rebelling against low expectations
You scroll down on your phone or computer; sickening headlines make your gut clench. Stories of war, hatred, violence, bloodshed… the list goes on and on. You click away, your head spinning. Images flood your mind, blaring article titles seared in your brain. As much as you try to drown it out—the noise, the pain, the heartache, the shattered souls–it only intensifies. Because the hard reality is...
What do you do when you’re afraid? Do you try to hide and forget about the situation that’s making you feel this way? Do you avoid it for all it’s worth? Or do you face your fear head on and walk through it? We’re all afraid of something, and that’s okay; we’re human and it’s completely normal to have fears. However, as Christians, it’s important that we learn to push through the voice of fear...
I used to suffer from crippling fear that stole my sleep, health, and way of life. Eventually my fear became officially called anxiety disorder and OCD, but with or without a fancy label, fear was a part of my life. While much of my fear stemmed from these problems in my brain… some of it was just plain human fear. No matter which kind of fear a person faces, we all long for it to go away. Though...
Have you ever felt like you were slipping out of Christ’s grasp? That your sin and struggles would push away His love for you and dry up His mercies once and for all? It is easy for my mind to slip into thinking these untrue and unbiblical beliefs, and it’s a depressing and miserable place to be. I often need to remember that when Christ saved me from sin and death, it was not a temporary fix but...
I stared up into the darkness of the hotel room, my mind reeling. God, what did I do to deserve this? A knot of fear sat heavily in my stomach, haunting me. The fear that clenched me was something I hadn’t experienced at that level before. I was under spiritual attack. I tried to breathe deeply, mentally singing the lyrics of one of my favorite hymns. Crown Him with many crowns / The Lamb upon...
What if? Few phrases in English are so full of possibility, fear, and anticipation. What if I finish that project? What if I don’t? What if I achieve that goal? What if I fail? What if everything somehow goes right? What if something terrible happens tomorrow? Tomorrow—it’s all in the future. And with all of tomorrow’s possibilities come all its fears. Tomorrow everything could be wonderful...
There is an image that has stayed with me over the past few years. An image of a girl whose face is streaked with tears. In her hands she holds pieces of shattered glass and a tiny little arrow, all of this is red from the cuts upon her skin. It is all that is left of her compass. The girl had clutched it far too tightly within her sweaty palm, so as she stumbled on, watching for the coming dawn...
“It’s time.” I swallowed those dreaded words, trying to accept them. Process them. Shifting in a wooden chair across a small metal table from the veterinarian, I nodded, and stroked Darcy’s soft black ear. I’d just spent the last twenty minutes explaining how my sweet Mr. Darcy had rapidly declined in recent days. Kidney disease had stolen his appetite and caused his body to reject what little...
Night is supposed to be a time of rest. However, for those struggling with anxiety, insomnia, or grief, the night may be anything but restful. It can feel dark and endless. At times life itself might feel like an endless night; the narrow road feels too perilous to travel much longer, and our path grows so dim we fear we might fall. You Are Not Alone Dear friends, take heart. This darkness is not...
It’s what makes me stop watching the news for weeks at a time: Catastrophes, loss of freedom, flourishing of evil. You get the picture. It’s all over the media. Yes, of course it’s true that bad news gets more response than good news, and that gives the media reason to focus on the worst parts of the world. But even with that knowledge, it’s very easy to feel like the world is getting worse. And...
rebelling against low expectations
