questions

And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
- Matthew 28:17 (ESV)
 
This verse has always fascinated me. The disciples weren't hearing stories about Jesus from someone else. They had walked with Him. They had heard Him teach. They had watched Him perform miracles. They knew He had been crucified. And now the resurrected Jesus was standing right in front of them. They worshiped Him. But some doubted.
If people standing in the presence of the risen Jesus could still have questions, maybe we shouldn't be surprised when we have them too.
Can God really do this?
Does God really do this?
Is what I believe really true?
Questions aren't necessarily the enemy of faith. Questions can send us searching for answers. They can lead us deeper into Scripture, into prayer, into conversations with other believers, and into church where we can learn and grow.
But eventually there is one question we have to settle:
Who is Jesus?
Because our circumstances will constantly try to answer that question for us. When prayers aren't answered the way we expected, when life hurts, when we're disappointed, discouraged, or ready to quit, it's easy to allow what is happening around us to change what we believe about Him.
But circumstances change. Jesus doesn't.
Knowing who Jesus is doesn't mean hard things stop being hard. We will still experience pain. We'll have unmet expectations. We'll get discouraged. There will be days when we want to quit. Faith doesn't require us to pretend otherwise. It gives us something solid to stand on while we're going through it.
So ask your questions. Search Scripture. Pray. Learn. Grow.
But settle the most important question.
Know who Jesus is.
Then when everything around you feels uncertain, you won't have to redefine Him according to your circumstances. You can set your mind on what you already know to be true—and keep going.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible

hiding

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
- John 20:19 (ESV)
 
I have not always been very good at standing up for myself. Actually, if I'm being truthful, there have been plenty of times when I've allowed people to walk right over me—or use me as a convenient stepping stone on their way to wherever they wanted to go.
I wish I could say that changed completely as I got older. It hasn't. I still sometimes find myself allowing other people to dictate what happens because speaking up feels uncomfortable. Sometimes it's easier to keep quiet. Go along. Don't cause conflict. Don't make anyone upset. In other words, sometimes I still hide.
In John 20, the disciples were hiding too. Their reasons were certainly bigger than mine. Jesus had been crucified. They were afraid, and they had every reason to wonder what might happen to them next. So they gathered together and locked the doors. Then Jesus showed up. I love that He didn't wait outside until they found enough courage to unlock the door. He met them where they were hiding. And His first words weren't criticism. “Peace be with you.”
But Jesus didn't give them peace so they could become more comfortable behind the locked door. Just two verses later, He tells them, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” In other words, you can't stay here. That challenges me.
Because hiding doesn't always look like sitting behind a locked door. Sometimes hiding is staying quiet when we know we need to speak. Sometimes it's letting someone else make a decision that affects us because we're afraid of confrontation. Sometimes it's allowing ourselves to be overlooked or mistreated because keeping the peace seems easier than standing our ground. And sometimes we call it being flexible, easygoing, or gracious when the truth is that we're afraid of what might happen if we finally say, “No.”
There is a difference between being gracious and making ourselves smaller so everyone else can be comfortable. Living with conviction doesn't mean becoming loud, argumentative, or unwilling to compromise. It doesn't mean we always have to get our way. It means knowing what we believe. Knowing who we are in Christ. Knowing when something matters enough to stand our ground—and trusting God enough to stand there.
Jesus will meet us behind our locked doors. He will bring peace into the places where fear has kept us quiet. But He loves us too much to leave us hiding there.
So maybe today the question isn't What are you afraid of? Maybe it's simply: Are you hiding?
Because there comes a time when we have to unlock the door, step outside, and live with conviction. I'm still learning how to do that. But I think it's time for me to stop hiding.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible

running

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
- 1 Corinthians 9:24 (ESV)
 
I started running in 2013. Now, before anyone gets too impressed, let me clarify something: I was not fast.
I ran several 5Ks, two Warrior Dashes, a Color Run, a Glow Run, and I even managed one 10K. Randy ran the Warrior Dashes with me. Our youngest son, who ran cross country in high school like his dad did, ran several races with me—although “with me” is generous. He usually ran somewhere ahead of me. Even our middle son joined me a couple of times.
The one consistent thing through all those races was my time. It wasn't great.
I was never last, so I have that going for me, but nobody was standing at the finish line wondering whether I'd broken a course record. But I trained. I showed up. I ran. And I finished.
A few weeks ago, Randy ran his first 5K since 2014. With basically no training whatsoever, he finished with a better time than I ever did. Did I mention that I always trained?
I'm incredibly proud of him. Slightly annoyed on principle, perhaps, but incredibly proud.
When Paul talks about running in 1 Corinthians, he tells us to run that you may obtain the prize.
That makes me think about all those races and ask a question I probably didn't ask often enough:
What was I running for?
I was never going to win my age group. I wasn't chasing a medal for fastest time. I wasn't trying to beat Randy or my sons or anyone running beside me. For me, finishing was the prize. Crossing that finish line proved something to me. I had set out to do something difficult, and I had done it. Even when my time wasn't good, I finished. Even when I hurt, I finished.
Our walk with Christ deserves that same kind of intentionality. Do we know why we're running? Are we actually running—or are we standing on the sidelines watching everyone else? Are we so busy looking at the people in the lanes beside us that we've forgotten where our own finish line is? And most importantly, do we know what prize we're running toward?
Faith isn't a competition with the person beside us. Someone else's pace doesn't diminish our progress. Someone may appear to be farther ahead. Someone may seem stronger. Someone may make something look effortless that requires everything we have.
That's okay.
God didn't give us someone else's race. He gave us ours. Paul wasn't telling us to casually wander through our faith and hope we eventually stumble across the finish line. He said run. Run with purpose. Run knowing what you're pursuing. Run like reaching the finish line matters.
There will be days when the race feels easy and days when every step hurts. There will be people who pass us and seasons when we wonder whether we're making any progress at all.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
Because sometimes winning isn't being the fastest person on the course. Sometimes winning is knowing why you started, refusing to lose sight of where you're going, and crossing the finish line knowing you gave the race everything you had.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible

traffic

Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.
- Proverbs 19:2 (NLT)
 
Driving in Northwest Arkansas is not for the faint of heart. I have come to the conclusion that if I make it to my destination without cussing somebody out, it was a good drive. Don't judge me. I'm working on it.
There always seems to be someone driving ten miles under the speed limit when I'm in a hurry, someone changing lanes without looking, someone riding my bumper, or someone who apparently believes a turn signal is optional equipment. And don't even get me started on the person who races around you just to end up sitting at the same red light.
But if I'm being fair, sometimes I'm the problem. Sometimes I didn't leave early enough. Sometimes I'm watching the clock. Sometimes I'm annoyed with someone for simply being in front of me because I've decided that where I need to go is more important than whatever they're doing. And all that rushing usually saves me what—two minutes?
Proverbs tells us that haste makes mistakes. That's true behind the wheel, but it's also true in life. We live in a world that constantly tells us to hurry. Hurry to work. Hurry home. Hurry through dinner. Hurry to the next appointment, the next accomplishment, the next season of life. Even when we aren't physically going anywhere, our minds can be racing ahead to whatever comes next. But what are we missing because we're so determined to get there?
Sometimes slowing down isn't about the speedometer. Sometimes it's taking a moment before responding when someone makes us angry. It's praying before making a decision instead of rushing into one. It's giving someone a little grace because we don't know what they're carrying. It's recognizing that being delayed isn't the same thing as being harmed. And maybe it's remembering that God isn't only concerned with where we're going. He's concerned with who we're becoming on the way there.
There will always be another slow driver. Another red light. Another interruption. Another person who doesn't move according to our timetable. We can spend the entire journey frustrated that everyone else is in our way, or we can slow down enough to recognize that the journey is part of where God is working in us.
The goal isn't simply to get there quickly. It's to get there safely, faithfully, and without allowing the journey to turn us into someone we don't particularly like.
And if I can manage that without cussing anyone out? Well...I'd call that a pretty good drive.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible

continuous

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NIV)
 
And just like that...it's Friday again. Looking back over this week's "Daily Breads", I noticed something I hadn't planned. Not much went according to plan.
We've spent a couple of years looking for a church home we thought would be easier to find.
We spent sixteen exhausting hours moving our kids on one of the hottest days of the year.
A tiny bird landed right in the middle of those moving plans and needed a little help.
Then there were broken coolers and missing coffee ingredients.
None of those things went exactly the way I would have chosen. And yet, it was still a good week.
First Thessalonians tells us to rejoice, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances.
Not for all circumstances. In them.
I can be thankful while we're still searching because God is with us in the search. I can be thankful for sore muscles because they mean our kids are closer. I can be thankful for the tiny interruption that reminded me God can see what I can't. And yes, I can apparently even find something to be thankful for when they are out of the coffee.
Maybe I've been measuring good days by the wrong standard. A good day doesn't require everything to go right. A good week doesn't require everything to happen according to plan. And a good life certainly doesn't require the absence of inconvenience, disappointment, or change. It simply requires us to keep looking for God in the middle of it all. And when we do, we may discover there was a lot more good in our week than we realized.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible
 

without

Do everything without grumbling or arguing.
- Philippians 2:14 (NIV)
 
Can you imagine walking into your favorite coffee shop only to discover they're out of the main ingredient needed to make your drink? It happened to me. Then, the next day, I stopped somewhere to grab lunch for a group of people and discovered an entire section of food was unavailable because the cooler was broken.
Seriously?
Now, neither of these things qualifies as an actual crisis. I survived both incidents. But isn't it funny how quickly a tiny inconvenience can change our attitude?
Philippians tells us to do everything without grumbling or arguing. Everything, Paul? Apparently, that includes coffee shortages and broken coolers.
It's easy to think our faith is demonstrated primarily in the big moments—how we respond to loss, uncertainty, fear, or major changes. But most of our lives aren't made up of big moments. They're made up of traffic lights, long lines, messed-up orders, broken appliances, changed plans...and places that are out of the one thing we stopped there to get.
Maybe those little inconveniences are opportunities to practice something bigger: Patience. Grace. Gratitude. Perspective.
I didn't get what I wanted that day. But I had plenty of other choices. I could be irritated about what wasn't available—or grateful for what was.
And perhaps that's something worth remembering the next time life tells us “Sorry, we're out.”
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible

a little bird

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,     and he will make your paths straight.
- Proverbs 3:5–6 (NIV)
 
Saturday night, sometime around midnight, we pulled into our kids' new neighborhood with another load of their belongings, and right in the middle of their driveway sat the tiniest little finch. She let me walk right up to her without moving. With people unloading trailers and carrying furniture into the garage in the dark, I knew someone could easily step on her. So I picked her up. She was NOT happy about it. She squawked, struggled, and tried to fly away—but she couldn't. I moved her into the bushes near the front door where she'd be out of the path of all those busy feet. She didn't understand that I was trying to protect her, but I could see what she couldn't.
The next day we returned to help unpack, and there she was again, this time sitting on the sidewalk. I started toward her, planning to move her back to safety. But this time, she flew, not very far—but farther than she could the night before.
Proverbs tells us to trust in the Lord rather than leaning on our own understanding. That's difficult when we don't understand why something in our lives is changing.
Sometimes we squawk and struggle because we don't want to be moved from the place where we've gotten comfortable.
But we only see where we're sitting - God sees everything around us.
Maybe the place we desperately want to stay isn't where we need to remain. Maybe the change we're resisting is leading somewhere we can't see yet, and maybe we're not ready to soar today.
That's okay - sometimes faith is trusting the One who can see what we can't—and discovering that today, we can fly just a little farther than yesterday.
 
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible