Abundant Life in a World That’s Falling Apart

Anyone else feel like the world is falling apart a little bit?

Tragedy upon tragedy. Grief upon grief. 

The world has held its collective breath as we’ve watched communities torn apart--both locally and globally. 

The pain is palpable. 

We cannot help but be shaken by the malice and violence that is playing out on various stages around the world. Hatred seems to have a vise grip on sin-stained humanity.

A thief has come to “steal and kill and destroy” and we are afraid of what is next. Of who is next. 

When everything seems to be going wrong, it’s hard not to give in to despair. It feels impossible to trust in God's faithfulness when we can't see where a good and loving God fits with our pain and fear. 

Today, you might be afraid for your life or the life of someone you love. You may be feeling insecure financially, and wonder how you’re going to make ends meet. Perhaps your relationships are tenuous and insecure, or you feel completely alone. Maybe your hoped-for, prayed-for, dream feels just out of reach, and you wonder if it will ever happen at all.

Whatever you’re afraid of today, as a believer, you can find hope in this promise from Jesus:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  John 10:10-11

While Satan hopes to destroy us, Jesus came to give us abundant life. That kind of life cannot be tarnished by sorrow and pain. It cannot be stolen by age and disease. 

This abundant life doesn’t revolve around finite possessions or accomplishments: those cannot last. Abundant life is an eternity-oriented hope that is grounded in the Gospel. It is only accessible through the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life on our behalf.

When we’re overtaken by anxiety, we have to hold on to the truth that everything we have is a blessing: an undeserved gift from God. He doesn't owe us safety, security, or comfort. Based on our merit, we've earned only punishment from Him, but, instead, He graciously offers us freedom from sin and eternal life through Christ. That is the greatest blessing that cannot be taken from the believer, even when difficult circumstances strip away everything else we cherish.

When our lives are grounded in God’s faithfulness, we have nothing to fear. We belong to the Lord:

Know that the Lord, he is God!
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 100:3

Doesn’t that just bring joy to your heart? As believers, we are His. 

In spite of my failures and the utter mess that I make of my life every day, God claims me and says that I belong to Him. He knows us and welcomes all believers into his family through the cross.

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

As His sheep, we can trust that Christ, our Good Shepherd, will lead us to safety along paths of righteousness for His own glory. When we are down in deep darkness, we have nothing to fear. Even when the Thief is lurking, hoping to crush us, we are comforted and protected by our God. He abundantly provides for us until our lives overflow with goodness and mercy from His hand. We are safe and secure, knowing that we are cherished in his presence, now and for eternity. 

Praise God.

---

Respond

Have you been feeling anxious or fearful recently? How do you keep your heart grounded in the Gospel when it feels like the world is falling apart?

Prayer for the Discouraged Heart

Discouragement is something I struggle with consistently, yet I'm often surprised at how one piece of bad news or a disappointing interaction can drag me down so quickly. 

A little over a week ago I had the worst migraine headache I've ever experienced. I'm not sure what triggered it, but it was awful and I ended up having to spend almost the entire day in bed. Yuck.

A few days later, as I was still recovering, we got very disappointing news about an adoption situation our profile was supposed to be presented to. The details aren't important, but the information we received meant we wouldn't be presenting to that situation at all. Jason and I were both extremely disappointed. Between my lingering post-migraine headache and that emotional blow, I've pretty much been in a funk for the last week or so because of my discouragement. I've really been wondering how much longer we have to wait to become parents, fearing that it will never happen.

What about you?

Maybe you’re grappling with discouragement today too. You want to be content, but you’re filled with worries that your hopes will be dashed or your needs will not be met.

We become fearful and pessimistic when life doesn’t go as we’d hoped or planned. We forget God’s past faithfulness and lose sight of the hope we have in Him for the future.

You and I, we have to begin to view the world through a lens of gratitude instead of dissatisfaction. Using God’s Word as a template, we can ask the Holy Spirit to show us that God has cared for us perfectly in the past, and will faithfully continue to meet our needs for all time.

If you’re struggling with discontentment today, won’t you join me in asking God to help us find our satisfaction in Him, and thanking Him for faithful provision?

Today, I’m using Lamentations 3:-22-24 as a template for prayer and praise in the midst of discouragement:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
   his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
   “therefore I will hope in him.”

Precious Lord, we thank you for your unceasing love and your unending mercies. Help us to remember them when we are tempted to despair. Remind us of your past kindness to us so that our hearts may be filled with gratitude and hope instead of dissatisfaction and fear.

We are overwhelmed by your infinite grace: how amazing that we can never exhaust it! Because of Christ, we, who are faithless and fickle, can become your children! We have nothing to offer you, yet you still provide for us with abundance!  We are forgiven and set free from sin, not because of our good works, but only because of your mercy! Because you, and you alone, are our portion, we have hope for the future.

We praise you with thanks!

Help us to treasure truth when discouragement creeps into our hearts. Open our eyes to your faithful love and mercy in our daily lives and in the truth of the Gospel so that we can proclaim it to others for your glory.

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

---

Respond

Do you ever pray using your Bible? What scriptures do you turn to as inspiration for prayer when you're feeling discouraged?

4 Ways to Connect with God When Life is Crazy

Is life feeling a little crazy right now?

You might have a newborn and be in survival mode. Perhaps you just started a new job and are trying to figure out your new routine. Maybe you’re running yourself ragged taking your kids to all their practices, performances, games, and activities.

You have too many places to be, too much stuff to do, and too many people relying on you.

And, oh yeah, try to squeeze in an hour-long quiet time in there every day, okay?

I think many of us feel that if we don’t have an hour, thirty minutes, or even fifteen minutes to devote to serious, uninterrupted “quiet time” that we shouldn’t even bother.  Somehow, we’ve gotten the idea that meaningful interactions with God can’t happen in five minutes, or even in one minute.

Why is that?

We don’t expect every interaction with our friends, spouses, or children to be rich, life-changing experiences. Even deeply intimate relationships are filled with quiet, everyday moments: gentle hugs before leaving; sweet smiles over lunch; little chats about daily life; quick snuggles before bed. These mundane, seemingly insignificant moments form the foundation for deeper interactions. 

So why do we expect our relationship with God to be different? 

Why do we expect every moment we spend with God to be lengthy, worshipful bliss? When real life just doesn’t leave room for a lengthy time of prayer and Bible study, why not let go of guilt and connect with God in small ways throughout your day? Those brief moments aren’t insignificant. In fact, I think they lay the foundation and whet your appetite for even deeper connection with God later.

When time is short and life feels out of control, you can connect with God in the midst of the craziness by filling your home with scripture, praying one sentence at a time, listening to scripture and good teaching, and listening to worshipful music. 

1// Fill Your Home with Scripture

I love buying and framing beautiful scripture printables. I have them in several rooms in our home, and I have even more pieces just waiting to be hung up. 

Displaying verses or quotes from hymns throughout your home is a great way to remind yourself of Biblical truth throughout your day. You won’t notice them every day, but you may be surprised at how they pop out at you on days when you need a little extra encouragement.

If you don’t want to bother with frames, I also have a lot of friends who write their own verses on chalkboards or whiteboards in their homes. You can even use whiteboard markers to write on mirrors, windows, or sliding glass doors! 

Whatever the medium, filling your home with Biblical encouragement is an excellent way to connect with God throughout the day.

2// Pray, One Sentence at a Time

I think many of us hear others pray in public and feel intimidated. Their lengthy prayers are eloquent and inspirational, and our own prayers seem dull and clumsy in comparison. 

Whether we’re praying aloud or silently, our prayers are not an opportunity to show off our spiritual vocabulary. (Remember the prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collector: God wants humility, not bravado!) Prayer is an opportunity for finite humans to commune with an infinite God. 

Your prayers don’t have to be long or filled with big words to bring you into God’s presence.  You can come to Him throughout your day to repent, to ask for help, or to offer praise, even if you only have a few simple sentences to offer. 

• Thank you, Jesus, that we have enough food to eat.

• God, thank you for the beautiful birds that visit my yard every morning.

• Father, forgive me for being frustrated during my child’s screaming, crying meltdown at the grocery store today. 

• Holy Spirit, thank you for giving me hope when I’m afraid.

Because of Jesus, our humble prayers will always be heard, even the short ones.

3// Listen to Scripture and Good Teaching

I think one problem many of us struggle with is that we feel like we specifically have to read (with our eyeballs) the Bible to get something out of it. Why not listen to God’s Word as well?

I know what you’re thinking: I’m a visual learner! I don’t get as much out of when I listen instead of read it!

I get it, I’m pretty visual too. But, if you actually don’t have time to read, isn’t listening to it still going to be better than doing nothing?

A little over a year ago I was in the middle of a chronological Bible read-through. As usual, I’d gotten stuck in the Old Testament, so I decided to try something different: listening to my daily “readings” while I was getting ready in the morning or while in the car.

That small change made a huge impact in my life. 

I began to look forward to that part of my morning instead of feeling guilty about it. I would listen to more than one day’s worth of my reading plan each day, just because I was enjoying it so much. When life calmed down and I had more time, I would go back and actually read and study the passage later. Listening to God’s Word a little bit at a time actually set the foundation for me to study it more deeply at other times. 

The YouVersion app makes it really easy to choose a reading plan and then listen to it on your phone. There are also fancier audio versions of the Bible that have music and sound effects. Do some research, try a few out, and figure out what you like!

After I started listening to the Bible, I also began to enjoy many different Christian podcasts. There is a lot of excellent Biblical teaching out there and it's all completely free. Listening to great teaching helps me know and love the Bible more, even when I don't have a lot of time to sit down and study a passage for myself.

There are about a dozen faith-based podcasts that I subscribe to, but my favorites are Unlocking the Bible with Colin Smith, The Gospel Coalition, and Help Me Teach the Bible with Nancy Guthrie.

4// Listen to Worshipful Music

Sometimes I want to focus on God, but the task at hand requires my full attention or my brain is fried to the point that even listening to someone talk sounds too hard.

That’s when I listen to worshipful music.

I struggle with a tendency to turn on the television just for “background noise.” I’ll turn on a show I’ve seen several times and then half-listen to it as I do something else. Now, television isn’t all bad, so I’m not planning on completely cutting it out of my life, but I’ve been making an effort to at least keep it off when I’m not actually watching it. 

Instead, I make a conscious choice to listen to music. Specifically, music that directs my thoughts to God. I have a few different playlists I’ve created for different moods, and I often enjoy listening to contemporary versions of hymns from groups like Page CXVI. If that’s not your thing, no worries! Any music that reminds you of Biblical truth will do!

- - - 

Whatever the cause, sometimes life gets overwhelming. In those times, connecting with God might seem close to impossible. Instead of feeling guilty because you can’t spend as much time in prayer or Bible study as you would like, focus on the small ways you can connect with God throughout your day. As you do, you’ll be laying the foundation for deeper connection with God later, as things calm down a bit.

---

Respond

How about you? When life gets crazy, how do you connect with God throughout your day?