Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Finding God”
Sometimes it comes out as a whine. “But God, I’ve been waiting for so long.” On my worst days, I hear it coming out of me like a toddler-style tantrum, “But God, I just can’t do it!” In these “but God” prayers, my emphasis is in the wrong place. Instead of “but God,” I need to pivot to “but God.” From “but …
Do you ever feel like life is chaotic? When things in my life are calm and peaceful, I only have to watch the news for a few minutes to be immersed in the chaos of our times. In the midst of the chaos it can feel like God is distant. It can feel like everything is bad, everything is hard, …
I have been giddy about God since the first moment I really understood God’s unconditional love. Not that I understand it completely, but once I got a glimpse of it, I was forever changed. I also found it easier to talk honestly about God from that moment on; I felt like I actually had something to say. It’s tempting to …
I think there are times when I don’t give God enough credit. In fact, I’m sure of it. I forget there’s no such thing as a “self-made” Christian. I forget that God always makes the first move. God goes first, I go second. God reaches out, I respond. I rarely describe anything in the Bible as clear or plain, but …
One of the wonderful, but sometimes frustrating, things about the New Testament is how little biographical information it gives us about Jesus. The Gospel of Luke spans 18 years of Jesus’ life (from age 12 to age 30) by telling us that “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor” (Luke 2:52). This is reminiscent of …
Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and it has been since I was a child. Many of my most magical childhood memories are basted in the scent of Christmas pine. I remember going to the candlelight service at church on Christmas Eve. I remember tip-toeing out of my room on Christmas morning, well before sunrise, to check the …
This might seem redundant, but it’s time to prepare for Advent. Of course, Advent is a time of preparing to receive Christ, so this is a case of preparing to prepare. This year I’m using three folks from the Bible as my guides: Mary, Simeon, and Anna. We often celebrate Mary for her willingness to say yes to God (Luke …
Have you ever had an experience where you felt like God opened your eyes and allowed you (or made you!) see something in a new way? I’ve taken a handful of mission trips to Nicaragua. On one of my first trips, I got to walk in the jungle and hand out bags of grocery essentials. I’m not normally a fan …
There is a lot about God that I don’t understand. And, yes, that is a huge understatement! But even the little I think I understand about God leaves me feeling amazed. First, there’s the fact that the Almighty, Loving, Holy, and Righteous Creator chooses to be known. The idea of an imperfect human like me being loved, and in relationship …
<<As this blog post goes live, Hurricane Michael is nearing landfall not far from my home.>> A couple of weeks ago I changed the background on my phone. As Hurricane Michael invades my part of the world, it feels especially apropos. I changed it to an image of a Jack Pine forest. I’m certainly not an arborist or horticulturist or even …