When waiting is writhing and silence groans
When we find ourselves writhing and groaning in the face of evil and grief, God is in it, giving us grace to “labor” in a way that births deliverance and life.
Resentment and its victims: Hate without cause
Resentment may seem harmless. It may seem justified. Yet it is toxic and often misdirected. Whether it’s simmering within you or aimed at you, it’s hurting you.
Love story? Fairy-tale life? The abuse in Esther
Have we seen Queen Esther as a beloved wife, living a fairy-tale life? If so, we’ve missed the abuse in her story and a surprising key to reigning in life.
Defender of the forsaken – this is God
The Lord sees when the vulnerable are wrongly rejected. He hears when the helpless cry to him, and he champions them. Defender of the forsaken – this is God.
Heartcry of one who overcomes
“I so want to be a woman of grace in all this!” she cried, through deep, wrenching sobs. In that holy moment, I heard the heartcry of one who overcomes.
Earthquakes, trauma – and silences that erase
Any eerie silence that minimizes or denies an earthquake - or any other trauma someone is facing - shouts to those willing to hear: Look deeper. Ask, Why?
The blessing of mourning
There is a time to mourn. And much fights against our doing it. But what short-circuits our grief also blocks us from Jesus’ promise of comfort and blessing.
Dear wounded, grieving one, I pray you float
Was there grief in that ark? Yes! Was there tension? Absolutely. And anger. And fear. So many emotions; such great loss. Yet through it all, they were upheld.
Divorcing: When God does what he hates
Repeatedly, in Scripture, the Lord reveals the anguish that divorcing his people causes him. Yet at times, he’s responded to nonstop betrayals in just that way.