I absolutely love these new covers on these journals! I’m going to be honest. You all voted on your favorites, and the overwhelming favorite was the Rest in God’s Love Journal. Matt and I both were surprised as it wasn’t a favorite for either one of us. But I have to say…now that I have it in hand, I love it!
I’m so glad you all voted for this one and pushed us into doing this one. I think you’re going to love it as much as we do. We are really happy with how how the other two journals turned out as well. I picked the Morning by Morning Journal. That was my favorite cover. I will be using that one as soon as I’m done taking pictures of it.
The coffee and Jesus Journal was the second most voted for cover. Matt has already claimed that one to use for his morning time routine.
Here’s an inside look at the journals, in case you’re interested. Each journal is exactly the same inside. The Faithfully Stepping Journals are six-month journals.
Now is the Time!
If you have been wanting to get a morning time routine started, now is the best time! Grab one of these gorgeous journals and get started today! You can read my post, or you can watch the free video series I created on how to get a morning time routine started.
We teach the 30-to-THRIVE System for our morning time routine. You can read the post to learn how to do it, but here’s the simple formula.
Find These New Journals and More!
You can find everything you need to get a morning time routine started including a free morning time guide, as well as devotionals, journals, and books from Manney Resources.
If you get a morning time routine started, I would love to hear about it. Respond to this email or reach out to me on social media. Snap a picture of your morning time routine and let me know how it’s going!
Do you have a dream that seems so far out of touch? Maybe God placed something on your heart years ago, and you’ve been following him every day but things just aren’t working out. Sometimes it feels like that dream seems so far away, and you just want to give up on it.
The Dreamer
There are some verses in Psalms that talk about the boy we know as the dreamer, Joseph.
Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them— Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar. Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.
Psalm 105:17-19 NLT
These verses catch and hold my interest because of how things play out. God sends Joseph to Egypt not as a hero but as a slave. So, he already has a hard go of it. Then things get worse for Joseph. He ends up in prison, hence the bruised feet with fetters and the neck in an iron collar. Joseph didn’t do any of those things, and interestingly, neither did God. God orchestrated the events to bring Joseph to Egypt but then it’s sort of hands-off for a while. God uses this time and these circumstances to test Joseph’s character.
Joseph’s Dreams Come to Pass
Then, God sets things right for Joseph. Suddenly, the clock speeds up and everything falls into place for Joseph.
Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free; the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household; he became ruler over all the king’s possessions. He could instructthe king’s aides as he pleased and teach the king’s advisers.
Psalm 105:20-22
God had a plan to make Joseph’s wildest dreams come true. He had such an incredible plan for Joseph’s life, but it wasn’t quick and it wasn’t easy. What if Joseph had given up? What if he had given up and walked away from it all because in his mind, things would never work out? We know just how much Joseph would have missed out on, had he done that.
Walking Away from Our Dream
What we don’t know is how much we are risking if we walk away from what God has for us. How much are we going to miss out on if we don’t stay at it, if we don’t follow the dream God gave us? We could be so close to a breakthrough. God could literally be moving things right now in your life or mine to bring things to fruition that we never thought possible. But if we walk away from it, we won’t ever see those blessings. We won’t ever see those dreams come to pass.
I know it’s hard. Seasons of trial always are. You may feel broken right now and don’t think you can stay in the fight. I’m telling you, you can. You just have to focus on staying in the fight today. Just for the next hour, the next minute. What does staying in the fight look like?
Staying in the Fight
It’s staying with your husband and not giving up on your marriage. Getting up early and spending time with God in his Word and journaling even when it feels like he is so very far away and silent. Showing up for church, even when your spirit isn’t in the right place. Praising God and singing though your heart feels so heavy it might break.
It’s smiling and encouraging someone else when they have no idea how much you need the encouragement yourself. Giving towards someone else’s need when you don’t have enough money for your own bills. Loving on that neighbor who is so frustrating and causes so many problems. It’s choosing to show up in love and faith today and live the life that God’s called you to live to the very best of your ability.
It’s simply choosing to take the next step today and then the next and the next. I call it faithfully stepping. One day at a time. One moment at a time.
The Dream Fulfilled
I wonder if Joseph woke up one morning and walked out on his terrace and viewed the whole land of Egypt before him as his beautiful wife came and stood next to him and his two boys ran around them and wondered at the sheer goodness of God. I wonder if he thought about the fact that nothing in his wildest dreams as a boy-dreamer came close to the things God had ordained in his life.
I think he did. He had to have. He was the dreamer and once a dreamer, always a dreamer. The thing about a dreamer is that they always wake up. A dream always ends and reality always comes. In Joseph’s case, the reality was even more beautiful than the dream. God wants that for us too; we have to simply continue to keep faithfully stepping until the dream comes to fruition.
With Easter this weekend, I decided to pull an excerpt from my husband’s book, Six Days to Sunday. We drop into the scene where Mary has just been to the tomb and realized it’s empty.
Mary’s Sorrow
Mary stands outside and weeps (Jn 20:11). Peter and John go back to the room to report their findings to the others. Mary stays put at the tomb and looks for herself. But when she enters, she sees something Peter and John didn’t see—two angels. “Why are you crying?” they ask.
“They’ve taken Jesus,” she says.
She turns and sees a man standing in the entryway of the tomb. “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” he asks.
She turns back to where the grave clothes are lying. “Friend, if you’ve taken his body, please tell me where you’ve put him, so I can care for his body myself,” she says, thinking the man is the caretaker of the garden cemetery.
Jesus Calls Her Name
Mary is distraught, looking at the place where she thought she would find Jesus’ body. She’s lost in thought and then hears something so strange, yet so familiar… something she’s heard a hundred times and longed to hear once more, something she thought she would never hear again.
“Mary,” Jesus says. In an instant, she recognizes his voice. She turns. “Teacher!” she exclaims.
It’s that moment of shock when the hair stands up on the back of your neck. Your brain sends a rush of emotion and feeling from the back of your brain, down your spine and through your fingertips, and down to your toes.
Mary has her Hope Restored
Hope was restored. It wasn’t over. It wasn’t a dream. He was alive. He spoke to her. “Don’t touch me just yet. I need to go to the Father. Go back and tell the disciples what I have told you.”
Mary’s faith comes back. Her heart swells. Her confidence is restored. If she had any doubt about Jesus before, one word sent those doubts and fears fleeing, never to return.
She runs to the disciples to tell them the news. “He’s alive. Jesus is alive!”
“What are you talking about? Are you sure you saw him? This can’t be true.” The disciples were stunned in disbelief. How? How in the world is Jesus alive? And then they ask, “Are you sure? How do you know? What did He say to you?”
“He said just one word. He called my name,” she said.
Mary has her Faith Restored
The first step to restoring your faith happens when Jesus calls your name. How does he call your name? It’s him calling you in a sunrise. It’s Jesus calling you in the downpour of a rainstorm. Hearing his voice in the coo of a newborn. It’s the laughter of a child, the smile of a man standing with a sign asking for help from a dirty roadside, the touch of a hand, a hug from a friend, the kiss of a loved one. It’s Jesus calling you.
He says, “I know you. I haven’t forgotten you. Of all the people I could be reaching out to, I choose you. I know you lost hope in me, and I know you didn’t understand. You got hurt, and you lost faith. I saw the pain in your eyes and the hurt in your heart. But I’m here. I’m calling you. I’m calling your name because I know you. I know your name, and I am here for you.”
Our faith is restored when we simply choose to hope once again.
Some days are just too overwhelming. The pressures, frustrations, hardships, and struggles make it feel like making it through today is impossible. It’s on those days, that it feels like the only thing you can do is crawl back into bed and throw the covers over your head instead of facing the day.
I had one of those days recently. Well, I’ve had more than a few of those days lately. Part of it is some life struggles and trials we’ve been going through, but part of it has been the weather. We’ve had lots of cold, rainy days. Whenever we have lots of rainy days, I struggle with being depressed. It was on one of those rainy, depressing days that I honestly wanted to crawl back into bed and just pull the covers over my head instead of facing the day.
I slept in past when I usually get up and finally made myself do my morning time routine, then take a shower. While I was taking a shower, I thought about this post. What would I say to someone else if they were having a day like I’m having today?
You’re Not Alone
So know that you are not alone. I have days like this. I know what it’s like to feel like you can’t make it through the day. Those days are so incredibly long. So here’s my encouragement to you. While I can’t take the pain away, and I can’t fix whatever’s going on in your life, I can come alongside and say, I get it. And I can share a few things that I do to help me make it through a day like that.
10 Things to Try Today
I made a list of ten things to try on a day when you don’t feel like you can make it through. You don’t need to all of them; maybe try one or two on a hard day.
Get out of bed. It feels like the only thing you can do is stay in bed or go back to bed, but choose to climb out of bed. That’s the first step to making it through today.
Take a shower and get dressed for the day. Even if you’re not going to leave your house for the day, still get dressed for the day. This will help you to feel a little more human and will keep you from going right back to bed.
Put on worship music that will direct your thoughts towards God. If you need a list of good worship songs to listen to, try our playlist: 40 Days of Faith. We created that playlist for our spiritual growth campaign at church.
Spend a few minutes doing your morning time routine. Even just a few minutes of reading your Bible or a devotional, praying, and journaling will help your spirit and help you to be able to make it through today.
Eat something. Sometimes getting some good food in us really can help change our spirit. The food can give us energy and the strength to be able to face the day.
Try to get out of the house for even just a few minutes. There’s something about being inside all day that feeds our depression and discouragement. Choose to do one thing that will get you out of the house today. It may be as simple as going for a walk, dropping off a letter at the post office, picking up a prescription. Just do something that gets you out of the house for a few minutes.
Write down at least five things you are thankful for. I’ve heard it said that you can’t be grateful and depressed at the same time. Try it and see! Spend just a few minutes writing down your blessings.
Do something you enjoy. On a day that you’re struggling to make it through the day, do one small thing that brings you joy. Go get a cup of your favorite coffee, read a few chapters of a book you really enjoy, watch an episode of your favorite tv series, go buy a donut from your favorite bakery, take a walk, etc.
Spend time with somebody. When I’m struggling, I want to be by myself. When my husband is discouraged, he needs to be around people. If this is you, call a friend to meet for lunch or for coffee. Call a family member or friend just to talk for a little bit.
Those are some of the things that help me when I’m having a really bad day. Try a few of them the next time you’re struggling. Maybe share the list with a friend who’s going through a hard time.
What do you do when you’re having a hard day? What helps you get through? Let me know in the comments below!
I think it’s pretty easy to say that we all want friends, not just acquaintances or friends on Facebook. We all legitimately want those few people in our lives who love us and understand us and want to be a part of our lives. We crave deep friendships with people, yet most of us haven’t figured out how to find those kinds of friends, let alone invite them into the deepest parts of our hearts and homes.
Find Your People
I’m reading Find Your People by Jennie Allen right now, and it’s been both encouraging and convicting at the same time. She deals with this issue of building community in a lonely world.
The fact of the matter is, we all want friends and people to do life with. Yet, I daresay most of us would say that we feel all alone in this world most of the time. In this digital age, we have people around us 24-7 through social media, emails, tv, blog posts, etc. So, how come it is that we go to bed feeling all alone in this world?
The 3-5 Friends Challenge
The scientific proven number of people that we can track closely with is 3-5 people. That’s it. While it sounds like we should have more friends than that, if you truly stop and think about it, that’s probably more than we could say we’re truly close with.
Here’s a challenge. Take a moment and write down the names of 3-5 people that are your closest friends. By close friends, this is what I mean:
Someone that lives near you that they could drop everything and be at your house in a few minutes if needed (Note: one of my good friends lives an hour away, but we make it work)
Someone who truly cares about you and wants to know how you’re doing
The person that loves you just as you are and isn’t trying to change you but is willing to confront you if you get way off-base or off-track
The person who sees you for you with all your faults and flaws and still loves you and wants to spend time with you
If you’re like me, you found this exercise a little harder than you thought it would be. That’s because we all struggle in this area of making friends. You may have hundreds of followers on Facebook but not any friends that you do life with day-to-day.
My Answer to Finding Friends and Cultivating Friendships
Making friends is something I really struggle with. I don’t let people into my life easily. I’m a very independent person and hate to be a bother to anybody. I used to stress because I knew I needed friends, but I didn’t know how or where to find them. I had no idea where to even start. Then one day, all that changed in a way I never saw coming.
One day, out of the blue, Matt told me he wanted to start small groups at our church. He handed me a book to read on the topic. I read the book and understood all the in’s and out’s and why’s of starting small groups in our church. I’ll be honest, though, I wasn’t really looking forward to it. That was over seven years ago.
My Small Group
Fast forward several years. It took several groups and reshifting people and groups before we finally started gelling with our group. We have now been with our small group for six years. They have been become such a vital part of our lives that I can’t imagine doing life without them.
These pictures were taken at our last Friendsgiving. We started as strangers and have now become close friends. I know that I could call anybody in my group in an emergency and they would drop whatever they were doing to come help. We’ve been through so much life together—the highs and the lows, the good and the bad. We have forged such deep friendships over years of meeting together weekly and settling around our table with good food, fellowship, Bible study, and prayer.
I’m not good at tracking down friends to do life with, and my small group has become the outlet for me to meet with my friends faithfully each week. I know that without the structure of meeting with my group every week, I would not invest in those relationships like I need to. I would probably let those relationships just slip away.
Starting a Small Group
If you, like me, have found yourself lonely and wanting to develop deep connection and community with people but don’t know where to begin, let me encourage you to join Matt and I tomorrow morning at 9am EST on our Manney Resources Facebook Page.
We are doing a training on small groups. We are going to share with you the simple system we use to get groups started.
These are the words Matt wrote about the training tomorrow: Small groups are the difference between those who make it and those who don’t. Life is too short and difficult to go at it alone. Learn the power and impact of developing a small community, finding a rhythm for your schedule to meet, and how to leverage the power of friendships to grow your faith and change your life.
We will be answering all these questions and more:
How do I start a group?
Who should I invite?
Where should we meet?
What’s the format for a small group?
What Bible studies should I use?
If you want to cultivate friendships and stop doing life by yourself, be sure to tune in tomorrow morning at 9am!
For More Encouragement
Jennie’s book, Find Your People is a great read! I’m really loving it and being challenged by it. You can also read one of my posts about our growth group, Love is Still the Answer.
One of the hardest things to deal with in this life is when God chooses not to take something away. This week, Macey, our six-year-old, worked on one of those all about me papers. She had to fill in the blank with her favorite foods, colors, what she likes and doesn’t like, etc. She brought it to me when she had completed it, so she could show me her answers. The first one on the page said, I worry about ___________________. I looked at her answer and then looked at it again. She had written growing up in the blank.
She sat next to me on the couch. “I worry about growing up because of my Diabetes,” she said quietly and with a bit of uncertainty. I just stared at her for a beat before I pulled her into my arms.
“Macey, you don’t have to worry about growing up,” I told her. We talked for a few minutes before I sent her to play, but those few words hung heavy on my heart for quite a while. I told Matt about it later, and he reacted the same way I did. “That’s not something a six-year-old should ever have to worry about,” I told him. I hate that she has to deal with it, that God hasn’t just taken it away. But even as I said those words, I couldn’t help but think about other little kids who worry about growing up. I think of kids who have it so much worse than my Macey. Kids with cancer, with terminal illness, and more.
The Pain in This Life
No matter how bad you think your life is, there is always somebody who has it so much worse than you do. All you have to do is look around. This life is full of tragedy, heartbreak, pain, and loss.
I felt myself spiraling with thoughts of concern for Macey and the life ahead of her. Fear of the future, hurt for her, frustration all began to come at me. Then I read in my morning time some verses that have become so dear to me over the years.
God’s Grace
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10NLT
I read these verses and stopped. I pray every morning for God to heal Macey of her diabetes or to provide a cure. Right now, there is no cure for Type 1 Diabetes. She will be on insulin for the rest of her life. I’ve asked God to just take it away so many times, especially during those long, painful days in the ICU. I can feel Paul’s pain when he says, “I’ve begged God to take it away.”
Because I can feel his pain, I can also hear God’s words so clearly. “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So when you’re weak, then I am strong.” When you have something that you’ve begged God to take away from you and he hasn’t, only then can you truly understand these words. I felt these words wrap around my heart, even as the tears came. I needed to remember: God’s grace is enough for today.
Strength in Weakness
Because God’s grace is all I need, he will make me strong through my weakness. What’s even greater is that God will work in Macey’s weakness. She can come to know God’s grace in an intimate way in her own life, but it’s my job to teach that to her. It’s my job to help guide her in her faith so that she can learn to be strong through God’s grace.
Do you have something in your life that you have begged God to take away or change and he hasn’t? A looming divorce, financial hardship, cancer, terminal illness, the death of a loved one, loneliness, heartbreak. I say these words to you, “God’s grace is enough.” I know it doesn’t seem like it, and it definitely doesn’t feel like it. But as someone who has been there and is still there, I can come alongside and wrap my arms around your shaking shoulders and say those words. You can learn to be strong by walking through your weakness with Jesus at your side.
We can know that we have begun to understand God’s grace and find his strength in our weakness when we can come alongside someone else and wrap our arms around them and say, “God’s grace is enough. Let me tell you how it was for me.”
Last week, Matt and I went to Chick-fil-A for our weekly breakfast date. I was really tired, and that’s not a great setup for a good date. Nevertheless, I pushed myself to get ready and get out the door, convinced I could make this work.
Well, you can probably see the handwriting on the wall. It didn’t go well. We started talking, and I started sharing. No matter what Matt said, no matter how he tried to encourage me, I was just not having it. Finally, he got frustrated because I obviously didn’t want to be pulled out of the dark hole I was in.
By the time our date finished, we hadn’t really solved anything; and both of us were discouraged and frustrated. The drive home was silent. When we got almost home, Matt pulled over. We both knew if we pulled up in front of the house, the kids would come running out. That would ruin any chance we had of trying to make things right. We talked for a few more minutes. Both of us apologized, and I told him I was really tired. I shouldn’t have even brought up some of the things I said because I wasn’t in a frame of mind for dealing with it.
My Meltdown
We came home after that. A few minutes later, I was swamped with school questions, fighting kids, and a messy house. I went upstairs to the bathroom to have a few minutes of peace, if I was lucky. (Moms, you know what I mean!)
I sat down on the toilet with the lid down and looked out the window, utterly dejected. After a few minutes, I prayed and told God how tired and frustrated I was and how I had made such a mess of things on our date. Sitting quietly for a moment, I waited; and God brought this thought to mind.
“Do you feel better? You shared your frustrations, fear, worry, and anger with Matt. Do you feel better for it?” I answered the rhetorical question. No. Ironically, I had done the exact same thing a few weeks ago. I hadn’t felt any better after that date either. So why did I do it again? Then this thought hit me. There are certain fears, worries, cares, concerns that you can only take to God. Once that thought hit me, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It suddenly seemed so clear. I was trying to get Matt to meet this deep inner need that he was never going to be able to meet.
My Struggle was with God
See the struggle I was having was with God. I was frustrated with God not coming through on things I thought he should. My faith was fragile that day. I was hurt and felt unloved by God. All of those things I was feeling should have been directed to and dealt with by God. Instead, I took them to my husband, expecting him to be able to do something about it.
God reminded me in the few silent minutes I carved out in the bathroom that there are certain needs I have that only God can fill. That emptiness, loneliness, hurt, and pain is a God-sized hole in our heart that only he can fill.
I’m not going to be a sadist and say that you need to go at it alone, that only God can meet your needs, and you don’t need other people. That’s absolutely not true, and God has really showed me over the last few years how incredibly much I need people in my life. But there are times, I believe, that only God can meet us in that dark place that we’re in. And if we try to tell other people about it or bring them into the darkness with us, it only makes things worse.
Finding God in the Darkness
So, if you find yourself in the boat I was in, if you feel like your heart is cracking. You’re struggling with your faith, hurt, and fears. You’ve tried to talk to other people, but no matter what they say, you can’t be encouraged, it may be that you have a God problem that only God can fix.
So stop getting frustrated with people who can’t fix you. Look up and talk to the only one who can really meet you in this dark place. Let him be the one to hear your burdens, fears, worries, and concerns. Remember I Peter 5: 7, one of my favorite verses.
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
I Peter 5:7
If we can begin to understand this concept of taking our deepest fears and concerns to God instead of other people, we will find he is there for us. He’s been waiting all along to carry those burdens for us; he was just waiting for us to release them to him.
More Encouragement
For more encouragement along these lines, check out my post, Finding the Tenacity to Wrestle with God. A good book recommendation is Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore. I read it a few years ago and need to read it again. It’s a really good book.
Matt tagged me in a post a few days ago. He told me to read the last line, that it was golden. It was a post about a girl who had passed away in February of this year. The last line of the article, written in her own words, was this line: “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy.”
That’s a powerful line, especially when it comes from someone whose life backs it up. I’ve been thinking a lot about that phrase lately, especially after I saw that a girl I follow on social media passed away on March 1.
Brooklyn’s Faith
Brooklyn wasn’t someone I ever had the privilege of meeting, but I followed her online when I heard about her story. She was upfront and direct about the fact that she she was dying, and there was nothing anything could do about it. Brooklyn had chronic illness and all sorts of health problems, and she was very open about them. She had every reason to be miserable. Yet, if you followed her online and read any of her posts, she always had the biggest smile and was upbeat in her posts. It was both beautiful and heartbreaking to watch at the same time. These were some of the words of the last post she wrote before going to be with Jesus.
As I wait for my last breaths, I’ve been reading through the gospels. The Apostle’s description of Jesus’ crucifixion are a gut punch for anyone. Now dying myself, the description of how my Savior died is so much more potent. It leaves me in awe of a God who was born into flesh, willing to die in brutality and rise agin for the sin of humanity.
Brooklyn Salisbury
The Brokenness All Around Us
The world around us is broken. From the war in Ukraine, to the suffering of persecuted Christians, to kids dying from cancer, it can feel utterly and completely hopeless. Yet, somehow we’re supposed to reconcile all this with the life that Jesus wants us to—one of hope, faith, and love.
I read this verse in Proverbs this week, and it made me stop and consider.
For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.
Proverbs 15:16 NLT
We can’t control what happens around us, but we can control how we respond to it. Have you ever noticed, some of the people that have the most horrible things happen to them are the most joyful people? How is that? They’ve chosen to have a happy heart.
I struggle with Having a Happy Heart
I am not a super emotional person, but I can be a super pessimistic person. Because I am a realist and see life in black and white, I can often see life on the cup-is-half-full side of life. That helps me be a little more even-keeled in life, but the downside is that I have a hard time choosing happiness.
I need to remind myself often that how much joy I get out of life is determined by me. God has blessed me with so much good. His faithfulness and unfailing love surround me.
But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry andfilled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
Psalm 86:15 NLT
So then choosing happiness becomes like all other hard things in life. It becomes a discipline. The more we do it, the better we get at it.
So for today, I choose to be happy. I choose to see life as a continual feast. I choose to find the good. And the more I do that, the easier it will become.
For More Encouragment
One of the hardest but best books I have ever read along these lines is The Hardest Peace: Expecting God’s Grace in the Midst of Hard by Kara Tippetts. I will warn you, you need to have a box of tissues handy when you read it, but it’s an amazing book that I think every Christian should read.
In the Gospels, we read about a storm that took place when Jesus was in the boat with his disciples. He was exhausted from his early mornings and late night ministering to people, so when he got into the boat, he promptly fell asleep. While he slept, a huge storm built and soon wreaked havoc with their boat. It must have been some storm for these seasoned fishermen to be afraid! They wake up Jesus in a panic. “Don’t you care that we’re going to drown?!”
Jesus simply looks out at the wind and the waves and the tempest, and commands it to stop. The storm instantly stops, and the seas become peaceful once again. Then Jesus turns to his disciples. Don’t miss this part; don’t miss what he says when he looks each of them in the eye. He says this, “Why were you so afraid? Do you not have faith?”
Growing Faith that is Stronger than Your Struggle
Those words are still an indictment to us today. The world becomes a chaotic storm around us, and we panic and run to Jesus. “Don’t you know what’s going on? Have you seen what’s happening?! Where are you, God?” God simply looks at us and says, “My beloved child, don’t you have any faith?”
I don’t know about you, but I want to have the faith that Jesus expects me to have. I don’t want to fall apart when the path before me gets a little rocky, when the storms start swelling around me.
Uncertainty, Unrest, and Fear
It seems like everywhere you turn right now, there is unrest, uncertainty, and fear. What do we to combat that? The best way to combat our fear and uncertainty is to double down on our faith. How can we do that? How can we grow our faith?
Well, for our church, that means doing a spiritual growth campaign that is a 40-day booster for our faith. I invite you to join us.
What Is It?
It’s a forty-day study on faith that our church is leading. There are three parts to it.
The Sermon Series. Matt will be preaching every Sunday morning at 11:00 EST a series entitled, Growing Faith that’s Stronger than Your Struggle. You can catch those sermons on our Greater Philly Church Facebook Page. You can watch them live or watch the replay.
Weekly Small Group Study. We will meet in our small groups during the week and work through the accompanying 40 Days of Faith Study Guide. If you are interested, you can snag a copy of the study guide from Amazon and use it to start your own group. There are QR codes inside the study guide for links to the corresponding videos for this series that are free on YouTube.
We all could use something positive to focus on right now. If we can do that and grow in our walk with God at the same time, then that’s a win in my book. I’m looking forward to this study to be able to do just that.
If you want to join in, use the links above to snag a devotional and a study guide, and be sure to check out our Facebook page on Sunday mornings.
If you aren’t really interested in joining us but still want the benefits of the study, I encourage you to grab a devotional and work through it by yourself at home. It will help you grow in your faith these next thirty days and take your focus off of yourself and your circumstances and put your focus back on God.
The lack of peace in our world right now can be terrifying. My kids saw my husband and I watching the news on Ukraine last night and had hundreds of questions before bed. My little girls wanted to know if Colorado was close to Russia, because that’s where their grandparents live. I reassured them that it wasn’t. Matt and I told our kids when we finished talking that our goal was not to scare them but to help them to have a heart to pray for the people in Ukraine.
Our Response
It’s hard to know what to do in times like these when peace feels so far out of reach. It feels wrong to continue with normal life—to go see a movie or to go to bed when the other side of the world is in turmoil. It feels wrong to go about our lives when so much destruction is happening. Yet, we have to get up tomorrow and go to work and deal with all the things that we have to deal with. We sort of want to put a pause on life, yet life keeps moving forward.
Then, there’s the fear. We lie in bed at night and wonder what’s going to happen next. We fear for our safety, for the safety of our country. Thoughts of war run through our heads, and we can’t shut it down and sleep.
How do we respond? How do we find peace in the midst of turmoil? Here’s a few things that I thought of in response to what’s happening in Ukraine.
1. Pray
Pray for peace and for the people of Ukraine. I believe God gives us a heart of empathy that doesn’t let us turn away and just go about our normal day-to-day affairs after hearing and seeing what is going on in another part of the world. I think he does that, so those images will impress upon our hearts the burden to pray. There is evil in this world. Satan is still alive and well and wreaking havoc in this world, and he took a third of heaven’s angels with him when he fell. It would be foolish to think that they are not at work. The Bible tells us there are principalities and powers of darkness in this world. We have the power in our hands to be able to overcome the dark, and that power is through prayer.
We can teach our kids the same thing. The best response is to spend time together as a family and pray.
2. Give
If you want to actively get involved, Saddleback Church in California has a Ukraine Relief Fund and is actively working with pastors in Ukraine to get them the help they need. If God has blessed you with the means to be able to give, this is a great way to help.
3. Love
During times like these, we are reminded of what really matters. For the dear people in Ukraine, it doesn’t matter what kind of house they have, what kind of car they drive, what possessions they have accumulated. What matters to them now is the safety of their loved ones. These times remind us to love on our family. Make right relationships that need to be made right. Spend time loving on your kids; check in with extended family members and neighbors. These are times that people are more open, so capitalize on it and spread love.
4. Hope
Find hope in the only One who can bring hope. Pick a verse or two below to dwell on. When you can’t sleep at night because of the fear in your heart, repeat the verse to God in prayer.
5. Encourage
When we feel helpless, scared, fearful, uncertain, one of the best things we can do is choose to bring hope to someone else. Instead of focusing on me and my fears, find somebody that I can focus on instead.
Take cookies to your neighbor, invite a family over for dinner, send flowers to somebody, check in with your loved ones, call a friend, wave at the crossing guard, smile. Do what you can to encourage somebody else today.
We all can play a small part in making our world a better place today, tomorrow, and the next day. Choose to do something today to work towards that goal and let God’s peace fill you when you do.
More Encouragement
For more encouragement, check out my post When God Finds Us. Here’s a song to bring peace to your heart today, as well. Weary Traveler by Jordan St. Cyr.
