Posts Tagged ‘fear’
Come On God! Do You Even Care?
When calamity hits and our world feels as though it has collapsed out from under us, fear seems to be the only sane response to the uncontrolled free-fall that overwhelms us. It is, to be sure, the default response. There may come a time when, in our despair, we cry out to God, “What’s going on here?…
Read MoreThe Last Enemy is Death
Be Safe Out There! It is my habit to avoid traveling routes, activities, and areas that present a danger. I don’t like pain, and I am not eagerly seeking ways to accelerate my own death. Not long ago I spoke with executives from a local company that had flown one of their employees to Afghanistan…
Read MoreBig Storms & Deep Waters
The Tree House Many years ago, I built an elaborate treehouse for my children. It was a large structure, complete with electricity and a railed front porch, mounted about twenty feet in the air, suspended between three large trees that grew in our back yard. I knew it would be difficult to construct the foundation…
Read MoreFinding the Courage of Our Convictions
Courage Demonstrated In Acts chapter fourteen, the apostle Paul is embarked with Barnabas on the first of his three missionary journeys. Paul and Barnabas are in the region of Lycaonia, an area in Asia Minor to the north of the Taurus Mountains. There they are preaching in the cities of Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. If…
Read MoreOf Whom Shall I Be Afraid
I have a predilection for lists and repeated ideas or phrases. For example, shortly after becoming a Christ-follower in January of 1983, I began noticing a recurring phrase in my Bible, the phrase “in Christ.” Intrigued, I began keeping a list of all the places I found that phrase. (You can download this list from…
Read MoreSane in the Midst of the Storm
Donning a look of deep concern, my counselor fixed his eyes on mine and said, “With everything you have been through over the past two years, I am amazed that you are still sane.” Sometimes life astonishes us with its ability to inflict pain. During a keynote address at the 2019 West Coast Christian Writers…
Read MoreYou Can Walk Confidently Through Life
If you have spent any time at all in these blog postings, you know that Alean and I have a cat, though we often refer to him as “It” or “The Pest.” “Did you feed it?” “I would get up and get you a glass of water, but I have ‘this’ on my lap.” His…
Read MoreJesus on Faith
I recently received a private note from a Shades of Gray reader who is going through a particularly challenging time. When such times are introduced into our lives, we can easily feel overwhelmed, bewildered, devoid of answers to an overflow of questions. We may doubt God, scream at God, cry out to God, or maybe…
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