A specific parable in Luke 10:25-37 speaks on the importance of helping your neighbor. Jesus is hanging out with his followers one day when an expert of the Law asks Jesus a question.

There’s a lot of loss in that last paragraph, some of them big, and others small. However, even right now, the loss brings beauty, even in ways we least expect it. Each one of these losses have been redeemed in one way or another.

If the Lord had answered Elijah’s prayer in verse 4 with a “yes”, Elijah would not witness the signs and wonders of the Lord that would restore a nation. Elijah listened to the quiet whisper of the Lord instead of being caught up in the loud, hopeless, discouraging voices of the world around him.

What if I told you, you are part of a bigger team beyond just those individuals? You are part of a great shared mission and vision the second you said yes to Jesus. The list you just created… Well friend, your name is on Jesus’ list as someone who is on his team! When you said yes to him, you joined His team, and His mission.

No words needed to be spoken. I like to think that God was concentrating on what He was doing. Usually when I am talking I cannot multitask very well and mess up on whatever I should be focusing on. God formed a human out of the dust of the ground. FORMED not spoken into existence.

How many ways can we praise the Lord? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as life has been quickly changing and evolving, but my prayer life has remained the same. I have found myself wanting more from my prayer life but not knowing how to start. 

Have we been desensitized to sin to the point where we no longer mourn it? We don’t like to sit in the awful, but sometimes that is just what we need. We are not meant to constantly dwell there, otherwise that would be utter hopelessness. However, getting to that place is a work of God in us, with the aim to then fix our eyes toward Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Some days, my prayer might be as I hold my daughter and rock back and forth as she fights her nap. Other days, it might be a full 30 minutes of prayer time before Ceci wakes up for the day. But the important part is that I do the best that I can to bring myself and others closer to the Lord, regardless of how that looks. 

It was during this time though that God began developing in me a habit of praying while awake at night. I found it easier to switch my focus from the pain if I prayed for others and the Psalms were my go to for comfort and soothing my soul. I found David’s words pouring out his heart to God to be a relief – it was ok for me to share my heart with God too. 1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” It’s ok to tell God how you feel – He already knows what is in your heart.

Trust. It builds with an outstretched hand of a friend, the calming voice of a caretaker, and you setting your sights on a goal and achieving it. It takes time to build, yet be shattered in moments.

God WANTS us to be joyful. Even in our suffering, even in our loss, even in our pain. That does not mean He wants us to pretend to be happy or suppress our hurt for the sake of having it all together. That isn’t helpful or honest. Life is messy and that is by design. We have to feel our feelings.

If God has put a dream, desire, or passion on your heart, chase it, and believe in every step of the journey whether good or bad.

Purity culture may have started with good intentions and based on biblical expectations, but what has it turned into? A monster.

Why, in the week we remember Christ’s holy sacrifice, the holiest week in our faith, did God forsake me?

Why is all of this happening to me? 

How do we experience the freedom and the hope of the resurrection in a world that is so overrun by injustice? How do we trust in the completion of justice by Christ on the cross while we walk through the brokenness of the world? How is there a God to whom we declare, Holy, Holy, Holy while facing the depth of our own pain? This Easter season, I have been reflecting on the justice of God, and how a God marked by perfect justice is the only one that allows the resurrection to make sense. 

What drives you? What motivates you? Gosh, the number of times I was asked this on the track or on the cross country course! Let’s be real here you need something to drive you when it comes to voluntarily running miles on end everything single day for “fun”.

But as I thought about it more, what drives us and motivates us, as Christians, to lead a God-pleasing life?

Grab your gardening tools, it’s time to pull up some weeds. 

Imagine any of these moments if Jesus were the other person. How would the situation be different? Would you have the same reaction? I don’t say any of this to point fingers or to make you feel less than. I say this because we have all been there and we can all grow. 

Trusting in God is not always easy, especially when He seems far away. These times of spiritual dryness can be frustrating! I’m sure all Christians can think of a time in their faith when, in a moment of spiritual hair-pulling, they began a prayer with, God, if you really love me, then would you PLEASE…

When he’s got to come to you, you’ll get your miracle. But when you pursue Him, he will fix it all.