Beauty & Bitterness

Every season has beauty and bitterness. Moments of joy when we feel like we're who and where we're supposed to be. And moments when we're caught up in disappointment, longing, and struggle.

It takes a phenomenal amount of grace to ask the question, "Where is God?" in whatever situation or circumstance you're in. It's hard to embrace our identity as children of God sometimes. When we face the unexpected it's so easy to feel like an orphan, forgotten and abandoned, rather than a child deeply loved and cared for.

May we "walk with grace our feet and faith our eyes"* as we navigate beauty and bitterness with the hope that we are loved.

*From Derek Webb's "Faith My Eyes"

Grateful for Hope

I have to admit that more often than not I want mammon more than manna*. I'd rather have cold hard cash and self-sufficiency, rather than dependence on God and the miracle of provision at just the right moment. It's been uncomfortable being in a season of tight finances, and it's been hard to see just how much trust I've put in the dollar, rather than God.

In a moment of striking anxiety, I was reminded of a song by India.Arie, "There's Hope."

There's hope/It doesn't cost a thing to smile/You don't have to pay to laugh/You better thank God for that

There are many gifts to be grateful for, and there are many gifts that money can't buy. There are many, many generations that have accomplished God's purposes without a great amount of resources. They have been privvy to the truth that it is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, through whom all things are possible--not mammon.

*In the Old Testament of the Bible, manna is the food God miraculously provided for the people of Israel as they were in the desert on their way to the Promised Land. Check out the book of Exodus, chapter 16.