Faithful Endurance
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A Follow-Up on “Is Anxiety Always Sin?”
After my post last week attempting to answer the question, “Is anxiety always a sin?” I received several follow-up questions from readers regarding Philippians 4:6–7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses… Continue reading
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Is Anxiety Always Sin?
For those who battle clinical anxiety, it can be deeply discouraging to live in a place of continually trying to surrender fears to God, yet still experiencing the same anxious feelings over and over. I spent years feeling discouraged and defeated in my faith, believing the lie that if my faith were rightly ordered, if… Continue reading
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Learning Expectancy Without Expectation
I recently listened to an interview with a woman who differentiated between having expectations of God and remaining expectant. Having expectations of God often implies anticipating a specific outcome, forcing God’s faithfulness to fit within the bounds of our own definitions. Remaining expectant, however, means focusing on who God is, trusting his character no matter… Continue reading
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Four Years
Today marks the close of four years. Four years of life without Ezra. Four years of learning to live after devastating loss. I know the Bible says that, “with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,” but for this mom who still walks the earth, I… Continue reading
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Prayer Is Never Wasted
I have been in a long season of feeling rather stuck with some aspects of prayer. Deep, heart-wrenching disappointments, answers from God that were radically different than I hoped, have left me in a place where praying with faith in certain areas has felt difficult. A pessimism has settled into my heart that, at times,… Continue reading
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Healing Is A Process
The end of this month, September 29, will mark the close of four years now without Ezra. In many ways, four years feels accurate. In other ways, it feels surreal, like it’s been half that time. I wrote last week about what healing has looked like for me; that although it has no metric, there… Continue reading
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There Is No Metric for Healing
After my post last week about my own healing which came rather quietly, I had someone reach out and ask what healing has looked like for me. I appreciated the question. It provided the opportunity for some introspection; what does it mean to actually heal after loss? It’s challenging to consider because healing doesn’t always… Continue reading
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When God’s Plans Seem Inconsistent With His Promises
I recently interacted with someone who has walked away from their faith. They have endured a long season of pain and suffering and the God they thought they knew did not respond how they had hoped. This time of testing and their disappointment over what God allowed has caused their heart toward him to harden.… Continue reading
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Drought Training
I love when God gives us real life pictures of how he often interacts with his children, training us in dependence and resilience. While there is not always a one-to-one correlation in every aspect, there are things we can glean from nature that remind us that we have a good Father, at work in our… Continue reading
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The Mercy of God When Formulas Fail
I have battled clinical anxiety with seasons of depression on and off for more than three decades. This battle has, at its roots, held some of the deepest and most discouraging times in my faith. Because of this piece of my story, I am often drawn to articles in which believers address mental health through… Continue reading