JOB UNDERSTOOD WOUNDS. The words he used to describe them were more than patronizing platitudes and theoretical proverbs. He’d been there and back again. He could write about intense inner suffering in the first person because of his own massive ocean of pain. No one would deny that the man called Job was “the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3, KJV).
Read MoreCategory Archives: Crisis
God’s Control
DAWSON TROTMAN, founder of the Navigators, an organization discipling and mentoring ministry leaders around the world, drowned while saving a swimmer from certain death. Eyewitnesses tell of the tears and helpless disbelief in the faces of those who now looked out across the deep blue water of Schroon Lake. Everyone’s face except one—Lila Trotman.
Read MoreGod’s Aware of Your Tears
TEARS HAVE A LANGUAGE ALL THEIR OWN, needing no interpreter. In some mysterious way, our inner-communication system knows its verbal limitations, and the tears come. Eyes that flashed and sparkled moments before are flooded. Tears are not self-conscious. They can spring upon us when we are in public or standing beside others who look to us for strength.
Read MoreFinding Courage
I RECALL THE FIRST TIME I watched the children’s classic movie The Wizard of Oz. I was spellbound by the music and the enchanting way in which the simple themes of family, valuing home, and celebrating individual differences were on display. But perhaps the most hilarious character of all was the lion—the bumbling, wimp of a cat, who cowered in fear at the smallest threat. What he needed was courage!
Read MoreWhen God’s in the Whirlwind
BLOW THAT LAYER OF dust off the book of Nahum in your Bible and catch a glimpse of this: He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. NAHUM 1:3 That’s good to remember when you’re caught in a rip-snorting, Texas frog strangler as I was last week. I reminded myself of God’s presence as the rain clouds were split apart by lightning’s eerie fingers and the ear-deafening claps of thunder. As I witnessed that atmospheric drama, I reminded myself of its Director, who was having His way in the whirlwind.
Read MoreFinding Peace in Conflict
PAUL WANTED TO BE IN HEAVEN but needed to be on earth. In a temporal sort of way, this time of year, I share his frustration. I am hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and watch the NFL . . . yet to remain in the pulpit is more necessary for your sake. PHILIPPIANS 1:23–24, SWINDOLL PARAPHRASE – Now don’t get me wrong. I love to preach. But I also love professional football.
Read MoreTurn Aside to See
LEGEND HAS IT THAT THERE was once a sign along an Alaskan highway that brought a smile to many a motorist: Choose your rut carefully. You’ll be in it for the next 200 miles. We who live in this fast-paced jungle, this never-slowing treadmill of our high-tech society, have no idea how deeply entrenched we are in the rut of routine until we deliberately step aside and give ourselves permission to change our pace. Who can criticize any of that?
Read MoreAnchor of Renewal
Can you imagine fighting a storm for two weeks and getting virtually no nourishment? That’s what the men on Paul’s ship experienced. Even more amazing, that’s how most people respond to life’s storms.
Read MoreAnchor of Stability
The anchor of stability holds firm when your navigation system fails. It’s easy to lose your bearings in the storm. You can’t find your way through the circumstances you face. Life rolls along fairly smoothly until suddenly the seas grow rough.
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