“Though you have made me me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.” (Psalm 71:20-21)
Source: Hope in the Midst of Suffering
Photo Credit: Brown Grass Under the Sun · Free Stock Photo www.pexels.com
We need God just like we need the water we drink. God is the giver and the sustainer of all life. We can search for satisfaction in other ways, but nothing will quench our thirst like knowing the God who created us and fulfilling the purpose he created us to fulfill.
Source: Obey Your Thirst
Photo Credit: Water – Free images on Pixabay
When my daughter was a baby, we frequented many doctor’s appointments. She especially enjoyed one where I had to get my blood drawn, laughing hysterically throughout, clearly relieved (if not entertained) by the fact that she was not on the receiving end of all the needles this time. I, on the other hand, was not amused.
Once the nurse finally found my vein, the blood was not flowing freely. After watching my blood drip slowly into the vial, the nurse asked, “Did you drink anything today?”
Apparently juice didn’t count, so the nurse gave me two cups of water to drink immediately. A mere two minutes passed after I swallowed. The nurse prepared my arm and stuck me with another needle (to my daughter’s great delight!), and the vials were filled within seconds.
I had just seen a vivid illustration of what I’ve known for years: our bodies require water just to function at a normal level. My blood didn’t flow freely until I drank the water I needed. That day, I left the doctor’s office with a renewed resolve to drink more WATER.
Most of us would admit we’d rather have our water in some other form: flavored, sweetened, carbonated. And while these drinks may satisfy us temporarily, they don’t have the lasting benefits of water.
Our attitude toward water reflects our view of what satisfies in life. We often pursue things that have no lasting benefits—things that leave us just like we started: thirsty.
Jesus said he is the water of life, and whoever drinks the water he gives will never thirst again. In other words, we need God just like we need the water we drink. God is the giver and the sustainer of all life. We can search for satisfaction in other ways, but nothing will quench our thirst like knowing the God who created us and fulfilling the purpose he created us to fulfill.
One popular commercial says, “Obey your thirst.” To do this, we have to know what we’re thirsty for. We can continue to pursue things that leave us empty, or we can let God quench our thirst permanently with the knowledge of His perfect love, which has the power to satisfy our deepest needs.
Photo Copyright j.e. fernandez
Though my 3-year old son insists he’s “bigger now” and can “do everything” without my help, I still want to hold his hand when we cross the street. He typically yanks his hand away to emphasize his independence. “No, Mommy…I can do it myself!”
While I don’t doubt his capacity to cross the street without assistance, I do question his understanding of the potential dangers of oncoming cars. And so I’ve changed strategies. Instead of asking him to hold my hand, I ask if he’ll let me hold his. “Mommy needs your help,” I tell him. “Can you protect me from the cars?”
Being the little gentleman that he is, he quickly takes my hand, smile on his dimpled face, and leads me like a little pro. Smart as he is, he hasn’t come to suspect my ulterior motives. I don’t need his help; he needs mine. In the end, I’m the one leading him, not the other way around.
It’s much the same when God calls us to serve. Does he who created the heavens and earth need our help to keep the world spinning? Yet he’s chosen to work through frail humanity, and as he does we become increasingly aware of our dependence on him.
As we navigate life’s challenges, we may be tempted to say, “It’s okay, I can do it myself!” God lets us move forward until we realize how impossible it is apart from his help. We look up and see that all the while, he was holding our hand, leading us, showing us our need for his intervention.
Photo Credit: Free stock photo of person, walking, young
Emmanuel—a name most often associated with Christmas, is equally appropriate for Father’s Day. It means God is with us. And that’s the kind of father he is: one who sacrificed everything to be with his children forever.
Source: With
Photo Credit: Beach, Background – Free images on Pixabay
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could always get it right on the first try? No drafts, no re-writes, no edits or overhauls. I’m talking about writing. And I’m talking about life.
Once upon a time, I believed the first draft was the best draft because it came closest to writing from the heart. Not to mention that I hated the editing process. Ugh. Talk about tedious. I believed nothing could be further from the creative process than drowning a manuscript in red ink and transforming it into something unrecognizable when compared to the original.
How I’ve changed.
Since I first started working on my novel, I’ve become a ruthless self-editor—murdering more sentences than an old west gunslinger. I’ve learned the best work takes time and revision, much like a sculptor works and re-works, chisels and refines until the unformed slab of clay becomes a thing of beauty. Art is a process, making progress in small yet significant ways until the greater masterpiece emerges.
Yes, this is about life, too. Because no life is perfect without some editing. Every day, I have to edit out impatience, selfishness, ingratitude, complacency…and more than that old gunslinger could handle in a lifetime of gun slinging. If I’m to live my best life—a life that blesses and benefits others, I’m gonna need a lot of editing.
The good news is that the God who created all the beauty that we see is the author of life. He sees and knows everything, loving us as we are yet caring enough to bring about the change we so desperately need. That our lives can be edited is beyond good news.
Lord, cover my life in red ink! Delete all my inconsistencies and any hypocrisy. Edit out all that’s unworthy of my life story, until only love remains.
There are few things that trouble me more than a blank page. I’m a writer. Words wait impatiently inside, begging for escape. And yet here I sit, staring blankly at a blank page.
Those things that trouble me more than a blank page are the very issues I want to write about. Injustice. Violence. Racism. Slavery. Innocence lost, stolen, from our children.
And yet I wrestle to find the right words.
We come into this world a blank page, waiting to be filled. There is much good to be written upon us, and through us. Yet the evil pen strikes, stealing order and beauty from our story, replacing it with chaos and confusion. How I want my words to speak life and light into the death and darkness that seek to overtake the page.
It doesn’t seem fair that those who would seek to twist our world into something ugly have the greatest platform. Those who hunger and thirst for goodness are silenced, while the voice of hatred prevails. Yet we are not as powerless as we may think.
I came across these verses recently: “You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted, you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more” (Psalm 10:17-18) and, “’Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,’ says the Lord” (12:5).
Will not the Giver of Words grant us the right words in due season to speak to the injustices of our generation, and to bring truth and life where there is deception and death? Will not the maker of the tongue loosen it to speak order into the chaos and confusion? If our heart is for the afflicted and oppressed, will he who hears their deepest cries not empower us to labor on their behalf?
This Life & Beyond 
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