The Explanation
Yesterday was a professional development day at work.
One of the presenters gave us an exercise to do using AI.
Staff was asked to use ChatGTP, Gemini or any other AI platform to find the explanation of why the earth has seasons.
Depending on the grade level and the platform you chose, answers varied.
But answers were immediate.
AI eliminated much of the work for us.
We all got an explanation.
Whether you are a fan of AI or not, it is easy to see how you can be attracted to what it brings.
Because many times that is what we are searching for: an explanation.
Why did this happen?
How could this have happened?
I need to understand.
I am often guilty of this.
Wanting an explanation right away to the things that are happening around me or to the people I love.
Scripture tells us there are things on earth that we will never understand.
Answers we will never get, no matter how many times we consult with technology or other people.
Surely in a world that is filled with so much information, we should be able to have things make sense.
But this is where the work comes in.
Our work is to trust God and His promises.
To trust that He has a plan, even when we can’t see it.
To trust that He has a reason, even if we don’t hear His explanation.
To trust that He never leaves us, even in hard and challenging circumstances.
To trust that He is steady and unchanging, even when everything around us feels shaky and uncertain.
Trust means being ok with not having all the answers, because I know the One who does.
Maybe AI can explain why the earth has seasons, but it will
never help others see God’s love.
That is the work of His children.
Christ’s death on the cross is the only answer we will ever need to explain the depths of our Heavenly Father’s love.
Go and share His love today.
“When I determined to load up on wisdom and examine everything taking place on earth, I realized that if you keep your eyes open day and night without even blinking, you’ll still never figure out the meaning of what God is doing on this earth. Search as hard as you like, you’re not going to make sense of it. No matter how smart you are, you won’t get to the bottom of it.”
Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 MSG
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Unchanging
The drive was breathtaking.
Shades of orange, red and gold burst forth from the line of trees.
Fall is my favorite time of year.
My husband and I will be married 28 years this month.
But October is also when we lost both of our fathers.
A time of year that has held some of the most wonderful and the most difficult moments in my life.
How ironic it is to witness such beauty while remembering such pain.
A reminder that we will all experience good times and bad.
Love and loss.
Joy and sorrow.
But as the leaves change colors, I am also reminded of the promise that there is One who never changes.
The One who has been by my side in every season.
The One who is with you in every season, too.
Friends, His love for us never changes.
My prayer is that as you start this week, you hold onto that promise.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 ESV
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Focus
Sometimes it’s hard to turn off the thoughts in our minds that steam roll ahead at full speed before they completely derail our whole day.
And even with my praise music on and the beautiful beach scene in front of me on the treadmill, my thoughts were already on a collision course this morning.
Not the way I intended to start my day.
But I could not shift my focus, even after a mile and a half.
So I told my husband I would meet him in the car and went to open my Bible app.
Meditating on His Word is far better than stewing in our own.
Thinking about the best, not the worst.
Taking in the beauty around me.
Listing things to be thankful for.
My day had started spending time with my husband.
Him stopping to get me coffee and check my tire pressure before leaving on a trip this afternoon.
It’s easy to lose sight about what’s in front of us when we’re caught up in our own thoughts.
Friends, I don’t know how your day began.
But if you are starting your day off on shaky ground like me, pause and meditate on this verse.
Focus on the good in front of you.
Even if it’s a hot cup of coffee.
“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into His most excellent harmonies.”
Philippians 4:8-9 MSG
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In the Morning
Somedays we wake up excited about what the new day will bring our way.
Others, we wake up exhausted before we even get out of bed.
But His love for us is never exhausted.
Each morning greets us with His new mercies.
Before you get out of bed and have your coffee or tea, may He fill your cup with His hope and love.
Friends, whatever kind of morning you are having, His portion is enough to carry you through today.
Blessings in heaps!
“YAHWEH’s tender mercies have no end, and the kindness of his endless love is never exhausted. New, fresh mercies greet me with every sunrise. So wonderfully great is Your faithfulness! I tell my soul, “YAHWEH is my abundant portion. I need nothing more. So, I will put all my hope in Him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24 TPT
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Like a Child
It doesn’t matter how old I get.
The sight of a merry go round instantly brings me back to my childhood.
From choosing my horse to listening to the organ music,
I am magically turned back into a little girl.Even though there was no real destination on the carousel, the journey on that ride felt like you were in another world.
Maybe it was the childlike wonder of it all.
There is a destination that requires that same childlike thinking.
Heaven.
God tells us in His word that whoever humbles himself to become like a child will enter His gates.
That doesn’t mean we have to become children again, but become like a child.
Teachable.
Humble.
Full of awe and wonder.
As adults, it’s easy to believe we know what’s best.
That we know better than God.
As we grow into adults, we change our way of thinking.
It’s easy to drift from that childlike faith.
But no matter how old we get, our Heavenly Father reminds us we are all children.
His children.
My prayer for you today is that you see Him with the awe and wonder of a child.
“Jesus called a little one to his side and said to them, “Learn this well: Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable like a little child, you will never be able to enter in. Whoever continually humbles himself to become like this little child is the greatest one in heaven’s kingdom realm.”
Matthew 18:2-4 TPT
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The Beauty Ahead
Right lane closed ahead.
I was too far now to turn around and find another route.
Going through the construction zone was the only option.
What was being built would eventually make getting to my final destination easier.
But for now, it looked like everything had been torn apart.
And then there was the wait.
Before my thoughts could allow me to become upset with the extra time tacked onto my schedule, out of the corner of my eye I saw a butterfly.
A beautiful sight among all the concrete and machinery.
An incredible reminder that we can find beauty even when the path is not easy.
Maybe we are being rerouted or rebuilt.
The time might be longer than expected.
But regardless of the path, we can always find beauty as God leads us along the way.
Going through the construction zones in our lives won’t last forever.
But the beauty ahead that we can’t see now will.
Until then, I am grateful for the reminders that He provides that there is beauty right where we are.
We just need to look for it.
“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.”
2 Corinthians 4:16, 18 MSG
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His Promises
I did not need to look out the window to know it was raining.
The sound of the water furiously hitting the ground made it abundantly clear.
The thought of going outside was less than appealing.
Almost as if the rain had rinsed away my motivation.
But life keeps moving forward, storms or not.
Similar to when the storms of life hit, I would much rather curl up inside and put the world on hold.
Sometimes it’s easy to believe when the storms come, that God has forgotten us.
But He sends us reminders that He has not forgotten us or His promise to His people.
As I emerged outside when the rain had finally stopped, there was a full and vibrant rainbow greeting me.
A sign of His promises and His presence.
Friends, I don’t know what storm you are facing today.
You might think that God has forgotten you and that the storm will never end.
But take heart.
He is with you always, rain or shine.
You are never alone.
“And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”
Genesis 9:12-13 NIV
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No Words Necessary
There are times that words fail us.
Like staring at a blank page and not knowing where to start.
Maybe it’s a personal prayer or a pleading for someone you love.
Maybe saying the words out loud feels too painful.
And yet God knows our thoughts without us ever speaking a single word.
The Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf, a companion walking with us in our time of need.
An interpreter of our hearts, making sense of our wordless groans.
What a comfort it is to be heard even without speaking.
How great His love is for us.
“And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words.”
Romans 8:26 TPT
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Standing Strong When You Are Falling Apart
“ I am always aware of the Lord’s presence;
He is near, and nothing can shake me
And so I am thankful and glad,
and I feel completely secure.” Psalm 16:8-9 (GNT)The feeling was hard to put into words.
What once stood strong was falling apart.
As I watched the news, there was a sense of grief as I saw how much the church I grew up in had deteriorated.
Bricks were coming loose.
The church was literally falling apart.
If I close my eyes, I can picture myself walking through the wooden doors.
On the right, the nursery where I learned that famous rhyme:
“Here is the church,
And here is the steeple.
Open the doors,
And see all the people.”Straight ahead, the lower sanctuary where my Grandma would attend services once a month because she could not climb the winding staircase for worship each week.
Classrooms for all ages behind the accordion doors that separated the teens from the elders.
The window to the kitchen that went up when classes ended to reveal red punch, black coffee and sugar wafers for all to enjoy.
The narrow back stairwell that was used by the pastor and the acolyte.
So many memories.
This is where my faith was born.
Not the Steeple, But the People
As easily as I can walk through the church in my mind, I know it was not the building that shaped my faith.
It was the people in it.
Aunt Betty in the nursery.
Mrs. Heffelfinger in the primary class.
Mrs Peiffer the choir director.
Chuck, Regina and Kevin, my youth leaders.
And my pastor, Reverend Snyder, who took me through confirmation and shared the gospel so articulately without words by the humble life he led.
This was the great cloud of witnesses who shared their faith with me.
It is the foundation laid by His people that has kept me standing strong when I have felt like falling apart over the years.
Because they pointed me to Him, I know that I am never alone.
Even when things around me are crumbling, like that old church building, I know that I am secure because He has me.
As a wife and a mother, this foundation has grounded me in my moments of doubt and insecurity.
Through a cancer diagnosis, the death of my parents, and the countless other changes since I walked through the doors of that church.
He is the one thing that He remained the same.
I can look back and am aware that His presence has always been with me.
Laying a Foundation for the Next Generation
My deepest prayer is that my children know this security as well.
The one only He can provide.
That they are always aware of His presence.
I have prayed for them to have an Aunt Betty and Reverend Snyder in their lives.
The ones who could help shape their faith and build a firm foundation, so that they will be able to stand strong, even when they feel like falling apart.
And one day, if the church that they grew up in is no longer standing, I pray they will be able to thank God for the people He put into their path that pointed them to Him.
I may never be able to sit in that old beautiful church building again.
But wherever I am, I know that I can always sit in His presence.
Friends, you can, too.
He is always near.
Who are the people of faith that have helped build your foundation, either as a child or an adult?
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Virtually Active
Today I am walking along the NaPali Coast in Kauai.
Virtually.
The treadmill at the gym gives me the options of walking all over the world.
From Kauai to France.
All different types of terrain.
People on their journey going at different paces.
I tend to revisit the same path because it’s what I’m comfortable with as I am walking.
But I need to get out of my comfort zone.
Using Virtual Active is a great reminder that I need to be virtually active in my faith walk.
It’s easy to get so comfortable on my own path, I forget others do not always have the same view.
They might be moving at a different pace.
It’s easy to judge others who are not on the same path as us.
We all come from different circumstances and have different life experiences.
Empathy is being able to put yourself in another’s shoes to understand the path that they are walking.
Without judgement.
Christ came from heaven to earth not to condemn or criticize, but to walk with His people.
He slowed His pace to walk in ours,, leaving the comfort of heaven.
And even though we may all walk different paths, our destination is the same.
We are all walking home.
“Jesus said, “Forsake the habit of criticizing and judging others, and you will not be criticized and judged in return. Don’t condemn others and you will not be condemned. Forgive over and over, and you will be forgiven over and over.”
Luke 6:37 TPTShare this:
