Spirit & Body

After driving away from the rental car lot, my sedan started to shake. My grip tightened on the steering wheel. Had they given me a defective vehicle? Then the car steadied, and I continued on my way.

The next day, the same vibrations returned. I checked to see if I was hydroplaning, but the asphalt was dry. Finally, I figured it out. A safety feature shook the sedan when I crossed the dividing lines. From then on, I focused on the road to ensure I drove within my lane. 

When I was young, my family instilled in me the importance of not veering from the road. Whenever my mom saw a driver straddling two lanes, she said, “Pick a lane.”

In the same way that we must stay in one lane for our well-being while driving, we must choose our direction in life. Though sometimes difficult, we must remain within the lines of the straight and narrow road. God doesn’t seek to confine us but to shield us from the sorrows that come when we get off His path.

This verse reminds us to hold unswervingly to our hope in Christ. If we always remain alert, we won’t stray. God will get us to where He wants us to go when we fix our eyes on Him. He is faithful in keeping His promises and leading us into abundant life.

Let’s not assume our vehicles have issues; instead, we should look for driver errors. Likewise, may we listen to God’s warnings when our lives quake. If you have moved outside His lanes of protection, obey His Word and return to the path of peace. God will enable you to remain diligent and stay on His road of righteousness. 

In fear and trepidation, I pen a weekly collection of devotions—the Holy Spirit’s call to “be brave” encourages me. I post one blog at a time to the World Wide Web, like a lone balloon released into the air, set free to glorify God.

My mother urged me as a child to be brave when faced with stressful and difficult situations. I was discouraged from turning and fleeing from a challenge to meet new people, enter a competition, or jump off the high diving board. Everything and everyone intimidated me when I was young, but I gradually learned to take risks and leave my fears behind.

One summer, while attending the University of Cincinnati, I worked at Kings Island Amusement Park. At the end of my shift in the live-shows department, I hurried across the park to ride the Racer, a double wooden roller coaster. The fast, steep, curvy hills that enticed me and my co-workers often sent guests running in the opposite direction.

My brother, Robin, is a lifelong surfer. I rode his surfboard a few times as a teenager—enough for me. The waves that stir panic in most people are the ones he eagerly paddles out to catch. God calls us to be brave, like Robin, to climb up on the surfboard with Him and enjoy the ride. 

Joyce Meyer wrote, “The best way to overcome anything is to expose it.” Shine the light of truth on your darkest fears. Choose to be brave; do the frightening thing you have feared if you must. Nothing can touch you outside of God’s perfect plan for your life.

I will be brave because God is my eternal stronghold, my light, and my salvation. I hope you will too.

“I have been reading biographies of the Grand Dames of the past,” my friend shared one day. “I emulate them. I, too, want to be remembered for my influential civil works. I want to be a Grand Dame.”

However, she was repeatedly hurt because no one seemed interested in acclaiming her. If she only knew the one who merits all the acclaim, she could cease her endless quest for self-glory and drink from God's river of life.

We live in a culture that exalts productivity and profit. As a Christian, I long for my hands, words, actions, and choices to benefit God’s kingdom. However, as I look at patterns in Scripture and consider my inner desires for recognition and success, I must reconsider what motivates my actions.

In the beginning, God created a river to nourish the beautiful garden of Eden. It branched into four different regions, each enriched by God. Two chapters after we read about that, we read of Cain murdering his brother, Abel. And further, that he was unrepentant. God exiled him, and Cain followed one of God’s rivers to establish a city for his glory.

After the flood, we see the same pattern. Although Nimrod, the great city builder, was a mighty hunter, he founded the wicked city of Babel on the Euphrates. Babel sought to raise its tower of self-glory, defiantly reaching toward heaven. People followed God’s life-giving waters while denying the Source. So, God scattered them, hoping they would seek Him anew.

God’s life-giving provision, lovingkindness, truth, and grace flow daily into our lives. We drink from His river of delights each time we fix our eyes on Jesus and pursue His glory instead of our own.

As you follow God’s living waters, ensure that you also pursue His glory. 

The drooping cream-colored rose with the magenta edges that sat on my windowsill astonished me. How could it still smell so good when it looked so bad? The petals seemed ready to drop. I suddenly identified with this fading flower. After all, I’m in a wilting process too. Aging and certainly not looking as fresh. 

Inevitably, suffering accompanies getting old. Perhaps the most difficult challenge in this season has been the way chronic pain has impacted my husband and me. Over the years, aging has restricted our social life and ability to do activities together. Sometimes, depression and loneliness press hard.

However, I love how the Bible gives hope to us droopy flowers. Paul refers to our triumphal procession in Christ. When we feel weak, God provides strength to overcome. When we fade on the outside, He renews our inside. When we tire, He lifts us on eagle’s wings. And He will triumphantly carry us home when we come to the final crossing.

Meditate momentarily on the eternal, vibrant vitality of our victorious Lord: His power in life and death. His beauty in purity and righteousness. And His strength of purpose and will. We are the beneficiaries of all that He is. Because we have Him, we will remain forever young.

The good news is that one day, when the kingdom of heaven announces spring, we will all be planted anew. In the meantime, ask if you are like the rose. Do your words and actions perfume the atmosphere so you draw others to the Lord? If not, what is one change you could make?

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and Pezibear.)

I looked at the clock to see if it was bedtime: 6:45 a.m. It wasn’t even seven yet, but I was done. Sharp, loud words fell from my mouth, and clear, convicting words pierced my heart. The Holy Spirit reminded me, He will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing. Ouch.

God delighted in me. I wanted my kids to know that God and I delighted in them, but that was not happening. I had to fix it. If God showed me His delight in me by rejoicing over me with singing, then I could do it for my girls too.

“Alexa, play Travis Tritt’s ‘It’s a Great Day to Be Alive.’”

The kitchen filled with rejoicing and wolf howls as we all delighted in each other. As the song ended, abundant life and joy filled the room. I was grateful for God’s Word and the gift of the Holy Spirit. My girls and I confessed and forgave each other for our morning meltdowns.

The rest of the day was ahead of us. The kitchen dance floor bore witness to the weight of sin and the joy of grace and mercy. Though I do not deserve it, God delights in me and chooses to gently remind me when I am thoroughly undelightful.

This was grace and mercy in action—not giving me the rebuke I deserved while giving me serenades of love and delight I did not deserve. What a beautiful gift I am privileged to pass on to my children.

On our best and worst days, God delights in and cherishes us. Delighting in others, especially when they don’t deserve it, is one of the most profound witnesses to God we can share with others.

Think of someone God is calling you to delight in. You may not want to serenade them, but a smile, hug, or encouraging word may be all they need to feel delighted in.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and Berzin.)