Unforced Rhythms of Grace

James 1:5-8 (NLT) If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. [6] But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. [7] People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. [8] They can't make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do. James has just put trials into perspective. They help build us and shape our character. If we are going to get through trials and live well we need to know what to do. We need wisdom. The American Heritage Dictionary defines wisdom as “The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.” Wisdom gives us the ability to figure out what to do. Wisdom is not the same as the answer. When I look up the Scripture references that use the same Greek word they all indicate a more general t...

Lost and found And lost Again In the desert This time I See the Son Someone at work described the situation we are in as “The Perfect Storm.” If you have seen the movie you know that phrase refers to several big storms coming together at the same time. I have heard that analogy used several times over the past few months at work. It has become a mantra of sorts. I had the thought that only God can create the perfect storm. The circumstances at work have only been one of the storms in my own life. I know that only God could bring me here. The past few days I have been tested over and over. I have claimed the Truth and then been tested again. But God has also sent me help in the form of people surrounding me with love. This morning I woke up and felt a nudge to pray for God’s hand on my day. I didn’t know what was going to happen today. It turns out that today was not a good day to be me at work. It was a difficult day and I struggled to get through it. Yet, on some core level I felt a ...

Seven years ago today I asked Jesus to come into my life. I was reading a booklet called “Why Jesus?” and within it there was a prayer where you could invite Jesus into your life. Being familiar with the Christian faith I knew the prayer was coming so I stopped a few pages before it in the book. I knew I was going to pray the prayer. Being ever pragmatic I decided that since I didn’t know what would happen once I said the prayer I would run a few errands first. After I came home I said the prayer. I remember stopping for a moment and waiting. Nothing happened… or so I thought. I remember about a year later I felt like part of me had woken up and found out that the other part of me had become a Christian. I was confused and somewhat angry. I had heard that God was present in all the things I had experienced but what difference did that make? How could God allow me to go through everything I had as a child and still blame me for my sin? It didn’t seem fair and I acted out my a...