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A Thanksgiving Reflection

Keep on giving your thanks to God, for he is so good! His constant, tender love lasts forever! Psalm 118:1 TPT 2020—what can I say?  It’s been unlike any year we’ve lived through.  It’s been challenging on multiple fronts.  It’s been revelatory.  It’s been what I’d term a “good hard year.”  Good because it has allowed us to see and experience things that have opened our eyes to some truths about ourselves, our world, our faith, our God. It has taught us resilience and resourcefulness.  It's forced us to rethink how we do life, caused us to readjust and, in some cases, hit the reset button.  It's caused many of us to slow down and reexamine the choices we've made. It's caused us to appreciate life and value time more. It's caused us to look around and see what matters most. It's caused many to see if what they profess to believe is what they live out in real time. Personally,  it has anchored me more deeply, tethered more tightly to the One Who is my life. As I think about, it's been a hard year for those same reasons.  It's just our nature to resist change—even when it's necessary. This Thanksgiving I am filled with gratitude for both the good and the hard. Today, as I reflect on all I have to be grateful for, I find myself pondering this thought posed by the psalmist: What if God had not been on our side?  (Psalm 124:1a TPT) It’s…

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Strength in the Limp

It was the darkest, loneliest night of his life. Fear and distress gripped him. What was to become of him? Would the God of his grandfather and father, the God who had blessed him at Bethel, the God who had caused him to prosper in Padam Aram, the God who had led him back home forsake him now? He remembered the last time he had seen his brother, and though it had been twenty years, the image was forever etched in his mind—the anger, the hatred, the threats. He had fled, under the advice of his mother, for fear of his life. Now there was no place to hide. Would this be it? He'd prayed. Had God heard? He’d divided his family into two groups for their safety. He’d even sent gifts to his brother. All his human resources were spent. Was it enough to spare him or was he to suffer for past deeds? He was tired. All of life had been a struggle. All he had ever wanted was God and the blessing He’d promised. What was wrong with that? Perhaps his methods for obtaining it had been questionable, but who could fault him for desiring God? Suddenly out of the darkness emerges the silhouette of a man. He stealthily approaches. Who is it? Someone sent to kill him in the night? A robber coming to take his goods? He wrestled, pitting all his strength against this man. That’s all he had ever known—wrestling. He’d wrestled in…

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