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Where Fear Lurks
1 Kings 19 opens with Elijah running for his very life. It’s ironic isn’t it? When on the mountaintop (chapter 18), with 450 angry Baal prophets surrounding him, Elijah didn’t fear. He prayed boldly and with complete confidence that God would show up. And his prayers were answered. For a prophet like Elijah, life didn’t get any better than seeing God’s glory displayed in a consuming fire and your enemy soundly defeated. And yet, when Elijah should have felt closest to God—right after witnessing God’s mighty power—Elijah feared for his very life, ran and hid. In a matter of just a few days, Elijah went from a mountaintop experience complete…
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Hunting for Goodness
Goodness. It’s this elusive thing we crave. We know what it looks like but can’t fully describe it. We know when we hunger for it but can’t seem to clutch onto it and make it stay. We want to bottle it up, store it tight and save it for a desperate day. But we can’t. Goodness slips into our days and surprises us in the most unexpected ways. Like familiar arms slipping round our waste as we do the dishes. Or sometimes—occasionally—like a flurry of activity at the back door when our kid sneaks home from college for an unexpected weekend. But sometimes we just can’t seem to see it.…
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Shadowed Valleys and Splendid Tables
The dark night closes in around us, like a foggy mist clinging to the soul. Night give ways to another night, and it seems daybreak misses its cue. We step forward but stumble, reach out but cannot find something steady to which we can cling. In such moments all we want is a person, a presence, a guide. David, expressing the longing of his heart and ours, penned a promise for dark seasons. Often read at funerals or resigned to bookmarks, Psalm 23 gives hope to every journeying soul. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with…
