Good and Bad Times

"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this:

God has made the one as well as the other.  Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future."

Ecclesiastes 7:14

Good times!  They are wonderful, aren’t they?  Good times can be a meal together with family and friends.  Good times can be peace and relaxation.  Simple times and simple things can be good times.  Good times can also be set aside for the larger ones – a wedding, a baptism, new additions to the family, new job opportunities.  Good times feel as if we are sitting on top of the world.  Even in the simplest moments of good times, we can sit back and feel blessed.   Hopefully, we spend a few minutes thanking the Almighty One who provided those good moments for us, our Dear Lord.  I can’t always say that God is the first one I turn to during those good times.  My thoughts may be more like, “Look at this great meal I made for my family” versus thanking God for bringing us all together.  I may say, “Look how hard I’ve worked for this new position in my career” versus thanking God for bringing the opportunity to me.  May we remember to turn our thoughts and hearts to our Lord during blessed times.  He truly does provide for us.

Bad times?  They are a bit more difficult to swallow.  Life is going along, and then tough times happen – maybe they are disagreements among family members.  Maybe peace has been replaced with chaos.  Maybe the tough times are larger such as health concerns, loss of job, or loss of loved ones.  I don’t know about you, but God seems to get my attention a lot quicker during tough times than good times.  I may cry out, “Lord, why are you letting this happen?” or “Lord, do I deserve this bad thing to be happening to me?”  I quickly turn to God and am more apt to ask those questions.

It is time to turn to the facts.  God wants our attention – ALL OF THE TIME.  God wants us to give him glory when things are going well, the good times.  On those days when life seems to be wonderful and blessed, we need to turn our thoughts and hearts to the only One who provides all of that for us, God.  It is He who gives us all that we need.  Our future is in His hands. 

Dear friend, remember this also, God is there for us during tough times.  He wants us to come to him for guidance and comfort during the bad times.  We don’t have the control of this life that we think we do.  God is fully in control.  He is the one that can provide us insight and hope.  He is the one that can provide us courage to see another day.  During tough times, we may be apt to say, “Why did God let that happen?”  We truly may never know the answer to that question.  It is not ours to know that answer.  Trust that our Lord and Savior knows the answer, and whatever the answer, it is the right one.

We don’t know the future.  The only One who truly knows the future is God.  It is right to give Him thanks and praise – EVERY day, the good days and the not so good days.  It is right to go to Him in EVERY circumstance, the blessing, and the sorrow.  It is right to call upon Him with your heart and let him hear your praise and your agony.  He wants you to yield to Him.  He knows our future – we don’t.  Let us have simple faith to know that the plan He has for us is right and good. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for providing good and bad times.  May we always go to you in every situation, knowing that you know our future and what is best for us.  May our faith be bold to accept all you bring our way.  In your loving name we pray.  Amen!

 

Moving Past Doubt

"Be Strong & Courageous, Do Not Be Afraid"

Joshua 1:9

 

After weeks and months of working at a pace that I have never worked before, it hit me like a ton of bricks.  Whether it was in my personal life or professional life, I was making decisions, developing plans, executing at a high level and continued to keep tempo with the world around me.  Every morning I woke up with the well-oiled plan, ready to go.  What was it that hit me?  Exhaustion?  No.  I was tired but was able to keep moving.  Slowing down?  Not that either – still moving quickly. 

I sat down last week and looked at my husband.  He could tell that I was disturbed.  As I was talking things over with him, it hit me – doubt!  Through all the “moving and shaking” I was doing between work and home, trying to keep it all together, trying to ensure the ball did not get dropped, I found something very destructive was setting in – doubt.  As I spent time reflecting on what part of my life felt like this – I realized it was ALL of it.  Doubt at work; was I setting direction correctly, was I executing all the things that needed to be done, was it being done at the level I had set for myself.  Doubt at home; was I being the wife I wanted to be for my husband, was I available for my children when they needed me, was I helping my mom like I wanted to.  I was doubting myself in every facet of my life.  Doubted my ability to eat healthy, doubted my ability to write this blog = a good old-fashioned dose of doubt.

Have you ever been there?  A loss of self-confidence?  A hesitation to move forward.  Suspicion of your decision-making ability.  I am sure we have all felt those times when we were a bit ‘lost in life’.  Maybe you are there with me now!  Guess who is there with us right now – our Dear Lord.  He walks each of our steps with us, knowing that there are these times when we need to hear from him, helping us to realize some particularly important truths

• Afraid to take the next step?  “Be strong & courageous, do not be afraid.” (Joshua 1:9)
• Loss of self-confidence?  “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”  (Jeremiah 17:7)
• No strength?  “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  (Isaiah 41:10)

Friends, our blessed savior knows what is in our hearts and he gives to us like no other.  We need to open our eyes and remember that we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’.  He has created each of us just as we are supposed to be.  Remember, God is not one to make mistakes!  Believe that He has done good work in you and will continue to see that good work to fruition.  Have faith, simple faith, that he will guide you and provide the path for you.

So, when that doubt creeps in, step back in prayer.  Read from the Bible all the goodness God provides for us.  Then take that step out of doubt and into the light of your world.  That world is gracious and merciful – full of love from our provider.  Take off the cloak of doubt and put on the coat of assurance – blessed assurance that God is walking with you.

Heavenly Father, thank you for turning my doubt into confidence, the confidence that comes in walking with you.  Bless my life and bring to me all that I need to build me up.  Remind me to hold my head high in assurance that you are with me, showering me with your love.  In your holy name I pray, Amen.

Faith and Love

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

Galatians 5:6

Eight Years!  Many things can happen in the span of eight years.  Eight years ago, saw the iPhone 5 (I am not even sure what model we are on now), Lyft was born (yes, long before Uber), and Snapchat was shared with the world.  Eight years ago, also saw the Boston Marathon bombing, which rocked our country, and certainly us here in New England.

Eight years ago, is when I began this blog.  As part of an online Bible study I had started, they suggested sharing thoughts through blogging.  Over 400 posts later, I continue to ask God to bless our time together each week.  Today, I thought I would share that first Bible verse from eight years ago.  Galatians is one of my favorite books in the Bible, and this verse is where I received the inspiration for Simple Faith Today.  As the years have passed, this verse continues to speak to me and our faith in Jesus. 

Simply put, Jesus’ whole essence is love.  He came to earth, knowing exactly what was going to happen 33 years later.  He came to earth, to show us how to treat each other.  He came to earth, simply, to show us love.  Jesus’ time here was filled with awe and wonder, from his humble beginning to his message of faith in him, to his miracles that provided hope, to his gift of his life for our salvation.  Every step of his journey, then and now, is an expression of love.

Now it is our turn, my friends. It is our turn to be his feet on earth today.  It may be hard to have faith every day.  Difficult situations happen.  Sadness is around us.  There are days when hope and miracles seem to be far away.  It is in those days where our faith needs to be strongest.  It is in those days that we find this simple man who graced our earth over 2000 years ago is still with us today.  Many experiences happen that we cannot explain – both good and bad.  They are meant not to be explained.  Our minds cannot handle all that God is.  It is our faith that holds us close to Jesus.  It is the simple faith that we know Jesus knows all, and one day, when we meet him face to face in paradise, our questions will be answered and the simple faith we have had will be realized.

Until that day, may we show the world our faith through expressions of love – kindness to those we know and those we do not know, respect for every person, reaching out to help, praying for those in need, and sharing faith with others.  May we raise our heads each morning, focused on the expressions of love we can share that day.  May we see Jesus in each step we take.  Give thanks, show love, and have simple faith.  Jesus is counting on us!

Dearest Jesus, your love is so great it is hard to comprehend.  All that you have given to us and continue to bless us with is difficult to wrap our head around.  Yet, all you ask from us is to have faith in you.  All you want from us is for us to believe – believe your death was for our life, believe your love can be shared, and believe that we will see you in paradise.  Let us have simple faith that will shine to others.  Amen!

 

Gift of Salvation

 

Happy Easter All!   I pray this day found all of you worshipping the One who fought sin for us as well as time spent with family.  During these past few weeks of Lent, we focused on some of the gifts that Jesus gave us.  The last, and probably the most important gift, is the one for today, salvation!  Grace, mercy, peace, love, righteousness and forgiveness are incredible and generous gifts from Jesus.  Yet, all of them culminate to the greatest gift – an eternal life with Jesus.

When I think about what Jesus did for me during Holy Week, from his triumphant journey into Jerusalem, to his walk to Golgotha, and then his victorious rising from the tomb, I become so humbled.  Jesus’ life, from being born in Bethlehem to dying on the cross, was all in response to me!  It was all in response to you!  Response to what?  My sinful ways, my sinful nature.  During Lent, I typically reflect upon my life and my horrible sins. 

Those large sins usually are the first to my mind – hurting loved ones, making wrong choices, priorities that were not correct – all yielding sins that I deeply remember.  Yet, those are not the only sins Jesus died for.  He died for those sins that are pesky – the ones I do repeatedly (they are just little sins, right?).  He died for the sins that I am aware of and those that do not even come up on my radar screen.   The guilt of my sinful nature is great; it weighs heavy on my heart.  For I know what I deserve for those sins – the large ones and the pesky ones.  I Deserve Death!  I deserve to be on the cross, hanging with the thieves.  I deserve life in hell.  As our verse for today says, “the wages of sin is death.”  Are your sins like that?  Do they fill you with guilt and heartache?  I have good news for you!

Our death was taken by Jesus.  Our sins He took from us.  Jesus came to us so we could be saved by Him.

The wonderful gift of salvation could only be given by Jesus.  Nobody else could have given us this gift – the gift we did not deserve.  There has been nothing I have done in my life to justify Jesus rising from the tomb for me.  Nothing!  Yet, he rose for me, for my salvation.  By Jesus rising from the tomb, I now will be able to see Him, face to face, in paradise.  That is not because of MY works, but by Jesus’ death.  He has given me salvation and eternal life.  The hope that comes with both those things is what brings me to the foot of the cross, to thank Him and let Him know that I love Him for what he did for me.

As Easter 2021 passes, I pray that you spend time thanking Jesus – for his gifts of grace, mercy, peace, love, righteousness, forgiveness and most importantly, salvation.  Thank Him for the hope he has provided us, knowing that we will have eternal life with Him.  Thank Him for wiping our sins away so that we can be pure as snow.  The gift of salvation is for every person.  If you know someone who does not know Jesus, give that person the gift of salvation – introduce them to Jesus.  One day, they may share this precious gift with others.  Happy Easter!

Dearest Jesus, you have provided me with so many wonderful gifts.  Yet, the gift of salvation and eternal life with you is the greatest.  Through this gift, I know my sins have been forgiven and I will see you one day in paradise.  Until that day, please stand beside me and provide me the knowledge of this gift – forgiveness of my sins and hope in the life I will one day have with you.  Amen