Category: Discouragement

3/19/2025 1 Comment

Overflowing Hope

L-R: Bill Wadley, Dan York, Laura Wadley

He had a pretty rough upbringing with three different mothers and two different fathers.[1] His dad was an alcoholic and gambling addict. His 16-year-old birth mom was a drug and alcohol abuser. At the age of five, he had to take care of three half-siblings in the apartment, and if anything was broken or went wrong, he was beaten. He was seventeen before he found out his stepdad was not his real father.

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9/5/2024 1 Comment

Too Much Pain

What is spiritual dishonesty? Could it be when I refuse to tell the Lord what I honestly think or feel? Might it involve minimizing pain before others to project hollow strength? If the fear of what people can think of me, if the truth is told, exceeds the actuality of my condition, I’ve robbed them and myself of what it means to be genuine. In perpetuating falsehood, no one is bettered, nor can healing occur. I wonder if the means to honesty is too much pain—something Job can help us grasp.

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6/5/2024 1 Comment

Humiliated

Chester* and his team of five saw that their boss, Attila, was in trouble. Without consulting his managers, Attila hastily overcommitted his company to fill an order of 1000 Demoplastique to a client with zero patience for lateness. Attila’s company experienced 600% growth since COVID and shipped to over 120 countries. Lately, however, they had more orders than they could fill in time, and a missed deadline with BroadStar could result in a slew of lawsuits because their CEO was a cutthroat, unforgiving leader.

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4/8/2024 0 Comments

Woodchoppers

He doesn’t care about me. If He did, I wouldn’t have all these problems. If He did, He would explain why life must be so challenging. If He did, I would be included and be part of a family instead of feeling alone, excluded, and misunderstood. Ferdi wrestles with a whole lot of insecure thoughts and emotions. His Venezuelan birth mom gave him up to an adoption agency. He’d lived in six different foster homes before his 18th birthday. Without ever knowing his real father, he struggled mightily to trust his Father in Heaven, whose Son he had put his faith in as a 26-year-old single dad. Hard living creates hard questions for the man who chops wood and sells firewood to pay bills and put food on his table. The name Ferdi means to be brave, but that is not always easy when life is a giant question mark.

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2/6/2024 1 Comment

You Must Be Quiet

I was talking to my stressed certified public accountant (CPA). It is that time of year when he prepares tax returns for all his clients. The strain on his face was palpable, so his answer was no surprise when I asked him what I could pray for him. “Ask God to relieve the stress and anxiety of this tax season.”

Eric requests prayer for Ben and Kelly’s failing marriage. Erwin needs intercession for his beloved wife, Sue’s deteriorating health. Jerry seeks wisdom in his job addressing conflicts with Iran, Russia, Ukraine, China, Taiwan, Israel, and Hamas. Nanette argues passionately for the right to see her grandson to the deaf ears of a drug-addicted daughter. Her prayer is for reconciliation and healing.

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8/2/2023 0 Comments

Thinking of You

When there is a death in the family, it is so encouraging to see people rally around and step up to provide support and comfort through meals, cards, flowers, phone calls, and just being present to listen, console, and encourage. The sting of death is not erased; the pain is real and sometimes overwhelming, but a caring community can and does make a difference.

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2/28/2023 0 Comments

From a Deeper Place

Hannah suffered from three places. First was the place of torment. She had a rival—a woman who taunted her severely to provoke her, often reducing her to tears and enflamed resentment. Second was the place of pain. She could not bear a child, which ate at her soul as she felt God’s withholding hand. Not even the encouragement of her loving husband could ease the ache she carried. Third was the place of misunderstanding. Eli, the priest, mistook Hannah’s silent prayer in her anguished worship. He saw her moving lips and thought she was drunk. Instead of investigating, he scolded her and told her to stop drinking.

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1/14/2023 8 Comments

Navigating the Christian Life

Author Geoff Davis

Over forty years ago, on April 1, 1982, I pinned on a US Army Ranger Tab. When I began that program on February 2, 1982, I started with some of the Army’s best soldiers. God used it as one of the most formative lessons in my walk with Him, so that I might know Him better.

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6/29/2022 0 Comments

Understanding Delay

I hope this is an encouraging word for someone—discouraged by delays, by the hiccups of life that seem insidious; by the time that goes too fast when you want it to be slow and too slow when you want it to be fast.

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1/28/2022 0 Comments

The Benefit of Help

Jennifer was suffering. Her finances languished after months of just getting past too many bills. Her favorite dog, Lightning, a family fixture for thirteen years, passed away. Her job required her to be vaccinated but she was allergic to the ingredients of the shot. Despite her doctor’s note exempting her, she was getting hassled by her coworkers. Yesterday her car broke down. Just how was she supposed to pay her mechanic for this unexpected disaster?

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10/1/2021 0 Comments

Not By Strength

Zerubbabel by lineage could have been a king of Judah in the line of David. Instead he served as a governor and one who was exalted by God. “‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, My servant’—this is the LORD’s declaration—'and make you like My signet ring, for I have chosen you.’ This is the declaration of the LORD of Hosts” (Haggai 2:23b). He was a great leader. Yet God made it clear through the prophet, Zechariah, that it was not Zerubbabel’s human power that accomplished God’ will, but rather God’s Spirit.

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8/28/2021 0 Comments

Withering

The Hebrew word navel, basically means wither or lose heart. It is used twenty times in the Old Testament. The word describes Moses in Exodus 18:18—warned about wearing out from trying to judge the people alone. Eleven times it refers to plants dying. Isaiah uses it to show people withering from sin (Isaiah 64:6). When you think of the condition of the world right now does it feel like it is withering? Such a thought should not be surprising for God warned us that this would happen.

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5/31/2021 0 Comments

Wilderness Lessons

If one were to find a synonym for wilderness in the Bible it would be fairly safe to substitute hardship. The Holman Christian Standard Bible uses the term wilderness 150 times.[1] The majority of references applied to Israel wandering through deserts that resulted in all but two adults over 40 dying and a whole lot of complaining and suffering. The fascinating thing is that God has a penchant for leading His people through wildernesses, to include His own Son (Matthew 4:1). Why does He do this?

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1/29/2021 0 Comments

Standing on the Rock

Meditation
Exodus 17:6—“I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

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7/9/2020 1 Comment

Crushed!

While working on getting a book published I still lacked the artwork and so I called Bruce,* my project manager, to find out the status. When he answered the phone, it was obvious by the tone in his voice that he was stressed. Instead of diving into my request, I asked him how he was doing. Bruce sighed and then shared. “I’m going through a divorce . . . my house flooded and I’m having to replace the flooring in several rooms and it is not covered by insurance. I’m not sure if I can get a loan. I have an ulcer . . . my mother died and left me her house in a trust but one of the trustees was dishonest and it turned out that there is a lien on the home for unpaid debt . . .

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6/18/2020 2 Comments

Despair: The Lord's Hand is Against Me

Ten times the word despair is used in the Holman Bible. Fittingly Job is the source of one third of them. The Psalmist cried out, “Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I waited for sympathy, but there was none; for comforters, but found no one” (Psa. 69:20). Despair is the stuff of hopelessness. It is a sinking feeling that saps one’s resolve. If not properly addressed it becomes the lingering glue of gloom.

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3/25/2020 1 Comment

Scared and Sustained

Have you ever been so afraid that you dropped everything you were doing and left everyone you knew to run and hide? Elijah did that and his petrified escape is an amazing story.

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12/24/2019 1 Comment

Johnny's Christmas

Silently a small figure sat shivering on the soft pine-covered earth tucked away from the wind in a grove of blue spruce. His tear-filled eyes gazed out across a small meadow where remnants of snow from the last storm lingered. He opened his knapsack and took out the curved white candle and remembered the last words of his frail mother. “Johnny, I love you so much. I’m proud of you. I want you to take this candle and keep it and remember—you are to be a light. No matter what happens, you keep shining? Promise?”

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10/25/2018 0 Comments

Three Tough Questions

Meditation
Job 7:19,20—Will You ever look away from me, or leave me alone long enough to swallow? If I have sinned, what have I done to You, Watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I have become a burden to You?

One of the things I love about the Bible is the raw honesty that it contains as people interact with God. You undoubtedly heard the story of Job and how God allowed Satan to sorely test him. Job was exasperated. The man who lived in wealth and privilege suddenly felt like a big target was drawn on his back. Nothing he could say or do would eliminate his suffering. Perhaps most discouraging was the fact that even his friends turned against him. Yet there is much we can learn from his questioning God.

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10/9/2018 0 Comments

Heartfelt

Candy and I spent most of the morning writing back and forth about questions regarding the definition of Christians and evangelicals and current events that troubled her. While we may not have the same political leanings that does not prevent us from having honest and prolonged discussion. She ended our time with kind words and greetings to my family. Candy is one of the most warm-hearted persons I know and it is always a privilege to be around her.

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