Encouragement

When You are in a Dark Place

One evening recently a dear friend and I sat talking about the fact that though she was praying and seeking God for clear direction, she seemed to receive no answer and couldn’t “see” the way she was supposed to go. As I listened to her, it became clear to me (isn’t it always easier to see/hear God’s direction for someone else than for ourselves?) that God had her exactly where she was for a specific purpose. She was unable to see where God wanted her to go next because He had called her to hide (and rejoice!) for a season under the shadow of His wings.

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Hope


Slippery hope
Snaking horizon
Passionately pursued
Difficult to hold.

If caught…what joy!
New vision! New life!
Vitality bursts
Quenches all thirsts.

But still, in feast,
A niggling doubt,
Will wriggling hope
Abruptly leave?

Hearts afire
Often doused
When death and loss
Their loved ones cleave.

Hope cocooned
Kept for this time
Released by incisions
Fate’s cuts unkind.

It splits the horizon
That dams Life from death
Floods desert eyes
With visions of bliss.

No longer slippery
Or threatened by loss
This Hope is alive
Though death exhaust.

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Lost Colony

A cryptic wind arose in idled hearts
And there sowed seeds with bent for distant toil,
The gravid quick abandoned native parts
And sought a way to route to foreign soil.
Who knew what gruesome dangers might arise,
They left beneath bright-bannered British skies.

The creaking ship, full loaded, battled storms
While men and women knelt below and prayed,
Dream did they of future, fairer morns
And fields with ample sustenance displayed.
They saw a chance to leave their past behind,
The chance became a sail and filled their minds.

With landfall came adventures unforeseen,
Fearsome foes eclipsed by withering drought,
The seeds that once fulfilled now failed their needs,
The wind of fortune changed, now blowing out.
And yet their hearts held hope the time would come

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Where is God When Things are Going Wrong?

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5

Many of us understand that the serpent came to Eve in the Garden and tempted her to question God’s Word: “Has God indeed said…?” (Genesis 3:1). However, that was only half of his line of attack. In addition to casting doubt on God’s Word, the serpent called into question God’s character. In essence, he said, “If you do what God forbids you to do — eating the forbidden fruit — you’ll become equal to God. Why do you think He has forbidden you to do it? Because He doesn’t want what’s best for you. He wants to keep the best for Himself.”

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Oncoming Traffic

Oncoming Traffic – is most dangerous when you stare at it.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. [1 Peter 5:8]

How often to you consciously think about evil?

When I learned to drive I developed the dangerous habit of staring at approaching cars and discovered that you tend to steer toward your focal point. A number of animated reminders from my parents convinced me that it’s good to be aware of traffic but I needed to concentrate primarily on my own path.

By making them my focal point, I multiplied the threat posed by oncoming vehicles.

EVIL AND TRAFFIC

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Has God Forgotten You?

I think that one of the most difficult words in the Bible is wait. And there are other words that are related to wait, like faith and patience. When I was growing up, one of the sayings that was bantered around was “Lord, give me patience while I stand on one foot.” For me, that wouldn’t be very long because I have absolutely no balance. But patience is a far weightier thing than we think. The English definition of patient is “bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint” and “steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity.” So when the translators looked at the Greek words and used the word patience, these are the concepts they were thinking about.

Hebrews 6:10-12 NKJV

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