Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2-4, NLT) One…
Category: Adversity
The Lord is My Comforting Presence
The 23rd Psalm begins with warm tones and rich images. David has taken a brush and palette and painted a beautiful scene including green meadows and calm pools of water. It is pastoral and tranquil; the kind of place one would desire as a respite. But the landscape changes in verse four, where the contour…
Peace from Surprising Places
Peace is a scarce commodity in modern culture. More and more we tend to live in crisis mode, struggling to keep our heads above water as wave after wave of adversity pounds against our lives and homes. Living in survival mode will push hopes for peace to the margins of our prayers. Frankly, most of…
Bitter Ingredients Make Beautiful Things
Last week I Googled a recipe for a chocolate cake, made from scratch. The recipe was surprisingly simple: 3/4 cup shortening 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 eggs 1/2 cup milk 2 cups flour 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla After these ingredients are blended together, the recipe calls for an additional…
Asking Better Questions
Yesterday I posted the first observation from Joseph’s life regarding how to have a “can do” spirit in a “no you can’t” world which was to count your blessings. The second observation is to ask better questions concerning life’s interuptions. When adversity strikes, our first natural line of questioning is along the lines of… …”How…
Counting Your Blessings
In his book, The Good and Beautiful God, James Bryan Smith tells the story of a business leader who used an illustration to teach his team a valuable lesson. The leader went to the white board and drew a big, black circle. He asked his team what they saw. To the person, they replied, “A…
The Final Word
My first full time ministry position required me to wear a white shirt and tie each day I was in the office or whenever the church gathered in worship. That wasn’t too big of a deal, other than the fact I had a bad habit: I’d put my pen in my shirt pocket without the…
Your Foundation Will Determine Your Height
The building with the deepest foundation in the world can be found in Malaysia. The Petronis Towers, standing some 1,483 feet above ground rests upon a foundation that reaches 394 feet beneath the earth’s surface. For a point of reference, the tallest building in Iowa is 801 Grand, which headlines the Des Moines skyline at…
Is it OK to ask “Why?”
After spending 10 years as a slave, Joseph then faced three years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. It wasn’t just or fair. Maybe you’ve discovered life can be like that. When we face adversity in life, whether just or unjust, we naturally ask the question “Why?” From time to time I come…
Mayhem is Coming!
Joseph must have been reeling after he was stripped of his robe, thrown into a pit (to starve to death), then sold for the price of a crippled slave to Midianite traders headed to Egypt. You can read the details of these events in Genesis 37:12-35. Mayhem didn’t hit Joseph gradually. Within moments he went…
