THE SCENE IS FAMILIAR: a hospital lobby with all the expected surroundings . . . soft sofas and folded newspapers . . . matching carpets and drapes illumined by eerie lighting . . . a uniformed lady at the desk, weary from answering the same questions . . . strange smells . . . and lots of people. Everywhere there are people. A steady stream pours in and out, the faces marked by hurry and worry.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Encouragement & Healing
Does Anyone Care?
ON THAT ICY JANUARY MORNING, in a twenty-five-cent-a-night flophouse, a shell of a man who looked twice his age staggered to the washbasin and fell. The basin toppled and shattered. He was found lying in a heap, unclothed and bleeding from a deep gash in his throat. His forehead was badly bruised, and he was semiconscious.
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 MoreAre You Listening?
HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU HEARD someone say, “Are you listening to me?” Let’s be honest: in a culture awash in cell phones, social media, and other addictive technologies, we’re losing the fine art of listening. I don’t mean just hearing. Not simply smiling and nodding while somebody’s mouth is moving. Not merely staying quiet until it’s “your turn” to chime in. All of us are good at that game.
Read MoreRising above Disappointment
WHAT HAPPENS THAT causes you to be disappointed? Someone or something has failed to fulfill your expectations. You had set up in your mind and then anticipated a certain outcome or response, but it never materialized. Your wish fell flat. Your desire became an empty, unfulfilled dream. Such feelings of disappointment are painfully familiar.
Read MoreHope for the Weary
MANY YEARS AGO, my brother, Orville, introduced a hymn to me I’d not heard before. Its moving strains often accompany me as I drive or walk in solitude or return late from a day of demands. Art thou weary, heavy laden, Art thou sore distressed? “Come to me,” saith One, “And coming, Be at rest.”
Read MoreSurrendering Your Will
THE PSALMIST WAS CORRECT: the heavens do indeed proclaim the glory of God. The skies do indeed display his craftsmanship (see Psalm 19:1). And when you mix that unfathomable fact with the incredible reality that He cares for each one of us right down to the last, tiniest detail, the psalmist is, again, correct: “such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand” (Psalm 139:6).
Read MoreOvercoming Discouragement
BEING A PROPHET IN Israel wasn’t an easy gig. That’s the understatement of the year. Most of the men God called were expected to boldly bear the bad news of God’s displeasure with the attitudes and sins of His people. One such prophet often found himself in the pit of despair. Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb, that her body had been my grave! Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame. JEREMIAH 20:17–18
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 MoreTenderness
BACK WHEN I WAS A KID I got a bellyache that wouldn’t go away. It hurt so bad I couldn’t stand up straight. Or sit down without increasing the pain. Finally, my folks hauled me over to a big house in West Houston where a doctor lived. He had turned the back section into his office and clinic. It was a hot, muggy afternoon. I was scared.
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