Trials

Anchoring Ourselves In the Word of God

Anchor, Steady, Trial, Trials, Word of God

Anchors are essential safety equipment on a boat. Choosing which anchor tokeep onboard is usually based on boat length, boat weight, and the wind…

Following Jesus Into the Unknown

Endurance, High Priest, Jesus, Jesus's Example, Trials, Trust, Trusting God

Children taking swimming lessons are instructed to jump into the water from the edge of the pool. For many children, this is terrifying. It’s not…

Deceived By Appearances

Appearances, Courage, Deceived, Judgments, Trials, Tribulations

It is easy to look at something or someone and make judgments based upon appearances. But appearances can be deceiving. Ants, while tiny, are…

Emily Dickinson wrote a beautiful poem about hope in the face of trials and opposition, “‘Hope’ Is the Thing with Feathers” (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314). Hope is…

“Happy In The Midst Of Dangers And Inconveniences”

Danger, God's Presence, Inconvenience, Life in Christ, Love, Love One Another, Trials, Tribulation

In his autobiography, Daniel Boone wrote about his explorations of the Kentucky wilderness. As he remembered fondly the nights of constant wolf howls and…

Our Secure Anchor

Anchor, Challenges, Jesus, Storms, Trials

We must admit that we need Christ in every way at all times. He is our sure anchor in life’s stormy world. If we…

Day And Night

Dark Night of the Soul, Darkness, God's presence, Trials, Trusting God

The scholar Walter Brueggemann points out that lots of pivotal events in the Bible take place at night. “Unlike the daytime, the nighttime is…

Never Silent

Dark Night of the Soul, Hearing God, Silence, Trials, Trusting God

The composer John Cage once visited Harvard for the purpose of experiencing an anechoic chamber. An anechoic chamber is completely silent, without even any…

When We Can’t See

Dark Night of the Soul, Darkness, Discouragement, Hearing God, Trials, Trusting God

In a scene from the 2004 film Ray, about the life of Ray Charles, the titular character flashes back to a time in his…

Always With Us

God's presence, God's Promises, Suffering, Trials

Joni Eareckson Tada, who has lived as a quadriplegic for fifty years, shares her answer to the question “If you have enough faith, will…

Spoiler Alert

God's Plan, God's Promises, God's Will, Happy Ending, Hope, Spoiler, Story, Trials

The Christian life is not one without heartache and trial. You will not get to skip all of the conflict in your life’s story,…

Derek Redman

Dependence On God, Faithfulness, God's Faithfulness, Struggle, Struggles, Trials, Trusting God, Weakness, Weaknesses

During the 1992 Olympic Games, runner Derek Redman was injured as he rounded the final turn and was unable to complete his race, until…

Reassessing Our Struggles

Inspiration, Perspective, Struggles, Suffering, Trials, Trusting God

Inspirational stories about those who have overcome obstacles can motivate us to reassess our own struggles. For nine-year-old Ezra, his struggles are real but…

Tension

Already And Not Yet, Grief, Hope, Joy, Perseverance, Perspective, Suffering, Tension, Trials

Living with joy and hope amid pain requires an ability to live in tension. We can’t just deny the pain and pretend like all…

Gaining Strength

Challenges, Faith, Solid Foundation, Storms, Strength, Strong, Trials, Trust, Trusting God

“I read one time about how shipbuilders back in the days of sailboats would prepare the masts for their ships. They would go to…

Try to Remember

Comfort, Deuteronomy 4:9, God With Us, God's Faithfulness, God's Love, Meditation, Remembering, Reminders, Thinking, Thought life, Trials

How good is your memory? Do you walk into a room and forget why you came there in the first place? We memorize things…

Waiting On God

Challenges, God's Timing, Growth, Hope, James 5:11, Micah 7:7, Overcoming, Proverb 3:5-6, Romans 12:12, Romans 5:3-4, Romans 8:25, Romans 8:28, Spiritual Growth, Testimony, Trials, Waiting, Waiting on God, Waiting on the Lord

Waiting is part of our ongoing walk with Jesus. We aren’t comfortable with waiting, because we feel like it’s pointless—or worse, that we are…

Trust

Anxiety, Confidence, God's Character, God's Plan, Hebrews 13:9, Mark 5:36, Matthew 6:25, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 112:7, Psalm 37:5, Psalm 46:10, Psalm 9:10, Romans 8:28, Trials, Trust, Trusting God

In this clip from Despicable Me, Gru needs his adopted daughters to jump from a flying ship so he can save them from crashing. Though…

The Power of Confession

1 John 1:9, Acts 3:19, Confessing Sin, Confession, Faith, Hardship, Humble Ourselves, James 4:8, James 5:16, Perseverance, Proverbs 28:13, Psalm 32:5, Romans 10:10, Submit to God, Suffering, Trials

“Confession is a powerful spiritual practice in our lives. However, when we hear or think about the word confession, we might have a negative…

The “Now” Culture

1 Peter 5:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Deuteronomy 7:19, Disciplines, Faith, Gratification, Hardships, Immediate Results, James 1:24, John 16:33, Mark 4:17, Persevere, Philippians 4:^, Romans 12:12, Seeking God, Trials

We live in a culture that thrives on the instant. We want things to happen right away—from packages arriving in the mail in two…

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