My daughter was admitted to an intensive care hospital unit last week. Despite my best intentions, I found myself getting caught up in a storm of emotions and unanswered questions and I worried about a host of related circumstances. At one point, a prayer involuntarily escaped from my lips, “Calm the storms, Lord. Calm the inner and outer storms!” I often hear people say that we can have peace in the midst of the storms of life. Well, I wasn’t feeling it. At the same time, I realized I had disconnected from the source of that peace, the One who calms the storms...

Someone has calculated that we make as many as 5,000 decisions in a day! Decisions have become a focal point for me the last few months because I want to stay healthy and lose some weight. I want this body to stay strong so that I can serve the Lord throughout the days He has allotted to me. Also, I feel better when I eat healthier foods. Unfortunately, most of my life I have let my feelings rule my eating habits. I often start out the day with good intentions but rarely finish well. “Will power” just flies out the window about 8 o’clock in the evening. Have you ever had this problem? Recently, there has been a shift in my thinking...

In a movie called, “The American Quilt,” one of the characters was furious at her husband and threw china tea cups at a kitchen wall, shattering the cups into pieces, leaving a huge mess on the kitchen floor. In a later scene, she picks up the pieces and glues them to the wall, making a collage. Although it didn’t speak well of her willingness to forgive, I had to appreciate her creativity. Yesterday I received an email from someone who is also taking a creative approach to her “messes.”

Have you ever cried out, “Lord, I don’t know what to do!”? Are there times when you can’t see “the forest for the trees”? One of the amazing things I am discovering about scripture is that it answers our questions, sometimes in the very same verse or adjoining passage. For example...

When it comes to all the demands, self-imposed and placed on us by others, I think most of us are under the illusion that we will “eventually coast into smoother waters.”

Nicky Gumbel describes life as a set of challenges, problems and hassles.* He says, “We sometimes imagine that if we could just deal with the immediate challenge that we are facing, all our problems would be over. But life is not like that. If we resolve one problem, another (or even several) is just around the corner. “The temptation is to see these challenges as preventing us from carrying out the ministry God has given us. In actual fact, dealing with the problems is the ministry.” The image that comes to mind is a jack-in-the-box...

Speaking for myself, there is a fine line between facing the harsh reality of a difficult situation and how it could impact the individuals or groups involved and the need to walk in faith and obedience. One example might be the dilution of the Gospel that is unraveling and splitting some denominations. When "stark reality" strikes within "my world," it would be easy to let my imagination run away with me. Led by fear, ultimately I’d end up shipwrecked on the rocks of despair or find myself a victim stranded on a deadend road. On the other hand,

This morning a reading from Oswald Chambers caught my attention. "You are Simon . . . . You shall be called Cephas" ( John 1:42 ). God writes our new name only on those places in our lives where He has erased our pride, self-sufficiency, and self-interest. Some of us have our new name written only in certain spots, like spiritual measles. And in those areas of our lives we look all right. When we are in our best spiritual mood, you would think we were the highest quality saints. But don’t dare look at us when we are not in that mood. A true disciple is one who has his new name written all over him— self-interest, pride, and self-sufficiency have been completely erased. (Utmost for His Highest, June 12) Have you ever wondered about your “new name,” what it might be? For me, a new name indicates a new identity. The old has passed away and a new life has begun. But here is what really struck me in this passage: