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Four Reasons We Should Pray for Our Leaders

We all live under human authority. Many of us are blessed to live in countries where even if our candidate didn’t win, elections allowed us to voice who we wanted to be in charge. Some of us don’t get that choice, and have leaders who weren’t voted into office, but gained their power through other means. However these leaders ended up in their positions, regardless of whether we think they should lead our country or not, we have a God-given responsibility to pray for them. But for some reason, Christians (including myself) often seem to forget this. I have even seen memes* where people agree to pray for the person running their country, but it’s either that the leader would go to hell or that their years in power would be few. This is the wrong attitude. It is imperative that we pray for the men and women in charge, even though we might prefer they not be representing our towns, cities, states, provinces, and countries to the rest of the world. Here are some of the reasons why these
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Why Does God Allow Suffering?

Despite doctors’ differing opinions, the controversies and conspiracy theories, and the differing stories fed us by our governments and media, we can all agree on one thing: because of COVID-19, many people are suffering. For many, their suffering is caused directly by the virus. They’ve lost friends and family to it, or have seen their loved ones get ill, or have contracted the virus themselves. For many, their suffering is caused indirectly by the virus. They’ve lost jobs, had to postpone weddings, weren’t able to attend funerals, had graduations canceled, because of government policies enacted in response to the virus. For most of us on this earth, our lives have been affected in some way, ranging from inconveniences to devastation. There’s an old question, asked by many before, and I’m sure many are asking it even as I type these words. It’s a question which many people, not getting the answer they want, have used as an excuse to turn away from God, or doubt His e
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God Doesn't Design Cookie Cutter Lives

A few months ago, I found myself struggling with jealousy toward my siblings. I’m not quite sure how to explain what I mean. I wasn’t jealous over what they had in their lives compared to me. There wasn’t a specific thing either of my brothers or my sister had that I wanted. Rather, I was jealous because their lives seemed to be going better than mine, that they escaped the struggles I have faced, the ones I still deal with (such as food allergies and health issues). This sounds horrible, like I want my siblings to suffer, to not have good lives, but I don’t. I mean...why can’t I just not suffer the things I do? Why can’t I have more good things in my life? It’s a struggle to write this, because I hate admitting it. I don’t want you to think I hate my life. I don’t. But at that time, I found myself upset that my life didn’t look as “good” as my siblings’ lives. I found myself asking why God had let this happen. What had I done that my life was so different from theirs? Di
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Our Timing Versus God's Timing

Things always happen at the “worst” possible time. Ten days before Christmas, I got sick with the worst cold I’ve had in years (I’m just a few days over the aftermath). Seven days before Christmas, a new cat happened to pop into my life. A very young, very ravenous, very energetic, very curious, very messy male cat. I still had shopping to do, deadlines to meet, and projects to finish. One night, exhausted, having spent the day scrambling to get what I could done with my limited energy and time, the cat made a new mess for me to clean up, despite my best efforts to minimize the amount of messes he could make. I almost had a meltdown. I was so tired, so done, and struggling with the loss I’d sustained near Christmas years earlier. All I could ask was why was all of this happening all at once? At the worst possible time? The story of Joseph and Mary looks like a case of bad timing one right after another. Mary gets pregnant right before getting marri
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There Are No Coincidences

One day I thought God didn’t care about me, and I almost died. Okay, that might be a little melodramatic. But I almost got into a bad accident. I was going through a rough time. God felt distant, like He merely observed what was happening to me, but didn’t care enough to do anything. I started to think that maybe He didn’t care. I was in zombie mode getting ready for work. I had slept fine, but everything just seemed meaningless. I got in my car, and headed down my street. I reached the stop sign, and turned on my left directional. The guy coming from my right stopped, his directional indicating he wanted to turn onto my street. I waved to him, and eased up on the brake. I looked just in time to see the car coming 50 mph from my left. I hadn’t pulled into his lane yet. The car went by without any issue, the other guy turned, and I pulled out onto the street on my way to work. But I was shaken. And to this day I’m convinced God let that happen to jar me out of thin
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Is My Life and Future Really Secure in Jesus?

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“LORD, You alone are my portion and my cup; You make my lot secure.  The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” ~ Psalm 16:5-6, NIV Sometimes, I have to beat that verse into my head. I have to repeat it over and over, insisting that I accept it, forcing myself to believe it. Because there’s a lot of times when I don’t.   When bitterness and hopelessness threaten to take over. You may be feeling the same way.   You may struggle with chronic health issues.   You may have lost all your earthly possessions.   Your life may not be going at all how you planned it, or how you would like it to go.   And yet that verse still stands. But you find yourself questioning, like I do, “Are my boundary lines really in pleasant places?   Do I really have a delightful inheritance?” Yes. If nothing else, all of God’s children have the promise of eternal life with Him in Heaven   (John 3:16).   That’s our inheritance.
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Small Acts of Kindness

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I never knew her name.   I didn’t even realize she was in my class until we stood outside the classroom doors, waiting to enter for our final exam.   I don’t even remember now what she looks like, although I want to say she had her dark hair pulled up in a bun and wore glasses. All I remember was that she gave me a mechanical pencil. It was the end of the fall semester of my senior year.   I was in a lot of pain from Lyme Disease that day.   I’d just come from an internship meeting which had soured before it began.   I was doing all I could to keep it together. I’d been so focused on the meeting before that I’d forgotten to bring any pencils with me.   And when I saw the few girls studying outside the classroom doors, I realized my mistake.   But it was too late to go back and get a pencil.   So I asked if I could borrow one. The girls looked at each other, and one of them finally checked the lead in her mechanical pencils, and offered me one.   I thanked her, tol
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