God's Timing - Abigail Skelton

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. 2 Peter 3:9 NIV

Old adages like “A penny lost is a penny found” and “No wind blows that doesn’t do someone some good” can inspire us to stay positive for a few moments. But what if this brand of hopeful thinking is true? What if every unexpected twist in our lives is an opportunity to bless others and glorify God while we wait for our turn to find the penny?

God’s sense of timing is incredible. We see this repeatedly in the Scripture. We could argue that the entire Bible is a lesson on God’s impeccable timing. Yet, trusting God with the timing of events in our lives is often an arduous lesson. Especially when situations seem bleak.

The Bible is filled with poetic references to God directing our steps. A couple of examples are “Surely you will count my steps” (Job 14:16 NIV) and “He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6 NIV). We all make many choices each day, often based on specific people or situations around us. Sometimes, I even amuse myself by contemplating how strange life would be if God’s timing were different. 

If I hadn’t started school the year that I did, I wouldn’t have graduated from college before the pandemic. And if I hadn’t graduated when I did, I wouldn’t have gone overseas to do mission work. And if I hadn’t gone overseas, I wouldn’t have met the people I did. Therefore, my current life would look completely different.

Studying the timing of events in our lives is a great way to remind ourselves of God’s sovereignty. Even trying situations, like a lost job or a reluctant move, lead us into interactions with new coworkers or neighbors who need to hear about the hope we have in Jesus. 

Although unexpected circumstances may not always be pleasant, the ripple effect of our actions is often greater than we think, proving that God is doing immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. And don’t worry. God stated that he’s not slow in keeping his promises. He will happily orchestrate the timing of our lives in accordance with the grand story he’s writing.

Trust God’s timing. He will never let you down. 

Abigail Skelton is from beautiful Southern Oregon, where she grew up with an avid love for Jesus, chocolate, and writing. She has lived in three countries while involved in missionary work and frequently travels and studies foreign languages. You can connect with Abigail on her website: https://abigailskelton.com.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

 

 

When the Game Plan Changes - Martin Wiles

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 NLT

The week had been slow, but I’d been in full-time ministry long enough to know things could change in a second. And they did.

Besides my regular schedule, the only thing I had planned for the next day was to pray with our church mission team at 6 a.m. They were leaving for Myrtle Beach, SC. Then I received a call from a church member. Her husband would have surgery at 7 a.m. On the way to church that evening, one of my wife’s brothers called. He was on the list to receive a heart transplant and had just left the doctor’s office. They wanted him at MUSC in Charleston, SC, at 4 p.m. the next day. He had no one to take him. Without the heart, his days were numbered.

Suddenly, my game plan changed—and not only for us but also for our two children. Since my wife was caring for our grandchildren, a change in our game plan meant a change in our son’s and daughter’s plans as well. They had no dependable backup plan, so a last-minute call from us could put them in a quandary. But they knew I was on call 24/7. Things could change in a moment.

I like to initiate change—when it’s needed and when the result will entail a helpful alteration—but I don’t like it thrust upon me. I’m a creature of habit, and this change meant getting up two hours earlier as well as a four-hour drive to the hospital—and to an area of the city I dislike. We’d be lucky to get home by midnight—a long day. And I’d have to work from the car.

Trusting in the Lord with all our hearts and depending on him rather than our understanding isn’t easy—or always convenient. A part of following him means making ourselves available to opportunities he sends—even when they change the game plan. Our mission team needed prayer, and so did the man having surgery. My wife’s brother also needed our help. Three opportunities. Three chances to serve.

When God changes your game plan, trust He has a reason. Then enjoy the chance he’s giving you to serve.

Father, although I don’t enjoy changes thrust upon me, help me trust that you have a reason.  

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Beefy Macaroni and Cheese

 

Ingredients

1 POUND GROUND BEEF

1 ONION (DICED)

1 CAN ROTEL

1 CAN TOMATO PASTE

1 ½ TEASPOON CHILI POWDER

SALT/PEPPER

¼ CUP WATER

1 ½ TEASPOON SUGAR

8 OUNCES MACARONI NOODLES (COOKED AND DRAINED)

Directions

BROWN MEAT AND DRAIN.

ADD ALL INGREDIENTS TO MEAT EXCEPT CHEESE AND NOODLES.

COOK ON MEDIUM HEAT FOR 30 MINUTES OR UNTIL SAUCE THICKENS. 

STIR IN MACARONI NOODLES AND TOP WITH CHEESE.

BAKE IN A GREASED CASSEROLE DISH AT 350 DEGREES UNTIL THE CHEESE IS MELTED.

(Photo courtesy of isinginthekitchen.com)

I invite you to try my book A Whisper in the Woods: Quiet Escapes in a Noisy World. No one escapes life's hurts, but quiet places help us regain our perspective. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Series: The Things We Say - Forgive and Forget - Martin Wiles

But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:15 NLT

If we still remember, we haven’t forgiven. The philosophy behind the phrase, forgive and forget.

After seventeen years—nineteen if you count the dating part--Sarah called it quits. Walked out and left her husband and two kids. She couldn’t explain why she did it, but she did. Maybe it was because she never wanted to be a preacher’s wife in the first place. She had endured for sixteen of their seventeen years together. That seemed more than fair. Now the lifestyle was getting to her. She had wild oats to sow that she’d never had a chance to sow before.

John, her husband, was bitter. He couldn’t believe she would do what she had done. Leave it all—everything they had built together. And leave him with the bills and the kids. He knew what the Bible said about forgiveness—and forgave her. Forgetting was another story. Occasionally, one of his church members would remind him if he didn’t forget he hadn’t forgiven. He wondered how you could consciously forget something.

The Bible, and Jesus particularly, has a lot to say about forgiveness. One thing it doesn’t say is that we have to forget what others have done to us as a part of the forgiveness act. Forgiveness is releasing someone from a debt they owe because of a sin they have committed against me. Period. Forgetting is impossible unless we experience brain damage or contract a brain disease such as dementia or Alzheimer’s.

What we can and must do is stop dwelling on the infraction. In our own power, we can’t even accomplish this, but God’s power in us can. John eventually moved beyond what Sarah had done to him and the family. He never forgot it because he couldn’t, but he no longer sought revenge. Neither did he stew over the situation all the time.

We know we’ve forgiven when we don’t dwell on the injury, when we’re not out for revenge, when we can interact with the person who has offended us if we must, and when we don’t get angry when we think about the injustice committed. We’ll never forget others’ wounds against us, but we can forgive and move on.

Stop trying to forget the infractions others have committed against you. Just forgive.

Father, as you have forgiven me, enable me to forgive others who harm me in various ways.

I invite you to try my book A Whisper in the Woods: Quiet Escapes in a Noisy World. No one escapes life's hurts, but quiet places help us regain our perspective. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Spiritually Anorexic - Anita van der Elst

You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. Hebrews 5:12 NLT

Food is not something I’ve ever avoided, since my waistline amply advertises. But neither do I want to become spiritually anorexic. 

Church potlucks (especially the dessert table), family and holiday feasts, favorite restaurants, and the snack aisle at the grocery store all get my hearty approval and participation. I don’t drink milk, but I do indulge in its ice cream form. It goes down so easily, but without much nutritional benefit. Occasionally, I’ve gone the less-is-more route to gain better health, but still enjoyed good food while doing so.

I’ve noticed, however, that after being on one of those portion-controlled episodes, and I try to eat more, somehow, I just can’t shovel in as much as I used to. My stomach has shrunk.

A spiritual realization also occurred to me. In not attending church services for long stretches of time, I limit myself from receiving food that feeds my spirit. No wonder my faith falters and I feel weak. I’ve become spiritually anorexic. 

Once I’m back again and hearing solid teaching from God’s word, I find that it takes me a while to fully comprehend the messages. Staying away for months on end results in my spiritual stomach shrinking in size with no room to process. Thankfully, little by little, I can once again chew the hearty biblical meat offered in the sermons. 

Don’t limit your solid spiritual meals. Think of ways to get back on a healthier diet that feeds your soul.

Anita van der Elst finds joy in creating with words, believing God gifted her with the desire to do so. Married to her best friend, Edward, since 1976, she is a proud mom of four adult children and Oma to three of the most delightful grandchildren ever. Other joys in her life include bringing beauty to Facebook through photos she takes on her iPhone, exploring the state parks in the PNW, facilitating a small group of women, and participating in a Bible study. 

I invite you to try my newest book, Grits, Grace, and Grands, in eBook or paperback. If you are a grandparent or just want to hear grandparent stories, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

 

 

Series: The Things We Say - God Don’t Like Ugly - Martin Wiles

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself. 1Corinthians 6:19 NLT

Hearing about ugly episodes is a regular part of any day, but God don’t like ugly.

The early settlers along the James River—in what would become the United States of America—had some ugly in them, although they were responsible for the founding of one of the greatest nations in the world. Although the Native Americans helped them survive, the settlers fought with them and eventually pushed them from their land. Soon, slavery made its ugly entrance into the young colonies. Africans were imported by the millions and crowded in squalid conditions on ships where many died before they ever reached the colonies. As the colonies grew into a country and westward expansion occurred, slavery increased, and so did the mistreatment of other Native Americans.

Ugly didn’t cease once America was finalized with fifty states. Nor is it confined to America. I listen to ugly every day when I hear about murders, rapes, terrorist acts, natural disasters, shootings, and other acts of unkindness. I sometimes wonder where the pretty is.

Since our bodies are temples of God’s Spirit, they should be pretty places. I’ve never considered myself handsome. I can’t remember girls pining to date me when I was in high school. I had somewhat of an ugly complex. But regardless of how I appear on the outside, my inside can be handsome.

Sin makes us ugly. It’s easy to make light of sin by redefining it, calling it something else, or making it appear less tragic than it is. No matter what we do with it, God still sees it as ugly. Sin is behind the ugly we hear about and see each day. The absence of sin would result in the annihilation of all that’s bad in our world.

The only way we can keep our temples clean is to accept God’s solution for ugly: forgiveness. If ugly will separate us eternally from God, then we better fix it. Accepting what Christ has done on Calvary’s cross allows his righteousness to be credited to our account. Then we’re not ugly in God’s sight anymore. With the help of God’s Spirit indwelling us, our pretty inside will manifest itself outwardly in kind words and admirable actions, making the world a better place.

Let God transform your ugly to beauty.

Father, thank you for the beautiful new nature you offer us through Jesus Christ.

I invite you to try my book A Whisper in the Woods: Quiet Escapes in a Noisy World. No one escapes life's hurts, but quiet places help us regain our perspective. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Bird Dog

Ingredients

FRIED CHICKEN STRIPS (COOKED)

HOT DOG BUNS

BACON SLICES (COOKED)

SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE 

HONEY MUSTARD DRESSING

Directions

PLACE CHICKEN IN BUNS. 

ADD BACON AND CHEESE.

DRIZZLE HONEY MUSTARD. 

I invite you to try my book A Whisper in the Woods: Quiet Escapes in a Noisy World. No one escapes life's hurts, but quiet places help us regain our perspective. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.