trusting god in painful places

Trusting God in Painful Places

(First published in 2016.)   Are you trusting God? If you had asked me last week if I was trusting God in painful places, I probably would have said, “Yes” without much hesitation. I mean God has taken me through some lengthy trust-testing trials that have demanded a lot of me and my family. No doubt about it. But recently, God challenged that …

Gospel Hope for a Grieving World

Gospel Hope for A Grieving World

What consumes your thoughts and heart? A world polarized around conflict?  Social media posts? Civil rights? Pandemic news? Or perhaps it is more personal: a loss, a diagnosis, a prodigal, unemployment, or a relationship you can’t make work.  Just like us, 1st century Christians lived in a world taut with fear, hate, and uncertainty. Many had to fight for their …

Strengthening Your Faith During Financial Crisis

Ever since the stay-at-home orders were issued in March, my husband has been trying to keep our family afloat in the floodwaters of no work and stalled federal aid. And like so many others, as we roll into week seven we are trying to adjust to the COVID financial crisis. “I’m sorry Karen,” my husband Mike said, “but I had to …

4 Steps to “Bear-Proof” Faith

Is your faith strong enough to meet your biggest fear? We’ve all had bad dreams that were so real we had a hard time shaking them off. Mine is a recurring dream where I am being stalked by a bear. I have a bear phobia — a real one — I can’t even look at them in the zoo.** And …

Experiencing God’s Touch

Is experiencing God’s touch a part of your life each day? As Christians we talk a lot about our “personal relationship with God,” but when was the last time it was…well, personal? A vivid Biblical account of what experiencing God’s touch looks like is the story of the woman suffering from a chronic bleeding issue. In her culture, her condition …

path

Find Your Way Back to God’s Path

Have you ever gotten lost in your faith journey and struggled to find your way back to God’s path? When I gave my life to God in my twenties, I never imagined I’d get lost. Now when I say “gave my life to God,” I mean gave it. As far as I was concerned, He called the shots and laid out the agenda. …