If you live intimidated by people, then you need to come to terms with your lack of peace. God is bigger than any person. You don’t need to dread tomorrow. You don’t need to dread your uncontrollable circumstances. It’s a decision that’s called “a frame of mind,” otherwise known as leaning on the everlasting Rock. That’s what we’ve been learning from the life of Paul as we’ve considered Acts 19:21–31 in Parts One through Three.
Read MoreCategory Archives: God’s Will
Peace Amidst Unfulfilled Dreams
Today’s Scripture passage, which details events in the life of the apostle Paul, has a lot to teach us about finding peace in spite of our natural tendency to panic. I hope you will read it thoroughly. In these twenty-one verses it is not difficult to pick out three significant moments that normally bring anxiety. To begin with, in Acts 19:21 Paul is shutting down a very successful ministry in Ephesus.
Read MoreThe Tailor’s Name Is Change, Part One
When you boil life down to the nubbies, the name of the game is change. Those who flex with the times, refuse to be rigid, resist the mold, and reject the rut—ah, those are the souls distinctively used by God. To them, change is a challenge, a fresh breeze that flows through the room of routine and blows away the stale air of sameness. Stimulating and invigorating as change may be—it is never easy.
Read MoreHealing, Part Two
When it comes to physical healing, often confusion reigns. To combat it, I’d like to point out five “laws” of suffering. These “laws” will do more to help the hurting and erase their confusion than perhaps anything else they could read. Yesterday, we looked at laws one through four. Today we’ll look at number five. Law Five: It is not God’s will that everyone be healed in this life.
Read MoreContradictory Truths, Part Two
God often delivers His best gifts to us in unexpected ways . . . with surprises inside the wrappings. Through apparent contradictions. Somewhat like the therapy He used when Elijah was so low, so terribly disillusioned. How did the Lord minister to him? By an earthquake? In a whirlwind? Through a scorching fire? You’d expect all the above since Elijah was such a passionate, hard-charging prophet. But no.
Read MoreThe Turning Point, Part Two
Yesterday I told you about my days in a Marine Corps Quonset hut in Okinawa in 1958. It was an intense time living among those whose lifestyle I found nauseating and empty. I can trace the acceptance of my circumstance and the shift of my focus to a single verse of Scripture. When I happened upon it, it seemed to leap from the page.
Read MoreThe Turning Point, Part One
I remember it well. Almost as clearly as if it happened last month. But it didn’t. It happened deep in the summer of ’58. I was a Marine. Almost eight thousand miles of ocean between me and my wife. One-word descriptions of my condition? Disillusioned. Stretched. Learning. Lonely. Determined. Sincere. Uncertain. Afraid.
Read MoreBeing Real, Part One
Dave Cowens, one-time star basketball center for the Boston Celtics, disappeared. Without warning, he walked off the practice court, showered, dressed, and drove away. Alone. He kept driving to . . . somewhere. His only explanation was the familiar comment, “I need to get my head together.” He added that it could take as little as two weeks or as much as ten years.
Read MoreGoing . . . Not Knowing, Part Two
Yesterday we read about two great men of the faith, Abraham and the apostle Paul, who set out into the great unknown out of obedience to God. It is no easy thing to leave a sure thing, walk away from an ace in the hole, and start down a long, dark tunnel with no end in sight. Absolutely frightening . . . yet filled with unimaginable excitement. Going . . . yet not knowing.
Read MoreGoing . . . Not Knowing, Part One
The statement recurs through Scripture like a repeating telegraph signal on a high frequency radio band. Sometimes faint, barely discernible—sometimes strong, clear. Over and over. Paul made the statement as he was saying goodbye to a group of friends standing with him on an Asian beach. Several of the men wept freely, realizing they would never see the missionary again.
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