Fear is isolating. It isn't always physically isolating, but fear always reminds you of the unbreachable distance between you and what you hope for. Fear reminds you that knowing what will happen next is impossible. It assures you of that reality and then urges you to freeze because that is the only way to avoid dipping into the unknown. Fear is paralyzing. It isn't always physically paralyzing, but fear always reminds you that if you do not draw near to what you fear, then y

God will hand you the tools you need whether you noticed them or not and whether you want them or not.

During the times I just focused on God's guidance and not my mistakes or inability, I made smooth forward progress

Talking to God can feel like an overwhelming task.

God's tide--the way He moves you through this ocean of life--does not necessarily take you where you plan, expect, or want to go

You do not have to fight with what distracts you; you just have to distract it with something so it doesn't bother distracting you.

It is easy to forget God is working with all people to accomplish His plan. Although I don't intentionally forget that other people are just as much part of God's plan is I am, I do forget. Often I don't recognize others as part of what God is doing in my life because, well, it's my life. I know my friends and family are part of my life and God's plan for me, but I just don't know of the people that I've never heard of three states away. All I can know is what is within my pe

How to pray when your brain won't stop talking

Satan hates you. Whether you believe in him or not, like him or hate him, or just try to not think about him, Satan hates you.

We all have strengths and weaknesses. We all have areas in which we flourish and enjoy thriving. We also have spots that make us feel like

The adventure with God was meant for just that: experiencing God. God wanted you to go with Him so you would be with Him and grow closer to

Seconds, weeks, years slide by. All that time you keep your eyes shut to the bleak, hopeless reality. All that time you keep your mind open to God. He tells you that it's okay you see no way forward and to not focus on that. He tells you that it's okay you see no way back and to not focus on that. God says, "Just be here with Me." It's hard to just "be here", to not do or know anything about what you thought would happen. It is very hard to know so surely that God brought you

You stand here at these mountains because God chose you to sit in the front row seat, right beside Him, to view His glorious power.

When in your hopelessness you turn to God for hope, He provides. Everything may be shattered, but when you ask God for help, He starts picking up the pieces. If you weren't so hopeless and so desperate for any ounce of light, you probably wouldn't notice because God doesn't magically fix everything in one big blazing bang. Instead God lets a refraction bounce off one of the shards surrounding you. You notice it, hungry for light in your darkness, and stoop to pick it up. As y

Sometimes when you're running with God--and you just start to run well--life steps from the shadows and punches you in the gut. You lay on the ground trying to reclaim the air that has been knocked out of you. When you finally find oxygen, you sit up and lose it again. Life didn't just knock you down, it shattered everything. You're sitting in a dark field full of brokenness, hopelessness, death, and defeat that stretches beyond your range of comprehension. Seeing it, you sud

God has a mission: He wants all people to choose Him as God. Everything is part of God's mission to bring all people into and deeper into a relationship with Him. Everything that happens occurs to direct people to God. Also, every person that lives exists to join God's mission. Unlike time, events, and nature, though, people have a choice of if they will join God's mission. God gives every person the freedom to choose to work with or against Him. He does that by using everyth

I had heard God tell me to just start and go wherever He led. We started a run together. Our run through the countryside was easy, eye-opening, and lovely. When I first set eyes on the mountains, I temporarily panicked and forgot to follow God's lead. God calmed me and returned me to His side. Our run continued through the mountains. I wondered where we would end up but kept my eyes on God. The run through the mountains just started to feel natural, when suddenly, I froze. I

I feel like giving up. And I'm one of those Exodus 2- 6 Moses types who when life gets intimidating, I run and hide in the farthest reaches and hope no one and those problems I'm running from can't find me. I get scared and run away but can't really run away because the problem is really in me. Thankfully, God is still the God He was to Moses in Exodus 3. God still finds me wherever I hide and tells me what I need to hear. God tells me that He already knew this problem would

Jesus and His disciples faced a huge crowd. The disciples knew that the crowd was hungry and that they could not possibly feed the crowd. So the disciples suggested to Jesus that they hand off the enormous responsibility to numerous others actually equipped for such a task. Jesus, though, told His twelve disciples, "You give them something to eat." In my mind the disciples gawked open-mouthed at Jesus. They may have thought, "Why did Jesus answer like that? He knows there's a

We all hit roadblocks. We all find ourselves at points where nothing seems to be moving forward at all and so we wait. Waiting feels like doing nothing. When we find ourselves waiting and doing nothing, we usually either try to escape the roadblock by doing anything we can think of to spur forward movement or settle down and give up trying at all. Both approaches stem from misconceptions about waiting. Waiting is not doing nothing. Waiting is having silent, still time to cons