Cost and Rewards In the New Testament we see the story of Jesus unfold and follow the work of the apostles. Reading through the letters we can tend to focus on the principles to live by and skim over the suffering of those who taught and shared the gospel. In our own lives, we know it comes with a cost, and I think we do the same thing. We skim over the costs as reasons why we quietly live instead…
Is God good? Is God kind? In rough seasons of stress and anxiety, seeing God’s goodness and kindness becomes difficult. We become blind to the truth of God, because God is good and God is kind. How I See God’s Kindness I grew up in rural Kentucky, but don’t think a farm family. We lived surrounded by tobacco and cows, but the closest we dealt with farm life was calling the neighbor when a cow got out. We lived on…
The gravel slowly became more washed out four wheeler trail than road. Out the driver window, you could reach out and touch a steep dirt wall and out the passenger side, you could look down the edge of a sharp drop off. At one point, the wheels of my 2002 Ford Mustang were turned towards the wall as we slid down a hill, trying to avoid the drop off.
I almost missed these moments because I feared consequences instead of resting in the character of God. I have seen God work in my hesitations and processing; I have felt the weight of consequences for disobedience. That is the graciousness of God – giving life when we deserve death and he allows suffering because of his desire to see us become more like him.