The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me (Psalm 50:23 ESV). Heavenly Father, finding heartfelt words of thanksgiving during suffering and loss can sometimes be challenging. We can make lists of things for which we are thankful. It helps. We can sing words of praise to You, sing Read more…
Lord of love, Job cried his litany of losses to You with honesty, in lament. In grief. In depression. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul (Job 7:11 ESV). He told You everything he’s feeling, echoing lament songs You’ve given Read more…
As grief overwhelmed me, I lost my patience. Anger welled up and had to be honestly released with a shout. Shrouded in loss and shocked by my unusually loud reaction, I asked God to help me see what lay beneath my tear-full explosion. My anguish had started with an unexpected Read more…
As my brain’s slumping out of the skull worsened with its body-systemic symptoms last fall, our Good Shepherd Jesus Christ came so near with His love songs, ones filled with praise and adoration to Him. Although I could rarely physically read my Bible, I heard His tender voice of comforting Read more…
Job’s friends started well. They visited to “show him sympathy and comfort him” (Job 2:11). They mourned with him; they wordlessly sat with him, “for they saw that his suffering was very great” (Job 2:13). Maybe they didn’t know what to say? Job himself was the “first to speak,” honestly sharing Read more…
I’ve had agonizing and tear-full times with God lately. I know not. In my limited human knowledge, I don’t understand why my first brain surgery stopped “working” and why I need to endure so much pain and challenge from another one. Or why things took a sharp turn for the Read more…
I’ve begged God for healing over many years of progressively worsening illness, so Job feels like a fellow chronic illness friend to me. He dealt with chronic pain and visible skin issues that were itchy, infected, and gross. He had no appetite and lost weight, with fevers and breathing challenges. Read more…
Perhaps this is one of the deepest universal questions, driving us into cognitive dissonance when suffering lingers. When layers of grief and loss take us under, we can barely breathe. We feel like Job. But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came (Job Read more…
How can a loving God let this happen to me? Including Job and myself, I don’t know one person who’s experienced deep suffering and hasn’t asked this question in moments of pain and despair. As a mature believer, Job lamented to God, “I loathe my life…do not condemn me…I am Read more…
Do you feel like you’re “missing Christmas” right now? Are you fearing you might be “missing Christmas” this year? Is someone you love no longer with us on earth and so you’re missing your loved one, dreading Christmas day? Are your emotions so numb to Christmas that you just wish Read more…
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