Today, 86,400 of a limited precious commodity has been deposited into our stewardship account.
Actually, we are given that gift every single day.
86,400 seconds is ours every time the sun rises, orbits, then sleeps.
And as the clock’s hands go round and round, we will have either invested today to grow exponentially for eternity, or let them tick by into the abyss of meaningless.
We will have spoken words to encourage and build, or spewed words that hurt and deflated.
The Apostle Mark understood such an investment. He penned the word “immediately” no less than ten times in his Gospel’s first chapter alone.
Carpe diem.
Seize the day.
How will you seize this day? How will you invest or waste today’s 86,400 seconds?
This morning I seized a moment to utter this prayer in my quiet time, “God, give me the wisdom to spend Your deposit wisely today.”
And as I get ready for the day, looking beyond the mirror, I’ll look into the eyes of my heart with a whispered reminder, “You are fearfully and wonderfully made by your Maker.”
What awaits me today? What awaits you?
86,400 moments to be grateful, scared, happy, sad, joyful, or wasteful — but once gone, those moments are forever out of our grasp.
To write words that will change a life.
To sing a song that will touch a heart.
To tell someone you love them.
To tell them about a Savior who loves them more than you ever could.
God has given us the gift of time that ultimately all belongs to Him.
So…
How will you spend your 86,400 stewardship deposit today?
You have gathered close and invited me across state lines and beyond our country’s borders for one simple, profound privilege: to huddle our hearts together around God’s Word.
And I’ve seen you come from all over — bags packed, faith intact, and prayers offered with the desire to go deeper with God. You did it again just a few weeks ago as we gathered at my home church to tape a new DVD Bible study series in partnership with the LWML.
And I have to tell you: You are brave.
Every. Single. One. Of. You.
You have come regardless of insecurities and difficulties, not knowing if you would belong. Hoping to fit in somewhere. And it’s as if I’m looking in a mirror.
We come with our stories searching to see how they fit into His bigger story — because that is what we have. Stories. God’s Word shining light on our lives to write stories that bleed, heal, and bless.
The lines of our stories become life-lines we share with each other when life’s storms blow hard.
Jesus often taught through stories called parables. Because people can relate to stories.
In the midst of our brave story-sharing, we discover there are a whole lot of other women out there who are a bit of a mess just like us. Messy because of those days we have to fight for joy when the enemy pulls out his arsenal. Messy because we long for eternity while living in a fallen world.
We are a mess — you and I — saved by grace. A brave mess. Brave because each day you get out of bed despite wanting to pull the covers over your head until the aches and disappointments subside.
We brave the harsh world to share our messy stories because other women need to know perfection this side of heaven is an illusion.
And as we gather around His Word, sharing our messy stories, the Spirit of God can bind our wounds. He can take away the sting of loneliness and restore joy despite the laundry heap, crying kids, bruised marriages, and frayed dreams.
Please keep getting out of bed.
We need your messy, real, authentic, unmasked stories trusting that in the hands of the Spirit, the stories become salve to the battered souls. Because as we gather in community around God’s story, the Word is made flesh in our own lives.
I need your messy story… and you need your messy story. We need people who will tell us their story, not their sermons — their thrashing, not their theology. Because we need to know that we aren’t the only messy ones.
You are BRAVE.
Your bravery makes me brave.
And together we bravely face this world armed with the Sword of the Spirit that reveals the life-altering story of a Resurrection Easter love written for all. So we suit up.
Not because we, the messy, are perfect.
But because of the perfect One who wasn’t afraid of our messes and risked it ALL to write the perfect ending to our stories.
Sometimes, I wonder if the bends and twists on this road of life can break things.
Some days, I find the courage to admit that I’m scared.
Like today.
As I read through these piles of research, scribble down notes, and whisper fragmented prayers, the outline of my next book surfaces. Sharing about perseverance despite life’s head-on collisions, steps toward healing slowly focus onto the page. Hope faithfully emerges.
But hope and healing are the last things Satan wants for me. Or you.
So he hurls roadblocks of shame and doubt, blaring distractions like sirens.
He loves to cause wrecks.
As we slip behind the wheel of life, you and I need to know this one thing to face tomorrow: Christ wins.
This journey zigzags and twists, but what keeps us from faceplanting in a ditch is just that: Christ wins.
We stagger toward Sunday morning whip-lashed, bruised, and broken — desperately needing God’s Resurrection promise. Our hearts face suffering in this fallen world — but what can scare us when we know Christ wins?
When chaos shatters tranquility and we need peace like a river, God buckles us into His indestructible Resurrection truth that, no matter how dizzy the road blurs our vision, Christ wins.
It means we can risk it all to share the hope of Salvation, because when we surrender the driver’s seat to Jesus, we can release the wheel and rest in His amazing grace.
Christ alone navigates life’s hairpin turns when life flings around corners on two wheels.
We suffer unexpected rollovers, yet we experience hope in this: Christ repurposes pain for His gain to use what we thought was wreckage for His glory.
Sharing life’s painful collisions with others could send us careening into the ditch of fear — to give up and not allow the power of His healing and forgiveness to shine bright.
Instead, His Word provides strength and assurance that this road leads precisely to one life-changing truth that buckles us in safe and sound:
In the midst of researching, writing, and commitments, the one thing gets lost in the shuffle.
This weekend I begin filming a brand new Bible study series for LWML based on John 15, “Where Love Abides.” Amidst all the preparation, I feel like I’ve taken a hard left into crazy. Just like Martha.
And I need to be reminded through His Word, “You are worried and anxious about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.”
Only one thing is necessary.
That I walk in closer communion with Christ.
That I pause life’s chaotic pace to spend time at His feet.
That I tune out the crowd noise to hear His gentle whisper.
It’s simple—to take up my cross daily and follow Him.
Some labels we like: Smart. Beautiful. Rich. Skinny. Successful.
Some not so much: Stupid. Ugly. Needy. Fat. Lacking.
But some labels go much deeper. Sometimes the adhesive leaves marks on our heart.
Scars.
Labels that cause us to lower our head. Avoid eye contact. They strike something so deep in us that we just want to run. From the stigma. From the memories.
It doesn’t matter who attached the labels. Sometimes we adhere them on ourselves. Perhaps we switch them out depending on circumstances and mood. Or attitude. Or who we’re blaming. Or who we’re mad at.
It’s easy to label others. It doesn’t cost us anything. We take a glance at the less-than-stellar aspects of someone else’s life and our mental label-makers start cranking. We hear malicious gossip so our label-maker shifts into overdrive.
But you and I wear a label that trumps the rest. Made before the beginning of time by God Himself.
LOVED.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Jeremiah 31:3
He labeled us first. A manufacturer’s stamp, so to speak. But we’ve covered it over. Allowed others to deface it with a mustache and beard.
Perhaps you’ve even tried to peel it off just because you don’t feel worthy.
So how do we deal with our labels?
1. Pray. Maybe you’re not aware the detrimental labels you adhere to yourself. Ask God to reveal them to you.
2. Identify them accurately. You may struggle with insecurity, but that’s a secondary emotion. The root is fear. Fear of not fitting in, not excelling, not being “good” enough. Accurately identifying what you’re afraid of opens doors of understanding.
3. Seek help. You may uncover serious issues under those labels that may go beyond your capability to properly work through. Seeking advice or guidance from a pastor, counselor, or support group may be in order.
4. Put on the Teflon of God’s Word. When we view ourselves through God’s love and forgiveness found in His Word — finding our peace and contentment in Him alone — we discover that other labels won’t stick for long. Filling our mind and heart to overflowing with His rich truths from Scripture leaves no room for mislabeling.
As we read through God’s transforming Word, He offers you these life-restoring labels:
As the Manchester bombing victims slowly move toward recovery, pain piles high next to the debris.
Heartbroken parents who will never again nuzzle their child’s hair. Children never again hearing a favorite bedtime story from mom. The widowed wife who rolls over to greet an empty pillow.
What can we possibly say that will make things better?
Nothing.
When unspeakable loss crumples a heart to its knees hard, deep grief doesn’t hear well. They experience devastation deafness, so to speak. I’ve been there. Felt that.
This tragedy caused me to reflect on how I initially comfort those who grieve.
Am I helping or hindering?
So often at funerals, well-intentioned people launch feel-good speeches at a grieving person about how God has a plan. How He will bring good out of their loss. That through adversity, God provides opportunity for faith to strengthen and grow.
But hold on.
There is a right time and place for those truths. But it’s not during the funeral.
After the tragedy a well-known pastor tweeted: “In deep pain, people don’t need logic, advice, encouragement, or speeches. They just need you to show up and shut up.”
Exactly.
Devastated hearts need someone to sit in the mud and cry with them. Or a strong shoulder to lean against when their knees tremble weak. Or a comforting hug expressing love in a thousand silent ways.
And lots of prayers without ceasing.
God promises to “heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)
And He is faithful to do exactly that.
So if someone in your life has suffered a deep loss, perhaps save the words for later — when lessening degrees of grief allows them to actually hear the comfort.
He was supposed to be out with the army. That’s what 2 Samuel 11:1 says about King David.
But he decided to stay home.
He took a stroll along his rooftop and saw a beautiful woman taking a bath. And the rest, as they say, is history.
David lusted. Bathsheba succumbed. David ordered Bathsheba’s husband murdered so he could marry her. They had a child.
All seemed well. But God did not forget what took place. The price of David’s sin was the life of their child.
So much collateral damage from one person who thought he was above reproach, the law, or reprimand.
Are you and I any different?
Adultery plagues our world today. Whether you have been victimized by it or know a family member or friend who has suffered a wayward spouse, infidelity affects us all.
Infidelity frays the fabric of families.
Teachers feel the effects in their classrooms when kids act out or grades slip as they process the emotional hurricane caused by their parents’ divorces.
Pastors’ and counselors’ schedules stay full as they walk the victims of adultery toward God’s healing.
I don’t use the word victim lightly. That’s what adultery feels like.
The one person to whom you opened your heart, body, and mind decided on some level that you were insufficient. Whether that insufficiency stems from within or is persuaded from without, it decimates intimacy.
Adultery ranks among the top significant hurts that are the most difficult to forgive. But that’s not news. The real news is that “victim” is not our identity when we are in Christ.
And if we are in Christ, forgiveness is not optional. Ugh. Believe me, I understand how much that stinks to hear when you’re sleeping single in a double bed.
Forgiving the deep betrayal of adultery seems impossible. How do you even begin such a daunting process?
I asked that question several times. When our emotions are screaming for vengeance, entertaining thoughts of forgiveness seems impossible. But as God’s children, we do not operate in our own strength.
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
If you’ve experienced adultery, you will feel weary and faint. But rely on HIS strength.
People question when I say, “Through gritted teeth, I asked God to help me forgive my ex-husband.” That’s because forgiveness is an intentional act of the will.
When I kept asking God to help me forgive my ex-husband instead of dwelling on his actions, God focused my thoughts on Him, not the hurt.
God sets our heart right when we focus on the Lord and surrender toxic emotions to Him. (Colossians 3:2, Proverbs 3:6).
So how do you walk toward forgiveness?
Begin with prayer. Pray for God to heal your shattered heart and mend your broken spirit. Over and over and over.
It may seem as if you’re trying to convince yourself that you’re worth such love. God says you are.
Healing takes endless hours poring through Scripture. The verses God used powerfully in my life during that time were Psalm 18:16–19.
No matter our hurt, its depth or its breadth, God rescues us. Why? Because “He delighted in me.” That’s it. No other credential necessary.
Your worth is not stained by those who hurt you.
Your lovability factor is not decreased by his or her actions.
You are completely and wholly loved by God regardless of external circumstances.
When we endure painful seasons, knowing that Christ is our strength gives purpose to our pain. God never wastes a hurt. He will use that brokenness for our good and His glory.
Forgiveness doesn’t let them off the hook. Forgiveness frees you from the narrative of hate.
Ask God to help you forgive your adulterous spouse.
Keep asking.
Not because God doesn’t hear you, but to keep your focus on Him.
Keep focused.
In Christ alone, you will find hope, healing, and the strength to forgive.
*This post is an excerpt from my new book, Forgiveness: Received From God, Extended to Others, available now.
When Demi Lovato’s album Unbroken released six years ago, the album title intrigued me.
At the time, I was struggling with anger following my divorce.
I don’t know much about Demi’s history or music, other than her incredible vocal range. I listened to the songs carefully to find out how she developed the album’s theme.
She wrote one of the songs to her dad, pleading for him to put down the alcohol and keep his selfish hands off his daughter. It broke my heart. How awful.
Suddenly the stories that circulated on the Internet over the years about Demi entering rehab for cutting and bulimia made sense. The powerless trying to regain control.
So what does this have to do with anger?
In the music video for that particular song, Demi demonstrates that she is using the power of success to overcome her painful past.
Paraphrased, Demi’s lyrics basically say, “Go ahead and try to tear me down, but I will rise from the ground like a skyscraper.”
It’s a popular mind-set in our culture that says, “If you hurt me, I don’t get angry and take revenge; I become successful to prove that you can’t hurt me anymore.”
However, such a mind-set is commonly driven by unresolved anger. We resolve to become indestructible skyscrapers, but have we dealt with what happened at the foundation?
God set the example by being slow to anger (Exodus 34:6, Psalm 30:5). Anger is a volatile emotion that must be handled with kid gloves.
One day during my divorce process, I telephoned my television cable provider to switch the service from both of our names to mine only.
The customer service representative could not seem to understand that my husband was unavailable to approve my request, even after telling her that my husband no longer lived in our home and would not be returning.
I reached the breaking point.
I shouted something about her being too deaf to hear and too dense to understand, slammed down the phone’s receiver, yanked the whole thing out of the wall, and threw it across the bedroom with all my might. It left a perfect, telephone-shaped hole in the sheet rock.
That was not a proud moment on many levels.
My over-the-top anger vividly taught me that anger can cause damage—literally. That day I asked God to remove those sharp, angry edges and begin the process of mending my heart.
I prayed for that poor customer service rep whose hair I set aflame and asked God’s forgiveness.
If you struggle with anger, it takes intentional time in prayer and God’s Word to remove it.
At one point during her video, Demi looks defiantly into the camera as if to say, “You tried to rip me down, but my sweetest revenge will be in-your-face success.”
That mind-set likely resonates with us at some level because all of us have been hurt. Whether someone betrayed a trust, shared a secret, or physically hurt us, we get it.
Sometimes we feel the need to prove that we can rise like a skyscraper above painful adversity.
But we will not find resurrection apart from Jesus.
Anger is appropriate if we’ve been hurt, but many of us take it further. Sometimes, we add coals of bitterness and resentment and stoke our anger with dreams of vengeance.
But the truth is that we never master the flame.
Fire doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t just scorch those who hurt you—it scorches you. Eventually, it will consume your life (Psalm 37:8).
Anger itself is not a sin. However, it may become sinful when excessive or prolonged.
When we hold on to anger and bitterness, the conflagration eventually destroys us from the inside out. Evil wins.
So how do we properly respond to our wounds when we are surrounded by an outrage-obsession culture?
We don’t resolve to throw telephones across the room or build skyscrapers.
We choose to forgive.
And only God gives us the strength for that hard task.
Forgiveness is the only way to extinguish the flames of anger and once again put your feet on the path toward joy.
Surrender your anger to God.
Let Him build a skyscraper of grace in your life, built on the foundation of forgiveness.
*This post is an excerpt from my new book, Forgiveness: Received from God, Extended to Others, available now.
Whether it’s first thing in the morning, or before turning in for the night, prayer can be hard on some days.
Depending on our circumstances, some days we want God to be massive and huge. We need Him to take on our bullies and win with one hand behind His back.
Other days, we need Him close enough to catch our tears and hear painful words we can only whisper.
The good news is that He is both.
Simply looking at the universe confirms that God is far bigger than we can ever grasp. We live on a little blue globe that orbits in one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the known universe.
In fact, Earth isn’t even the biggest deal in our own solar system next to Jupiter.
Yet Earth is the one privileged place where God chose to place His most precious creation: mankind.
We are the only things in ALL of creation made in His image.
Heaven’s expanse declares the size and glory of God. We cannot measure God with a tape measure, ruler or yard stick. In the economy of the universe, He is measured in light years. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second and one light year is 5.58 trillion miles.
Yet God didn’t even lift a finger to create the heavens and earth:
“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.” Psalm 33:6
Our God breathes stars and galaxies.
Yet in spite of God’s vastness, He chose to make us. Fragile, demanding, unruly, self-centered us.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made by God Himself.
Out of the seven billion people currently on Earth, no two are alike. For each person, God mapped out and wrote a brand new DNA code that had never before existed, nor will ever exist in the future. You and I are the definition of “custom made.”
Each of the 75 trillion cells in your body consists of a DNA that makes up unique, miraculous you.
You may not think that you are special, but you are a walking miracle.
God promised that for those who trust in Him, He will hold us in the palm of His hand and carry us all of the days of our life.
Even when we can’t fathom His bigness, even when we can’t feel His closeness, He promised us something incredible:
“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17
So when you’re facing your toughest day, your hardest trial, how do you know if God can hold you together?
Because He promised it.
He may not change your circumstances — He didn’t change them for Jesus — but He works in every circumstance to bring about good.
So as we pray, we are communicating with the universe-Maker who became mankind’s Savior.
A little over two weeks ago, I wrote a blog post dedicated to pastors.
The response was incredible.
Beyond the blog and Facebook comments seen by all, what touched me the most were the responses that came through phone calls, texts, private Facebook messages, and even notes through the regular mail from those who love our pastors most: their wives.
They expressed such gratitude at the encouraging words shared on the post for their husbands.
It reminded me about the challenging road our pastors’ wives walk — not only my pastors’ wives but the plethora of these amazing women whom I have had the privilege to meet and befriend all over the country.
So to each of you precious, dearly-loved, women of courageous faith:
You gracefully stand silently in the shadows while people clamor for your husband’s attention and heap praises on him (though he deserves it) when we choose not to notice you.
Please forgive us.
You live in a glass house where everything is scrutinized, yet you continue to keep those windows clean with the forgiveness extended that we often don’t deserve.
Please forgive us.
We ruthlessly police your fashion, hairstyle, hair color, size, and words like it’s our sole duty on this planet.
Please forgive us.
You sit dutifully while your husband uses your family as a sermon illustration pun again and smile while we laugh at you.
Please forgive us.
When we gripe, complain or criticize something about your husband or the church — even when it gets so nasty that there should be a smack down right in the middle of the narthex — you smile graciously and tell us that you will pass along our concerns.
Please forgive us.
You strive to walk as a disciple of Jesus, faced with the same struggles and complications that we go through, yet you’re faced with the challenge of going through many things silently.
Please forgive us.
You are often thrown into positions in the church that no one else wants to do — often areas you are not gifted in — yet you trudge faithfully ahead while we criticize every step.
Please forgive us.
And then, there’s this:
Some days, you worry the stress may kill your husband. You desperately want to be in the will of God but may be afraid of what that might require of you, your marriage and your children.
You long to help the multitudes and would lay down your very lives for the beautiful body of Christ, and that makes you very, very tired. Perhaps you wonder when your husband retires if you will ever walk into a Church again. Sometimes sheep bite.
But I want you to know, dear Pastor’s Wife:
It’s tough and can get lonely out there, but you are standing on the Rock.
You may not have anticipated this calling to be a pastor’s wife, but God has equipped you for this noble work.
God will faithfully provide helpers to you who love you wholeheartedly and find joy in praying for you and walking alongside you — whether inside or outside your Church.
Jesus can heal your wounded soul, renew your tormented mind, reconcile broken relationships, bring about forgiveness, bring hope in the midst of exhaustion, mend your broken heart, and meet your every need.
I pray for God to keep faith and hope alive in you, because WE NEED YOU.
We may not always tell you, but please know this:
You are LOVED.
You are BEAUTIFUL.
You are VALUED.
You shine God’s light RADIANTLY.
Sisters, I love you dearly and esteem you greatly. THANK YOU for your extraordinary sacrifice of praise to Christ our Savior.
Church, when was the last time you prayed for your pastor’s wife?
