Not Who I Was Yesterday

Retreating to the Mountain  to Meet with God I recently had the chance to do some hiking in Nevada, in the breathtaking Red Rock Canyon. I love to hike, and the mountains are my happy place. When life gets overwhelming, and the desire to step away hits, it’s the mountains I see in my mind’s eye. Those mountains are usually covered in trees, so these desert mountains were new and amazing. There is something about looking at a mountain that puts life in perspective. Perhaps it’s the size of them – it highlights just how small I am in the great, big world. I can’t look at a mountain without a flood of thoughts about God. Awe that He created them. Amazement at the beauty God placed in our world. Reverence that the same God who created them created me.  There are so many Scriptures that mention mountains... I lift my eyes up to the mountains – where does my help come from? (Ps 121:1) Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken n

What it is to be a Disciple Who are we following? Last week my accountability partner, Pastor Angela France, was working on a sermon that I could tell was a big deal. She always takes sermon preparation seriously, but there are some where it’s evident that God is working on something extra special. So I called her and asked to hear what she was putting together. It was like having my own private church service over the phone! What she was working on was tackling the question : Who are we following? And the follow-up question: Whose voice are we listening to? She shared an instance where, during a church service, a phrase popped into her head as clear as a bell. It was so clear and so applicable to a struggle she was dealing with that she just assumed the phrase came from God. But as time went on, she was less certain of that, and yet, the phrase stuck with her. Now she asks: was that from God, or was that the enemy trying to deceive? This led into a focus on the importanc

A few weeks ago, I spoke at a women’s conference sharing a message entitled Standing in the Silence. It was born out of a personal struggle; I had no idea that within a few weeks the theme of silence would become so globally significant. The thought which closed that message is one I can’t get away from now. In the silence, every sound is magnified. I had been struggling with loneliness and for months and months I avoided praying about that need of my heart. I didn’t stop praying, I just refused to pray about that. I told myself that God already knew the need. I didn’t want to go through the emotions of pouring out my heart over this. And in the silence that I chose to let fall between myself and my God, the voice that was magnified was self-doubt. That silence between me and Him allowed the problem to grow, at least in my mind. I could be surrounded by people and feel utterly alone. I eventually decided to dive into Scripture to figure things out and real