All In A Days Grace

  Did you ever go through something that caused you to have no words? Your tears became your language and your silence a symphony of pain. If you have ever experienced the intensity of emotions which no words can translate, you may have been also faced with the thought “I don’t even know what to pray”. Words seem cheap and useless. Trying to figure out the why to circumstances become futile. We sit in a moment of great need, yet we can’t wrap our minds around anything to ask for. I’ve spent times like this in the quiet corner of a chapel or church with a broken heart and tear-stained face. No words….at least none in a language that is speak-able. In the course of the last few weeks we have seen tragedy that shakes us to the core. Lives taken in an instant. Evil in it’s most raw form. Yet the world still spins. Another day comes and the responsibilities of life and all that it entails continues to press on. But our hearts are broken. Our spirits are weary. We have no w...

  God’s sovereignty is important, but do we even understand what that is? God’s sovereignty is His power and authority over creation. Psalm 147 tells us that God is all knowing and all powerful.  God created everything, Genesis 1:1.  With that understanding also comes the knowledge that God has offered humanity choices. We call these choices “Free-will”. These choices that we have bring us to an ability to either live into the people who God created us to be, or to live in conflict with Gods desire for us. In religious language we call that “sin”. God offers humanity choices (Deut 30:15-19) but also holds us responsible for our sins (Exodus 20:5). When my children were younger they asked a seemingly simple yet complex question; “why doesn’t God just make us love Him?” I responded to their question with a question; “Would you want me to love you because I had to love you or because I chose to love you?” Their response was immediate… “Because you wanted to! You ca...

  This past week I was part of our communities National Day of Prayer. Several Pastors from our community lead the way through prayers for family, business, education, military, government and schools. This prayer time took place at our community “Events Center”. I thought about that as I pulled into the parking lot. Praying at an “Events Center”. Prayer is an Event! The dictionary says an event is a “thing that happens, especially one of importance.” I certainly agree with that. The problem is that it doesn’t happen often enough in our busy burdened lives. I arrived early to see if they needed help with anything. The band was practicing so I walked around this beautiful building that I had never been in before. Within minutes of being there I was drawn to a back room whose walls were all windows looking out over a beautiful lake. I had been moving through my day with a heavy heart; carrying what felt like the burdens of the word; almost holding my breath in anticipation of t...