Category: Life Issues
When God Says, “However . . .
A curious event in Genesis 48 demonstrates how God’s work in us is never really over. Joseph was about 60 years old, and his father, Jacob, was dying. As was the custom, Jacob called for Joseph’s two sons so he could bestow the patriarchal blessing upon...
When the Money Runs Out: Six Lessons from John Stam
Financial stress is to the mind as nausea is to the stomach—uncomfortable and impossible to ignore. If you are a Christian, it can be even worse because you know that you’re supposed to trust God, and yet you instinctively worry, “What am I going to do?”...
Who Is the Person of God-Pleasing Faith?
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Faith is also the means of gaining God’s approval, “for by it the men of old gained approval” (11:2). Furthermore, faith is the only means of gaining God’s...
What To Do About the Stuff You Have To Do
My wife and I recently returned from living overseas and will soon move into a rental house here in Kansas City. These two things have made life difficult. Too many things to think about: health insurance, car insurance, car registration, couches, rugs, tables, chairs, plates, cups,...
What Does Luck Have to Do with It?
Joni Eareckson Tada is one of the most gracious and effective Christians in the world. She has lived with the results of a diving accident that broke her neck during her teen years. At 50 she continues to radiate Christ to a listening world. Joni is...
Waves of Doubt
Doubt is deafening. Like the commotion in a crowded hallway that makes your conversation impossible, or a roaring jet engine near your head, doubt has a way of blocking out everything else. As you listen to the pastor preaching, or read the Bible, doubt screams in...
Waiting for Unexpected Appointments
A band of swarthy men prod their sleepy camels out of slumber to face another interminable, boiling desert day. As traders from the land of Midian, Egypt’s bustling bazaars beckon. But unknown to them, they will keep an appointment they do not know they have. And...
Upheld in the Depths
Things are different at the lowest point on earth: swimming is floating, water brings death and salty mud becomes a cosmetic phenomenon. This is what it is like in the Dead Sea basin at about 1,400 feet below sea level. It looks beautiful, but it is—as...
The Ramp
“It is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life” (Herman Melville, Moby Dick). It was a beautiful set up. At least it looked beautiful to the two little boys who had made the...
The Sufficiency of Daily Grace
Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)Most of my trouble is tomorrow. I don’t have enough money tomorrow. I have to have a tough conversation tomorrow. I’ve got too much...
