Change can be uncomfortable. In March of 1999; I went through a season of change in my life–a change that many people are experiencing today in this economy. After ten years of service with this company, I was laid off without warning.

I remember that morning so clearly. It started off just like any other Monday morning, but I had no idea what was coming. At 10:00 am, my boss walked up to me and said, “Russ, we have to let you go. You need to be out of here by 5:00 pm.” What started out as a typical Monday morning quickly became a life-changing experience in just a matter of hours.

At first, I was kind of numb. Ten years at one job was a long time. Yet, as my boss walked out of my office that day, I began to weep–not at the job loss; not at an uncertain future; not even at the abrupt ending of my income. No. When I wept, I was weeping over God’s goodness. I had no idea what the next day held, but I knew God was good, and he could be trusted. My life, my future, my family was really in his hands. I was already in God’s hands before that Monday morning, but now the revelation of that truth had come to life.

Months passed with no promising offers. An interview here; an interview there. Nothing came my way. I was riding the roller coaster of emotions. Yet, I knew deep down that God would not fail me. I could trust him.

One morning, I got a call from a local company. We talked for a bit, and then I went in that very day for an interview. By the end of the interview, they had verbally offered me the job. In a matter of hours–just like that day in March–my life had changed.

When I look back over the past four months of unemployment, it was a good time–times of rest; times of seeking God; times of divine provision; times of prayer. And yes, even times of questioning God. I figured if David and Jesus could ask “why” (Psalm 22:1, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34), then surely it’s okay for me to ask “why”. Yet even in my questions, God proved himself faithful.

I could have battled all the “what if’s” and spent endless hours worrying and stressing over my situation, but I chose not to. I knew God could be trusted. I knew he would provide for us. So, I decided to rest, and let God bring about the right job at the right time.

I want to encourage everyone reading this that God can be trusted. No matter if it’s unemployment, fears, family problems, marital issues, personal struggles or just questioning your faith, God is there for you. Through his Son, Jesus, God is ready to help you through any problem, any situation and any circumstance.

Jesus said, “So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life–whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not. And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:25-34).

Prayer: компютриFather, I want to trust you more. I want to understand your heart, your will, your desires for me. I want to live in your faithfulness, because you are completely and totally faithful. Today, I choose to trust you. I choose to not listen to me circumstances. I will rest in you.

A Fragile Moment of Hope

Today’s message comes from a book I picked up at the library during a lunch break one afternoon. I was so moved by this one story. It really created within me a new kind of hope. I pray it will do the same for you.

“A Fragile Moment of Hope” by Josephine Jensen

The sun had not yet risen as I walked alone along the beach. The night’s high tide had left the beach strewn with debris. A seagull, which once had glided in the blue, lay lifeless on the sand. Matted seaweed, once a living part of the deep, was now discarded by the waves. Driftwood, too, once green and growing, lay in silver-gray desolation.

Tears welled in my eyes. Those tragic bits and pieces, broken and still, were reminders of something in my life which had once been vibrant and alive, but now, too, was dead.

I slumped on the sand and closed my eyes. How long I sat there I do not know. Then a child’s shout rang across the beach.

Two children were running down the beach. As I looked up, they stopped. They had found the seagull. For a moment they stood silently around it. Then they dug a grave with a piece of driftwood, buried the bird and placed shells in an elaborate pattern on the mound.

With a whoop, they then dashed to the seaweed. Draping it around their waists, they wiggled their hips and, in their imagination, were in Hawaii. A long tendril became a jump rope. In each newfound object there was fresh discovery.

Everything they looked at, I had looked at. Yet while I saw only death, they saw wonder and excitement.

I rose and started home. A fragment of Scripture, half forgotten, came to mind: “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before…” (Philippians 3:13).

The rays of the rising sun flooded the hills. The same became a thousand diamonds, and I walked on them. It was the beginning of a new day.

Philippians 3:13 encourages us to forget what is behind and reach forward to what lies ahead. Panic attacks and fear can leave lots of mental and emotional debris in its path, making things seem lifeless and dead, but God encourages us to press on, forgetting those things and reaching for new things in our lives.

Prayer: Lord, help me to cast off all dead baggage that serves no healthy purpose. Help me to not look behind, but forward. Help me to understand that you are the God of hope. Lord, I will trust in you as we move forward from this day forward.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

The other day, I was playing racquetball with some friends. I hadn’t played in months, so my endurance was not so enduring. We finished playing a match, and my mouth was parched. I desperately needed some water. I limped over to the water fountain and took a few drinks of the cold water. Ahh, it was so good! Each sip was so refreshing, so renewing. My strength returned, and I was ready for some more action.

God refreshes us in the same way. We are strengthened and renewed. We are alive again and ready for action.

How do we receive this refreshment from the Lord? How are we renewed and strengthened? In the above scripture, the first step is to “repent.” Repentance leads to refreshment.

So, what is repentance? How do I repent? Is it simply a confession of the failures in my life? Is it acknowledging my sins before God and asking for forgiveness? It’s all that and more. It’s action. It’s actively turning away from your sins and not going back.

When I was held in the grips of alcohol, I learned this principle first hand. After a binge, I would run to God and say, “Please forgive me. I repent. I’m sorry Lord.” Yet, a few days later, I would give in and drink some more. The cycle of confession and concession would continue.

I confessed my sins, but I was waiting for God to somehow zap the desire to drink out of me. Then one day, I experienced a wonderful victory. I said, “Lord, from this day on, I choose not to drink anymore.” I made the decision not to drink. That day, I experienced true repentance.

Repentance is a decision. It’s confession. It’s forgiveness. It’s action.

When John was baptizing people in the Jordan River, he issued this challenge to the Pharisees and Sadducees: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).

Do you hear what he was implying? It was as if he was saying, “Stop just mouthing the words of repentance, and act upon them! Let me see the fruit of your repentance.”

I encourage you to ask your Father one simple question: “Lord, is there anything in my life of which I need to repent?” Listen carefully to your conscience. Then, act.

Prayer: Father, reveal to me any sin of which I need to repent. Give me the strength to give up my worldly ways and turn to you so that I may receive a time of refreshing.

When I first became a Christian, the panic attacks continued. I couldn’t understand why. I prayed and begged and cried out to God for freedom. Yet, they continued. I kept asking God to take away the fear–to take away the bondage of panic. But, they continued.

Then one day, I was thinking about the people from the Old Testament and their situations. I learned something quite intriguing. God does not simply take away our problems–he gives us the strength to overcome them. We do not walk away from our problems–we walk through them. Let me explain:

A great flood poured down upon the earth. God did not save Noah from the flood. He saved Noah through the flood. He gave Noah the resources to survive.

Daniel’s friends would not bow down to the king, so they were thrown into the furnace. God did not save them from the fire. He saved them through the fire. In fact, one “like the son of God” walked through the fire with them.

As Moses and the children of Israel were fleeing the Egyptians, they encountered the Red Sea. It seemed as if they were trapped. God did not save them from the sea. He saved them through the sea.

When God steps in and provides a miraculous deliverance, he gets all the glory. No man can take credit for the deliverance. There have been many times that I have prayed for God to free me from panic disorder. Now, I understand that he walks with me through the panic disorder. Peace comes as the flood and fire of fear have no effect on me.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 43:2).

When you walk with God, you can walk through any obstacle that comes into your path. Whether it be fear, panic, pain, confusion or danger, God will protect you when you walk side-by-side with him.

Prayer: Father, I know that you have the power to heal, and yet I also understand that sometimes you choose not to heal your children but to give them the sustaining grace to walk through their difficult circumstances. I pray that as I walk beside you, you will protect me from the fire and flood of fear.

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope” (Isaiah 42:1-4).

There are three aspects I find very encouraging in these prophetic verses about Jesus. First, he will not break or crush a bruised reed. What is this reed? A reed is like a branch, and, remember, we are the branches–he is the vine (John 15:5). Jesus will not break us off; instead, he will handle us tenderly, allowing his life to flow into us to heal and restore our wounds.

Secondly, “a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Do you sometimes feel like your life is simply smoldering? Only a few embers left. You were on fire when you were young–full of life and adventure. Now, your life seems on the verge of being snuffed out by panic and fear. Jesus did not come to snuff you out. He can take that glowing wick, and cause a new flame to burn in your heart, lighting the way for others.

Finally, “he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.” Do you know what that means? Jesus is not discouraged with you. You may feel like a failure, but Jesus will not falter or be discouraged with you. He is for you. He is on your side.

Today, be encouraged that Jesus’ life is pulsing through your veins. The Holy Spirit is beginning to blow on those smoldering embers, ready to ignite a new fire in you–a fire not of fear and panic, but of joy and peace. A fire to love him more and to accomplish things beyond your imagination. He has high hopes for you. You can put your hope in him.

Prayer: Father, thank you that even before I began to delight in you, you delighted in me. Thank you that you will always handle me with care and will employ your Spirit to breathe new fire into my soul. Help me to place my hope in you, never becoming discouraged to the point of quitting.

We cannot even begin to understand how much our Father loves us. If we could comprehend or fathom his love, it would overwhelm us.

For those of you with children, think about how much you love them. Or take someone who means the most to you–a spouse, a relative, a dear friend. You love them. But God’s love transcends all those. We can never love someone or something more than God loves us.

In the third verse of the classic hymn, “The Love of God”, F.M. Lehman writes:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade.
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry,
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Interestingly enough, some of these words were found written on the wall of an insane asylum in the early 1900s and then arranged into this hymn.

What does this say about God’s love? It says that God’s love reaches even the deepest, darkest corners of the earth. As David said to God, ” . . . if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (Psalm 139:8).

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

How marvelous is the love of God!

Prayer: Father, thank you that nothing can separate me from your wonderful love. Let the light of that love beam through my spirit today to cleanse and comfort my heart.

The story of Adam and Eve gives us the first account of fear recorded in the Bible. As most of you know, Eve was tempted by the “serpent” to disobey God’s command. Adam, “who was with her,” also ate some of the forbidden fruit.

Before the fall of man, God would walk with Adam and Eve in the garden. It was a time of fellowship. A time of communion. A time of intimacy. However, this one morning was quite different:

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8).

For their entire existence, Adam and Eve had experienced intimacy with God. They enjoyed true fellowship with the Almighty, the Creator of the Universe. He was their Father, and they were his children. But on this one day, something was different. They hid from their Father.

God called out to them, “Where are you?”

Adam answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (v9b-10).

Look at the four statements Adam made: I heard you. I was afraid. I was naked. I hid. The four results of disobeying God are:

• Conviction. (I heard you.)
• Fear. (I was afraid.)
• Shame. (I was naked.)
• Separation. (I hid.)

Please understand, I am not saying everyone’s panic and fear is a direct result of some sin in your life. But, I do believe that fear is a result of being separated from God–a broken fellowship.

So, how do we restore fellowship with God? How do we walk with him and talk with him?

The first step is to confess your sins to Jesus; ask him to forgive you. He is faithful and ready to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Then, spend some time praying and worshipping the Lord. If each one of us would spend quality time with God, then his love would break down all the walls that separate us from him.

Prayer: Father, I know that if I confess my sins, you are faithful and just to forgive me. Thank you that because of your Son, Jesus, I no longer need to feel afraid or ashamed. Remove the wall that separates me from your peace, so that I may walk with you in the cool of the garden.

If you are feeling like God has forsaken you or given up on you, then read these words from Psalm 139. Let them sink deep into your heart. God cares for you more than you can fathom. His love for you reaches through the Cross and embraces you.

“O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. You both precede and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:1-18, 23, 24).

As a father, I love hugging my little boy. Even more, I love it when he hugs me, or as he calls it, “big squeezers.” Just typing those words brings tears to my eyes. How much more does God enjoy it when we embrace him?

I don’t think anyone can truly understand how much God thinks about one of his children. His thoughts outnumber the very grains of sand throughout the earth. That’s a lot!

Today, spend some time and soak in the sweetness of his love.

Prayer: Father, you have made me perfectly according to your plan, and you love me despite my weaknesses. Forgive me for being dissatisfied with the way you have created me; and thank you that you will always be with me, thinking of me, loving me.

In January of 1992, I met a young lady named Angela at church. Over the next few months, our friendship grew. In fact, my feelings for her grew beyond friendship, and I began to desire a closer relationship. However, she didn’t share those same feelings. It was as if she had recited those painful, grade-school words, “But, Russell, I just like you as a friend.” Ahhhhh!

Finally, on the Fourth of July weekend, my emotions seemed to be caught up in a whirlwind–a tornado, to be exact–a jumble of love and rejection. That Sunday, I wrote her a letter explaining my feelings for her and her lack of feelings for me. I understood her situation, but I told her that I had to let this relationship die–friendship and all. If I couldn’t have a close relationship, then I couldn’t have a relationship at all. It was just too painful.

She read the letter and agreed. I remember driving home that night thinking, “Well, I did it. I wrote the letter. She knows it’s over. It’s done. It’s over.” But in my heart, I still had not let her go. I remember hearing that still, small voice say, “Now Russ, is it really over in your heart? Have you accepted that it is over?” At that point, I began to weep, grieving the loss of my friend.

Three days later, Angela called me. She had talked with her dad. She had talked with some friends. She realized that she did have feelings for me. (I knew it all along!) We married six months later.

Why this personal story about me and my wife? There is a principal here about God and how he works. At first, I poured so much into the relationship, yet it came up fruitless. I came to a place where I had to give the relationship to God–I had to let it die. I even grieved in my heart that it was over, as far as I was concerned. But on the third day, the relationship rose again. This time, with new life. This time, with new meaning.

“How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (1 Corinthians 15:36).

You can hold a seed carefully in your hand forever, but it will never come to life. You must bury the seed and let it die before it will bear fruit. This is a natural and spiritual principle.

Prayer: Father, at the Cross of your Son, you ultimately revealed the principal of sowing and reaping, the principal of dying in order to live. I choose to let this aspect of my life die, believing that you will resurrect it with new life, new meaning and new direction.

P.S. On January 23rd, my wife and I will celebrate 14 wonderful years of marriage! I constantly give thanks to God for my wife, for she is truly “a woman who fears the Lord” (Proverbs 31:30).

My shirt was drenched with sweat. It was supposed to be a friendly, Saturday morning get-together with some people from church, but this three-on-three basketball game was rough. I didn’t know all of the best players would show up.

We only played about an hour and a half, but it was still an hour and a half too long for my weary body. The bumps, jolts, slaps and body slams took their toll on me physically. I needed rest.

When we finished playing, I glanced around quickly for a place to sit. The bench looked so inviting. As I sat down, my legs quivering, I sighed deeply. Ahh!

Rest is such a wonderful thing. Rest from a rugged game of basketball. Rest from a long day at work. Rest from a hectic schedule of activities and commitments.

What about rest for your soul? Rest from the intrusive thoughts and fiery darts of the enemy? Rest from the tug of war between fear and faith?

When you wrestle with fearful thoughts, your mind grows weary. Your emotions are tossed about like a rowboat in a raging storm. Is there rest? Is there peace?

“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.” (Psalms 62:1)

There is a secret place where your soul can find rest. It’s not a physical place–it’s a place where your Father waits for you. A place where God will wrap his arms around you and hold you close. It’s a supernatural place.

In this place, there is an indescribable peace. A peace that no matter what happens, God is there with you with his arms embraced tightly around you.

Trust is the key that opens the door to the secret place–to the quiet place where your soul can find rest. Open up your heart for God’s loving embrace. He will keep you from harm, as long as you trust him.

Prayer: Father, my body, mind and soul are exhausted from daily battles. I have tried to find rest on my own, and yet I still feel drained. Help me to trust you more, unlocking the door to my heart, so that you can take me to that secret place of rest.