hope
Today was a day of gladness; tonight has been difficult. A seemingly small event had unleashed a torrent of emotion in me. The day before, my husband and I had received difficult news. Being stirred with faith, during the daylight hours I had grabbed on to the inexplicable determination and joy God placed in my heart—even in that difficult place. As the day turned into evening, though, I didn’t feel victorious. I felt lonely, discouraged, and frustrated.
why didn’t He protect us?
Our lives began to fall apart when my daughter took her life,” the woman told me during a break in the conference we were both attending. “And then our second daughter spiraled into depression and started to ‘self-harm.’ After several months we discovered the reason why: While my husband and I were missionaries in Indonesia, two of our three children had been sexually abused at a mission-run school. We had given our lives to serve God. . . . Why didn’t He protect us?” I would hear similar stories at that conference—people who felt betrayed by God.
our triumph
I started this year with great enthusiasm. Having mapped out a strategy for pointing the youth ministry at my church toward loving God and loving people, I shared it with some colleagues and off we went! Well, 6 months later, I did an evaluation and found we had made only minuscule progress. Discouragement covered me like a dark cloud.
dark and quiet
Gordon Hempton is one of the world’s few acoustic ecologists. He travels the world recording what he calls “the last quiet places,” places completely untouched by modern human sound. Hempton records remote locations on the other side of the world as well as nearby wonders, such as the sound of the tide washing over a piece of spruce driftwood in a national park. He describes silence not as the lack of noise (there is no such thing, the earth itself emits sound), but rather as presence (the capacity to be fully attentive to the space where you are).
not outsmarted
The French philosopher Voltaire suspected that he would win the lottery in 1729. With a statistician friend he calculated that the jackpot would be much greater than the cost of all the tickets. They pooled their money with other friends, bought as many tickets as possible, won, and split the prize money. Outwitting the Parisian government paid big—Voltaire received over a million francs. But some people might think he didn’t play totally fair.
encouraged
When I was young, one of my favorite days was May 1. Known as May Day, it gave me a chance to hope for a kiss on the cheek from my latest crush. Making small baskets filled with candy, my friends and I would leave the gifts of affection on the doorsteps of those we knew, ring the doorbell, and run. If we left a basket for someone we liked, we ran slowly because getting caught meant getting kissed. Gone are those days of innocence.
after the wilderness
If you’ve ever experienced prolonged disappointment or pain, you know it can feel like you’re in the “wilderness”—a barren place where you never seem to reach the much-hoped-for “Promised Land.”
shattered dreams
A friend had been working at a job he loved for many years when he was suddenly laid off. He took another position at a new company, but the work was not as fulfilling and didn’t pay well. Then the first employer asked him to return, which he did with joy. Sadly, he and most of the workforce were again laid off just 7 days later. The other company wouldn’t take him back, and he’s now working a menial, low-paying job. His dreams of having a position he needs and loves have been shattered.
shrinking faith
In Indonesia, scientists have located remains of an ancient people that may have—over the years—shrunk due to what they call “island dwarfism.” The researchers have used the name hobbit to identify the remains. Though hobbits are fictitious creatures, we’re naturally curious about what might cause humans to grow smaller.
stuff of legends
The 2012 film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit tells the story of a band of dwarves seeking to recapture their lost mountain kingdom from an evil dragon.
when your dream dies
In his book, Me, Myself, & Bob, Phil Vischer shares how he invented the popular VeggieTales characters of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. Phil’s Christian videos sold millions of copies and he became an overnight sensation. But the creative genius was not a gifted businessman, and his exploding company took on too much debt until it went bankrupt. The rights to Bob, Larry, and the other Veggies were then sold to someone else.
you choose Q: why does my business continue to fail even as I pray to God for help?
Q: Why is my business continuing to slide down even though we have been praying for God's hand upon us? How can I continue to motivate my Christian colleagues who are demoralized? —Teck
A: “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for,” Jesus promised in Matthew 7:7. Yet, having trusted, your prayers seem to have gone unanswered. It’s…
timely advice
I saw a group interacting with others outside my train station—sharing Scriptures with anyone who would listen. A group member approached and asked me to take a survey. One question referred to Revelation 22:17. She asked, “Who do you think is the ‘bride’?” I said, “The church.” She replied, “Read the text carefully. It’s God, the Mother.”
indicted or invited?
There are two ways most people tend to read the Bible. One is to read it mostly as an indictment of the human race. In other words, we’re sinful rebels who are bent on finding life apart from God.
not leaving
I am just 3 months into my elected role as youth deaconess in the local church that I attend, and I’ve already received three requests from people who want to step down from serving. A few have simply gone MIA (missing in action). So I feel like a general who’s trying to rally his army to fight a battle even as he’s losing his soldiers.
