Maybe our best prayers are the ones we pray anxiously when we realize we have no control over some situations and only God can provide what we so desperately need.

Dead dark—each of us will endure it sometime in life. Psalm 23 assumes that, and then tells us we will not walk alone.

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ’Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Jealousy is a slow, silent, and wicked master. If left unchecked it can destroy you.  Jealousy can trick you into thinking your actions are justified and your motives are honorable. This is what happened with King Saul.

The story of David’s victory over Goliath gives a burst of confidence that God can equip the unlikely or the underdog to do what appears impossible.

Time and time again we find that nothing we have done, are doing, or plan to do—either good or bad—surprises God. He has promised to direct our paths.

My great-great grandmother was ‘catchable but not fetchable.’ And we can find a place where the enemy won’t grab us, either.

Starting with the pandemic, and in the time since, many have longed to get back to “normal.” But we will not find life by looking for it.

In the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus was already acting as a Shepherd who provides for the needs of his sheep.

As is true with so many others, I have prayed some prayers over and over again for many years. I pray because I believe God is listening and will answer.

The book of Ruth offers us a picture of the pattern God has used again and again to bring his people close to him.

“Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” The problematic pattern of another age still is with us today.

Nearly every night I step out onto my deck and look up at the stars, and I think I can feel the same things David declared in Psalm 8.

I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try. That’s a sentence to describe many situations in life, including my goal to write about Psalm 23 five Saturdays in a row.

Law upon law will never bring the solutions needed for our broken world. We need truth, yes, along with the same measure of grace.

How many times has Jesus been standing there and we missed him? I suspect far more than we can count. But I realize I saw him today.

God may sometimes seem distant, but he is always nearby and working even when we don’t see him until suddenly he steps in again.

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

God spoke to both of them, giving all of us an example for overcoming barriers and putting aside prejudices in answer to his call.