Have you ever had a season of life, or a circumstance where you felt like God just wasn’t around? Or maybe you faced a problem that was too big and you felt like you were all alone? Or maybe sin was so dark and present in your life or in the life of a loved one and you struggled to see the hand of God anywhere? If you haven’t ever felt that way, I’m so happy for you. I, on the other hand, have felt all of those things. Was God absent from my life? No way. He was right there, probably closer than I could have ever imagined. But in that darkness, I couldn’t see Him. I want to share with you what I learned in those times.

Anxiety, Christian Life, Dealing With Grief, Faith, Loneliness, Trials, Trusting GodAmy SappSeptember 19, 2022Provider, Healer, Struggles, Shepherd, Life, Darkness, Light

Keep Your Eyes on the Shoreline - Cheryl Rodriguez

As the 3 of us were out there floating together, we all were holding onto each other’s float. I am not sure if it was because there was no one for miles, or if it was because I had never been to this beach before. Perhaps it was because we had our daughter with us, or because my husband had us all scared of sharks; but I caught myself starting to worry anytime I was facing the ocean instead of the shoreline. When I was facing the shore, I could see our mountain-high pile of beach things, and I would realize we were not far from the shore at all. I was comforted because I knew we were not drifting away. However, when I would turn and face the ocean, my fear would really kick in. I was worried about everything: were we too far out? What if we saw a shark? Would we be able to get back fast enough if something happened? Had we drifted from our spot? It was then that the Lord brought this thought to my mind:

Working in The Rain - Wendy Robinson

Sometimes it rains big rains that make us want to curl up and hide from everything, or sometimes little rains that throw a wrench into our life plans. We all know that we have a big God who can do anything and if we are doing things the right way, we go straight to Him and ask Him to change or fix our storm. But the truth is, sometimes there isn’t a quick answer. Sometimes it even feels as though God has gone silent. We know He isn’t a heartless Father; but for more reasons than we can possibly know, sometimes the rain continues and no end seems to be in sight.

Faith Trumps Fear - Virginia Harris

Fear is a very common human emotion. We can be happily going along our way when all of a sudden….Wham! Something happens, or a thought pops up in our mind, or we hear something…and instantly that spirit of fear grips our heart. Although, this is a very common emotion, this spirit is not of the Lord. I pray that these thoughts that have helped me when I am fearful will be a help to you.

Anxiety, Christian Life, Christian Service, Dealing With Grief, Faith, Life Changes, TrialsAmy SappApril 18, 2022Faith, Pain, Fear, Trump, Emotions, Happy

What in the World is Happening - Vicky Pope

Why can we not just rest in that? Do we think we can do a better job of figuring it out on our own? Do we think we can fix the problems better than He can? Or do we just prefer to wallow in our misery and seek pity from others? These are all the Devil’s ploys to keep us from being the peace-filled, powerful, and productive Christians God wants us to be.

Keeping Focus - Sharon Rabon

What am I going to do about this situation? Is there anyone who can help me? What is going to happen? We often don’t know what to do or where to turn. We seek counsel, think about it nonstop, and we worry. We worry about how we were treated and what they deserve. We lose our focus on what we should be doing and become distracted by things that lead us away from our main purpose in life. We spend time telling a friend instead of telling our one Friend, Jesus.

To Everything There is a Season - Charity Payton

Everyone is going through something. It may seem like the hardest thing you have ever faced. No matter the age it’s big for you! A different season a different time.To Every Thing there is a season - a time for every purpose under the Heaven. What will you do with your Season?

God is My Super Glue - Dawn Mondt

As I looked at my broken self I began to see that I couldn’t be fixed. I will never be whole in the way I was before again. But what I did see is that God does not fix us he fills in the cracks and broken pieces of our heart with Himself. Kind of like when you crack or break something like a vase and you fix it with super glue. God fills in those cracks and broken pieces of our heart with Himself just like super glue. But its better its God Glue!

Children, Dealing With Grief, Encouragement, Illness, Trials, Prayer, Trusting GodAmy SappSeptember 20, 2021Glue, Super Glue, Death, Trials, Grief, Grieving, Cancer

Bitter Fruit - Kim Letson

I believe bitterness is something that most of us will deal with multiple times in our lives. Bitterness

always begins with unforgiveness. I have learned bitterness can be like a cancer if we do not deal with

it. It will eat away at our spirit and slowly decay your joy and happiness. Bitterness has a deep root and

many fruits. Its fruits may be anger, hate, disgust, sadness, loss of joy, and many other traits. What

generally happens is, we focus on cutting back these fruits, but never get rid of the root. Over time,

these fruits grow back and are often much stronger.

Surviving and Thriving - Heather Higgins

Do you ever feel like you are just merely “surviving”? Have you ever heard of the statement “survival of the fittest”? Although I am well aware of the statements origin, and I am in complete dis-agreement with the thought process behind its meaning, the statement has always intrigued me. Years ago I began taking the original meaning of the coined saying and have often used the expression but I added my own “twist” to it. I developed a spiritual application for myself.

Wanderer, Come... - Mistie Owens

Oh how I wish that was my life! I have wandered for much of it. Brokenly. Every repeat, reconciled moment with the Lord, I would rejoice in feeling close to Him, yet I would continue sojourning – spiritually never settling down, putting down roots with a home church, developing deep fellowships with other believers – and therefore never getting God's best for me. My growth was stunted, limited to solitary bible study and the occasional chat with a brother or sister in the faith, for much of my adult life. And I longed for the Lord, painfully so.

IF NOT! - Heather Wells

Some would say, “Are you sure you are supposed to adopt?” So we would pray about it and every time, God would one way or another show us that we were right where He wanted us.

Children, Dealing With Grief, God's Will, TrialsAmy SappOctober 21, 2019Miscarriage, Adoption, grief, Gods Will, trials

Help! Identity Crisis- Linda Gangemella

Then one day in December, 2016, at the age of 55, my beloved pastor husband died of cancer. The ministry job of being a pastor's wife which I had been almost my entire life suddenly ended. A pastor's/missionary's widow loses not only her husband, but the only pastor she has known for years, her title, her ministry, most likely her church, and often herself.

Everyone Has A Story- Susan Foote

On November 19, 2011, a young man attacked my husband with what was believed to be a baseball bat. He hit him in the back of the head, while he was out soulwinning. This landed him in ICU with traumatic brain injury. For 6 days he didn’t know anything. He had a blank stare in his eyes. The back of his head was squishy to the touch. Who attacks a preacher? I had never worried about him getting hurt on the job.

Trusting God, marriage, Dealing With GriefTiffany MooreMarch 12, 2019marriage, commitment, Susan Foote