: because of Jesus's dying on our behalf, we can come to the Father washed clean, " whiter than snow" In such times, when we know we don't deserve His mercy, we can hold on to the only thing we can depend on: God's unfailing love and compassion.

Father, I'm sorry if I've taken Your mercy and love for granted. Thank You for this wonderful gift and privilege that I don't deserve yet You've promised unconditionally.

Forgiveness isn't just big news. It's wonderful, personal news!

The Spirit of Fika

The Spirit of Fika

The coffeehouse in the town near my house is named Fika. It's a Swedish word meaning to take a break with coffee and a pastry, always with family, co-workers, or friends. I'm not Swedish, yet the spirit of fika describes one thing I love most about Jesus-His practice of taking a break to eat and relax with others.

Scholars say Jesus's meals weren't random. Theologian Mark Glanville calls them " the delightful ' second course'" of Israel's feasts and celebrations in the Old Testament. At the table, Jesus lived what God had intended Israel to be: " a center of joy, celebration and justice for the whole world."

From the feeding of 5,000, to the Last Supper-even to the meal with two believers after His resurrection-the table ministry of Jesus invites us to stop our constant striving and abide in Him. Indeed, not until eating with Jesus did the two believers recognize Him as the risen Lord. " He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened" to the living Christ.

sitting with a friend recently at Fika, enjoying hot chocolate and rolls, we found ourselves also talking of Jesus. He is the Bread of Life. May we linger at His table and find more of Him.

Lord, thank You for making time and room for us to abide at Your tables.

Make time to eat the Bread of Life.

Quiet Awe

Quiet Awe

My life often feels frenzied and hectic. I hurry from one appointment to the next, returning phone calls and checking items off my seemingly infinite to do list. While on my way. Out of sheer exhaustion one Sunday, I collapsed into the hammock in our backyard. My phone was inside, as were my children and husband. At first I planned to sit for just a moment or two, but in the undistracted stillness, I began to notice things that invited me to linger longer. I could hear the creak of the hammock swinging gently, the buzz of a bee in the nearby lavender, and the flap of a bird's wings overhead. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the clouds moved on the wind.

I found myself moved to tears in response to all God had made. When I slowed long enough to take in the many wonderful things within my eyesight and earshot, I was stirred to worship in gratitude for God's creative power. The writer of Psalm 104 was equally humbled by the work of God's hands, noting " you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor."

In the midst of a harried life, a quiet moment can remind us of God's creative might! He surrounds us with evidence of His power and tenderness; He made both the high mountains and branches for birds. " In wisdom [He] made them all."

Lord, Your creation amazes me. You made all things through Your limitless power, inviting us to enjoy the beauty You've surrounded us with. Help me to notice Your works and worship You in quiet moments.

We are surrounded by God's creative power.

Living in God's Story

Living in God's Story

Ernest Hemingway was asked if he could write a compelling story in six words. His response: " For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn." Hemingway's story is powerful because it inspires us to fill in the details. Were the shoes simply not needed by a healthy child? Or was there a tragic loss-something requiring God's deep love and comfort?

The best stories pique our imagination, so it's no surprise that the greatest story ever told strokes the fires of our creativity. God's story has a central plot: He created all things; we ( the human race) fell into sin; Jesus came to Earth and died and rose again to save us from our sins; and we now await His return and the restoration of all things.

Knowing what has come before and what lies ahead, how should we now live? If Jesus is restoring His entire creation from the clutches of evil, we must " put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." This includes turning from sin by God's power and choosing to love Him and others well.

The specific ways we fight with Jesus against evil will depend on what gifts we have and what needs we see. Let's use our imagination and look around us. Let's seek out the wounded and weeping, and extend God's justice, love, and comfort as He guides us.

Father, may Your kingdom come and may it come in me.

Live out your role in God's story as He leads you.

He Holds Our Hand

He Holds Our Hand

The little girl who navigated the stairway one Sunday at church was cute, spunky, and independent. One by one the child-who appeared to be not much older than two years-took the steps down to the lower level. Descending the stairs was her mission and she accomplished it. I smiled to myself as I pondered the darling independence of this courageous toddler. The child wasn't afraid because she knew her caring mother's watchful eye was always on her and her loving hand was extended to help her. This aptly pictures the Lord's readiness to help His children as they make their way through life with its varied uncertainties.

Today's Scripture includes two " hand" references. After cautioning His ancient people not to fear or be dismayed, the Lord told them, " I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Many anxious and fearful children have been steadied by the strength of a parent. Here God's power comes into view. In the second " hand" reference, once again it's the Lord who acted to secure the safety of His own. " For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand." While life situations and times have changed, the Lord hasn't. We need not despair because the Lord still assures us with the promise of His support and with the words we desperately need to hear: Do not fear."

Father, thank You for always watching over me.

With God's hand holding my hand, I am safe!

Living Sacrifice

Living Sacrifice

My great aunt had an exciting job in advertising and traveled between Chicago and New York City. But she chose to give up that career out of love for her parents. They lived in Minnesota and needed to be cared for. Both of her brothers had died young in tragic circumstances and she was her mom and dad's only remaining child. For her, serving her parents was an expression of her faith.

The apostle Paul's letter to the church at Rome urged Christian believers to be " a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God." He hoped they would extend Christ's sacrificial love to each other. And he asked them not to think of themselves more highly than they should. When they fell into disagreements and division, he called them to lay down their pride, because " in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. He yearned that they would show each other sacrificial love.

Each day we have the opportunity to serve others. For instance, we might let someone go ahead of us in a line or we might, like my great aunt, care for someone who is ill. Or maybe we share from our experience as we give advice and direction. When we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, we honor God.

Lord Jesus Christ, You humbled Yourself and lay down Your life that I might live. May I never forget this most precious gift of grace and love.

When we serve others in His name, we please God.

Send it in a Letter

Send it in a Letter

Like most four-year-olds, Ruby loved to run, sing, dance, and play. But she started complaining about pain in her knees. Ruby's parents took her in for tests. The results were shocking-a diagnosis of cancer, stage 4 neuroblastoma. Ruby was in trouble. She was quickly admitted to the hospital.

Ruby's hospital stay lingered on, spilling over into the Christmas season, a hard time to be away from home. One of Ruby's nurses came up with the idea to place a mailbox outside her room so family could send letters full of prayers and encouragement to her. Then the plea went out on Facebook, and that's when the volume of mail coming in from friends and complete strangers surprised everyone, most of all Ruby. With each letter received ( more than 100,000 total), Ruby grew a little more encouraged, and she finally got to go home.

Paul's letter to the people at Colossae was exactly that-a letter. Words penned on a page that carried hopes for continued fruitfulness and knowledge and strength and endurance and patience. Can you imagine what a dose of good medicine such words were to the faithful at Colossae? Just knowing that someone was praying nonstop for them strengthened them to stay steady in their faith in Christ Jesus.

Our words of encouragement can dramatically help others in need.

How have others' words encouraged me? What opportunities do I have to give someone else the " letter" of encouragement they need?

God, bring someone to my mind that needs encouragement. Then help me act on Your prompting.

Shelve Them and Move On

Shelve Them and Move On

I'm reminded of some wise advice a radio broadcaster friend once gave me. Early on in his career, as my friend struggled to know how to deal with both criticism and praise, he felt that God was encouraging him to shelve both. What's the essence of what he took to heart? Learn what you can from both and humbly move on in God's grace and power.

Criticism and praise stir in us powerful emotions that, if left unchecked, can lead to either self-loathing or an overinflated ego. In Proverbs we read of the benefits of encouragement and wise counsel: " Good news gives health to the bones....Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding."

If we're on the receiving end of a rebuke, may we choose to be sharpened by it. Proverbs states, " Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise." And if we're blessed with words of praise, may we be refreshed and filled with gratitude. As we walk humbly with God, He can help us learn from both criticism and praise, shelve them, and then move on in Him.

Father God, thank You for the gift of praise and criticism. As I humbly surrender to You, may I grow and be sharpened by both.

Learn from praise and criticism, then shelve them and move on.

Praying and Growing

Praying and Growing

When my friend David's wife developed Alzheimer's disease, the changes it brought to his life made him bitter. He needed to retire early to care for her; and as the disease progressed, she required increasingly more care.

" I was so angry at God," he told me. " But the more I prayed about it, the more He showed me my heart and how I had been selfish for most of our marriage." Tears welled in his eyes as he confessed, " She's been sick ten years, but God has helped me see things differently. Now, everything I do out of love for her, I also do for Jesus. Caring for her has become the greatest privilege of my life."

Sometimes God answers our prayers not by giving us what we want but by challenging us to change. When the prophet Jonah was angry because God spared the wicked city of Nineveh from destruction, God caused a plant to shade him from the hot sun. Then He made it wither. When Jonah complained, God answered," Is it right for you to be angry about the plant"? Jonah, focused only on himself, insisted it was. But God challenged him to think about others and have compassion.

God sometimes uses our prayers in unexpected ways to help us learn and grow. It's a change we can welcome with open hearts because He wants to transform us with His love.

Lord Jesus, thank You for helping me grow when I pray. Help me to be sensitive to what you want for my life today.

God grows us as we spend time with Him.

Atmosphere of Encouragement

Atmosphere of Encouragement
     I'm encouraged every time I visit the fitness center near our house. In that busy place, I'm surrounded by others who are striving to improve their physical health and strength. Posted signs remind us not to judge each other, but words and actions that reveal support for others' conditioning efforts are always welcomed.
     What a great picture of how things should look in the spiritual realm life! Those of us who are striving to " get in shape" spiritually, to grow in our faith, can sometimes feel as if we don't belong because we're not as spiritually fit-as mature in our walk with Jesus-as someone else.
     Paul gave us this short, direct suggestion: " Encourage one another and build each other up." And to the believers in Rome he wrote: " Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up." Recognizing that our Father is so lovingly gracious with us, let's show God's grace to others with encouraging words and actions.
     As we " accept one another," let's entrust our spiritual growth to God-to the work of His Spirit. And while we daily seek to follow Hi, may we create an atmosphere of encouragement for our brothers and sisters i Jesus as they also seek to grow in their faith.
     Lord, help me today to encourage others along the way. Guide me to stay what will not discourage but will spur them toward a deeper walk with You in Your love.
     A word of encouragement can make the difference between giving up and pressing on.

Sinking into Grace

Sinking into Grace

Finally, on January 8, 1964, seventeen-year-old Randy Gardner did something he hadn't done for eleven days and twenty-five minutes: he nodded off to sleep. He wanted to beat the Guinness Book World Record for how long a human could stay awake. By drinking soft drinks and hitting the basketball court and bowling alley, Gardner rebuffed sleep for a week and a half. Before finally collapsing, his sense of taste, smell, and hearing went haywire. Decades later, Gardner suffered from severe bouts of insomnia. He set the record but also confirmed the obvious: sleep is essential.

Many of us struggle to get a decent night's rest. Unlike Gardner who deprived himself intentionally, we might suffer sleeplessness for a number of reasons-including a mountain of anxieties: the fear of all we need to accomplish, the dread of others' expectations, the distress of living at a frantic pace. Sometimes it's hard for us to turn off the fear and relax.

The psalmist tells us that " unless the Lord builds the house," we labor in vain. Our " toiling" and our relentless efforts are useless unless God provides what we need. Thankfully, God does provide what we need. He " grants sleep to those he loves." And God's love extends to all of us. He invites us to release our anxieties to Him and sink into His rest, into His grace.

God, I'm so anxious. I churn inside. Would you help me trust You with my night, with my day, with my life?

Trusting God releases anxiety and carries us into rest.

Out Of Context

As I queued up to board my flight, someone tapped my shoulder. I turned and received a warm greeting. " Elisa! Do you remember me? It's Joan!" My mind flipped through various " Joans" I'd known, but I couldn't place her. Was she a previous neighbor? A past coworker? Oh dear...I didn't know.

Sensing my struggle, Joan responded, " Elisa, we knew each other in high school." A memory rose: Friday night football games, cheering from the stands. Once the context was clarified, I recognized Joan.

After Jesus's death, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early in the morning and found the stone rolled away and His body gone. She ran to get Peter and John, who returned with her to find the tomb empty. But Mary lingered outside in her grief. When Jesus appeared there, " she didn't realize that it was Jesus", thinking He was the gardener.

How could she have not recognized Jesus? Was His resurrected body so changed that it was difficult to recognize Him? Did her grief blind her to His identity? Or, perhaps, like me, was it because Jesus was " out of context," alive in the garden instead of dead in the tomb, that she didn't recognize Him?

How might we too miss Jesus when He comes into our days-during prayer or Bible reading, or by simply whispering in our hearts?

Dear God, give us eyes to see Jesus, however He comes-in a familiar context or surprising us in an unexpected one.

Expect Jesus in unexpected places.

The Battle

The Battle

As artillery fell around him with an earth-shaking whoomp, the young soldier prayed fervently, " Lord, if you get me through this, I'll go to that Bible school Mom wanted me to attend." God honored his focused prayer. My dad survived World War 2, went to Moody Bible Institute, and invested his life in ministry.

Another warrior endured a different crisis that drove him to God, but his problems arose when he avoided combat. As King David's troops fought the Ammonites, David was back at his palace casting more than just a glance at another man's wife. In Psalm 39, David chronicles the painful process of restoration from the terrible sin that resulted. " The turmoil within me grew worse, " he wrote. " The more I thought about it, the hotter I got."

David's broken spirit caused him to reflect: " Show me, Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is." Amid his renewed focus, David didn't despair. He had nowhere else to turn. " But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you." David would survive this personal battle and go on to serve God.

What motivates our prayer life doesn't matter as much as the focus of our prayer. God is our source of hope. He wants us to share our heart with Him.

Father, our hope is in You. Forgive us for seeking answers apart from You. Draw us close to You today.

We are in the best place we can imagine when we go to God in prayer.

Seen by God

Seen by God

My first pair of eyeglasses opened my eyes to a bold world. I'm nearsighted, meaning objects close up are sharp and defined. Without my glasses, however, items across a room or in the distance are a blur. At age twelve, with my first pair of eyeglasses, I was socked to see clearer words on blackboards, tiny leaves on trees and, perhaps most important, big smiles on faces.

As friends smiled back when I greeted them, I learned that to be seen was as great a gift as the blessing of seeing.

The slave Hagar realized that as she fled from her mistress Sarai's unkindness. Hagar was a "nobody" in her culture, pregnant and alone, fleeing to a desert without help or hope. Seen by God, however, she was empowered, in return, to see Him. No longer a vague concept, God became real to her, so real that she gave God a name, El Roi, which means " You are the God who sees me." She said, " I have now seen the One who sees me."

Our seeing God sees each of us too. Feeling unseen, alone, or like a nobody? God sees you and your future. In return, may we see in Him our ever-present hope, encouragement, salvation, and joy-both for today and for our future. Praise Him today for this gift of amazing sight, to see the one true and Living God.

Lord, I'm just one person in a big world, but I thank You for looking from on high and seeing me-so that I may see You.

God knows my name and sees me.