Our Desperate Need

My prayers have been scattered lately.

I don’t remember how long life has been quarantined, how many ebbs and flows this all has had. But I feel pulled with the tide. In, out. In, out.

As I tuck my kids in and watch the dog settle into sleep, I think all is well. It’s all going to be okay, normal life will come eventually.

Yet I know that’s not true. “Normal” as we knew it won’t be the same “normal” after this.

Lord, when will this end?

Lord, how can people treat each other this horribly?

Lord, what is Your will with all of this?

I find myself praying for simple things, like kind cashiers and enough toilet paper. And then there are deeper things; show me, Lord, how to be a faithful witness to You through all of this; protect my children from this hatred.

Humanity is lost. Every day news stories emerge that drop my jaw and sink my heart. And we are scrambling to make sense of it all, following click-bait and jumping to conclusions and trying to make everyone think like we do.

I watch and I am amazed - this global pandemic has brought out the worst in us. It has brought out so much hatred, so much selfishness. All the inner things of the heart…well, here they are on display.

It isn’t surprising though. Romans tells us, “…there is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12). All have sinned (3:23). And now, as things are tough for everyone, it all is coming out.

God is sanctifying me. I want to hide in fear; I want to give way to worry over my kids and their future, over the instability of life as I know it. I want to throw fists verbally, give quick responses to people who are wrong or rude to me and my kids. I want to sit everyone down and make it all stop. Yet none of these responses is glorifying to my Lord, and so He reminds me over and over again.

If He has convinced me of anything through this, it’s that the entire world needs the Gospel. There is no policy that will solve things, no government official that will bring perfection, no way of human reasoning that will make people change their evil deeds.

Do you see it too?

Only God can change hearts. Only He can take a sinner, like He did with myself, and make that sinner righteous by the blood of His Son. We can’t do it - we can’t make ourselves good. Only Jesus Christ can make good out of someone inherently evil. Only Jesus can save this world and make things right. How desperately we need Him.

Bringing others to think like we do, act like we do, talk like we do - it isn’t a worthy goal, even if we think we’re doing it after God’s will. The worthy goal is pointing people to Jesus Christ, pointing them to the Bible to be changed by the perfect, unchanging God.

I want to encourage you, sisters in Christ, to be in the Word daily. Read it consistently, let it change you. Go to it to be shaped more and more like your Lord. This is a beautiful thing. And may I challenge you… you have no time for other extracurricular things if you are not in His Word.

I’ve mentioned this particular reading plan before, and I am happily mentioning it again because it has been so fruitful in my life (and the lives of many other women). The Bible Reading Challenge is a wonderful plan to follow for reading through Scripture. We are about to start the summer plan; you can find all the info here. It is solely Scripture, no additives. Whether you jump in with this plan or follow something else, prioritize reading your Bible.

What the world needs most right now is Christians following Christ. I’m praying for you and rooting for you in your walk with Him!

- Amy

Peace - and the Coronavirus?

What a time to be alive! A virus has sent the entire world into a panic; I have been amazed at the reaction, and all the ups and downs already. Fear surrounds us, doesn’t it?

But I can’t help pointing out - what an opportunity to stand apart! With everyone panicking, it is extremely noticeable when someone is calm and full of peace. Not worried of the days to come. I’ve read from a few other Christians of how their faith in the Lord through this has caused others to pause, and realize there’s more than what we see here.

You may be in a family of people who are healthy and not very susceptible to dangers of a virus. Or you may have children with complications, children with medicine that’s now hard to attain, children with immune systems that a virus would wreak havoc on. This virus may not have many implications for you, or it may have implications that are overwhelming.

Friends, the truth remains for each of us.

God is still in control, and life and death are in HIS hands. He already knows. He already knows the outcome of this whole thing. He knows who will get sick, who won’t; who will pass away and who will stay here on Earth. Some of these realities are hard-hitting. Life is fragile, but we have a God who is not.

He is the keeper of souls - fear Him, not man nor virus.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Matthew 10:28-31

He also knows what will happen when all of this is behind us. And we can see now that many people’s hearts are turning to Him in their time of fear and desperation. What will happen after? Will we all be as Pharaoh, seeing His Lordship one minute and then hardening our hearts once the challenge is past?

May we remember His care as the Israelites experienced:

But He made His own people go forth like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;
And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

Psalm 78:52-53

Christians, use the opportunities He puts in front of you! Do not let fear control you! Write this down, post it in your home, read it often:

But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in Your hand

Psalm 31:14-15

Look around, and ask the Lord to show you how you can be a blessing.

Take groceries to the doorstep of elderly neighbors, maybe even leave a note so they don’t feel so alone.

Use your stockpile of toilet paper or baby wipes to bless others who can’t find any.

Tend to your children, be intentional with extra time you have together (with them and your husband!).

A friend of mine has offered for people to come visit the animals she and her family have; she’s even left hay out for kids to come enjoy the steers, ducks, and chickens. What a great example of taking what you have and using it to bless others!

Personally, the LORD saw fit to keep many copies of the Strength & Song magazine at my home - maybe for such a time as this. If you would like a copy, email me! I will be sending out much of what I have to those who ask, so that you or a friend may be comforted during this time.

Be encouraged, friends. God is still in control, and this time is so ripe for His glory to be shown!

Amy

“Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.”

Psalm 36:5-7

Pain

I can see her eyes full of tears as she texts me of another miscarriage. Her body goes through the process, and she feels hopelessly out of control.

I feel her panic as she searches for answers that might give healing to her family; her desperation to rest before the next challenge begins. Back-to-back the situations come, leaving her whip-lashed and reeling.

My heart aches as my oldest asks about his great grandfather, one that he won’t meet on this earth. How I wanted that meeting to happen, how I long for my grandfather to be here with us.

***

Pain.

We run from it. We don’t want to be uncomfortable, or in pain. Especially the deep pain, the times that split a heart in two and leave a void… the pain that stabs intensely, the pain that dulls to a never-ending ache, the pain that always serves as a reminder.

God tells us He is in everything, always present (Psalm 46:1). Always present - in the pain as well. Hebrews tells us He sympathizes with our weaknesses (4:15), and the Gospels show us that He understands pain. He wept for a friend, had compassion on families with sick children. Beyond that, He endured more hardship than we will know. He was betrayed by a man who was close to him, beaten by those He came to save, hung on a cross and left to die. The wrath of God was poured out on Him - so that those of us who trust in Him will never have to experience it; He took our pain.

He knows pain.

We can go on building up anger and bitterness as we face pain. We can shake our fists at what we perceive to be unjust, even blaming Him for it all. We can run from it, shove it down, refuse to face or deal with it. We can nurse the pain to obsession, and become a victim and be miserable.

Or - we can seek Him amidst the pain.

What if, in the midst of the overwhelming pain - what if that’s where we grow to know our Maker even better? What if that’s where He can show Himself stronger to us, where He can show just how completely He can comfort? What if the pain serves ultimately to bring us joy and greater trust?

“If I say, ‘My foot slips,’
Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.
In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.” -Psalm 94:18-19

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.” -2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Pain is not without purpose, friend. Even if that purpose, as far as we can tell, is solely that we would know Him better. I encourage you (and myself) to lean in; fight the urge to run or harbor bitterness. Seek your Lord, desperately. Cry out to Him on the bathroom floor, let the tears fall in the car and ask Him to comfort you. He is more capable to hold and to heal and strengthen than we know - but may we seek to know!

Someday, this promise will come to pass:

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” -Revelation 21:4

But for now, may we know this intimately:

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” -Psalm 73:25-26

Amen!

-Amy

Listen: It Is Well With My Soul

This Too Shall Pass... But What if it Doesn't?

“Keep going, mama. His strength never fails,” I texted. “This too shall pass.”

“What if it never passes?” she said back. “I just want Heaven.”

Her response made me pause. It had been a hard season. One of those seasons that seems to drag on, and when you think you’re moving forward and making progress - something happens to pull everyone back.

What if we never get out of this season?

What if it lasts for years, and then decades?

Truth is, it might.

More than likely, it will last longer than we want. Longer than we think we can handle it.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. -Galatians 6:9

I wonder.

When the season is hard, when words fail to describe the difficulty and the emotions and the desires for growth but pain from the burden - what if it doesn’t pass?

What if we are still in the same hardship 15 years from now? How do we not grow weary then?

Sometimes we forget that God can change many parts of a season, even if He doesn’t end or lessen the season itself.

What if He makes us more mature as the season goes on, that we can endure it longer? and better?

If we are continuously seeking Him, in His Word and in prayer, He is changing us. Making us more like Himself.

I know firsthand that in difficulties, God is present. In fact, many times it’s in the hard and painful that I most know His comfort and strength and peace. You may know this too. He is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18) - trying times bring this truth to life.

God is not absent in our suffering and desperation. We may think He is detached, but may I remind us all? He humbled Himself and was born into this world full of sin and pain. He too grew up in it, lived in it, and was tempted by Satan. He labored for others, more than we ever will in a single life. He watched sin run its course and He had to endure it. Perfection, enduring utter imperfection.

When He was in the garden of Gethsemane, about to be crucified, what did He plead?

“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” -Luke 22:42

That section of Scripture goes on to describe Him in such agony, praying ever more earnestly, pleading that His Father change His current situation - change what was about to happen.

Then He endured the hardest thing possible, something that you and I will never have to endure as believers. God put our punishment for sin on Him, gave Him what we deserve. What a dark, sobering day that was. Terrifying.

We know what happened next - Jesus conquered death. He endured the worst affliction and conquered it all, so that we can be saved from our sin by turning to Him.

This is the most hopeful truth! This Savior knows pain, He knows long, hard seasons. He also knows, in the grand scheme of things, that our lives are fleeting. Our years of challenge after challenge seem so long now, but they truly are temporary.

He has gone ahead and made a way for us; He knows what we need when we need it and He provides it. He has prepared Heaven for His saints, those of us who call Him Lord and believe on His Name.

Long for Heaven, dear Christian! Keep your eyes ahead, knowing that the things before you will someday be completed and you will experience perfection.

Long for your Savior, dear Christian - seek His strength! Study His Word to know His character, know who He is and what He provides. For every hardship, He has provision.

These afflictions and challenges before us are not in vain, if we endure them for His glory. Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up!

Merry Christmas - let us celebrate our wonderful Savior!

-Amy