Tag Archives: Christianity

Here, for Such a Time as This

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Who did God create you to be?

Do you know His plan for you?

Do you compare yourself to the world?

As I think about these questions, my mind goes to Esther 4:14: “…for such a time as this.”

I know God has a plan, a purpose, and a process for me. I know I am loved. I know I am chosen. I know I am forgiven. For me, all of this really matters. But then, I have to ask, “Am I immune to the world?” The answer is a resounding NO! I am tempted and distracted by the same things you are.

Let me tell you something that recently happened.

I am very active in the worship and music activities at my church. I never want any service to become the Marie Show. I want my part in worship to be all about God.

Last evening, I went to Facebook to see what my friends and family had been doing. The first thing that popped up was a collection of pictures from a past worship service. There I was, in four of the ten pictures. Not only was I prominently featured, but the outfit I was wearing looked horrible. Am I immune to the world? NO!

And here’s the thing; the evil one can use something as simple as a picture to get me thinking that I’m not what God says I am. Here’s another thing: I will not let him. I will become the woman God wants me to be. I will remember that I am God’s daughter. I will remember that I am welcome in God’s home and He is preparing a place for me for all eternity.

And most of all, I will remember that He loves me. The real me. Not the one in those pictures. Not the Marie the world thinks it sees. Not even the me I sometimes wish I were. The real me!

And guess what! He loves the real you!

So who did God create You to be? Be the real woman. Be the real man.

…for such a time as this!

I am joining a great group of Christian writers at 5-Minute Friday. We write for 5 minutes each Friday (sometimes longer). You can read the other writers posts and share your own here: https://fiveminutefriday.com

When Life Is Disrupted, God Is Not

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I’ve been thinking a lot about disruption lately. Maybe because I’ve experienced it in more ways than I care to count.

Sometimes God disrupts our plans.

A door closes. A direction changes. Something we were certain about suddenly isn’t certain at all. We may call it an interruption. God may call it an invitation. What feels like a disruption to me may be His gentle—or sometimes not-so-gentle—way of moving me to a place I would not have chosen. (Proverbs 16:9)

Sometimes people disrupt our peace.

I cannot control what another person says, does, believes, or chooses, yet I can choose where to take the turmoil that’s left behind. Those actions are often disruptive, but no one has the authority to take away the peace Christ gives. (John 14:27)

Sometimes circumstances disrupt our understanding.

We pray, and nothing seems to change. We believe God’s Word, yet what we see doesn’t seem to match what we know to be true. We ask Why? and there is no answer. We look for the next step and cannot see it. Sometimes faith means standing in the middle of what we don’t understand and saying, “Lord, I don’t understand this. But I do trust You.” (Proverbs 3:5–6)


But none of them can disrupt God’s sovereignty.

Plans may change. Peace can be shaken. Understanding is nowhere to be found, but God remains God.

Maybe this is where disruption becomes something different. Maybe it’s not something I have to understand, but something I can surrender to El Roi (My God who sees). Whatever caused the disruption does not have the final word. God grows us through the changes and circumstances of our lives.

Trust Him! No matter what caused the disruption, God has the final word. (Psalm 115:3)

I am joining a great group of Christian writers at 5-Minute Friday. We write for 5 minutes each Friday (sometimes longer). You can read the other writers posts and share your own here https://fiveminutefriday.com

The Wrong Voice

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Sometimes a single word says it all. Today’s word, short, does exactly that.

Eve fell short of obeying God’s one simple instruction, and every one of us has done the same.

Eve didn’t fall because she ate the fruit. She fell because she listened to the wrong voice.

God didn’t give Adam and Eve pages of rules. He gave them one clear command: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

The serpent questioned God’s Word, and Eve listened. One conversation. One choice. One bite. That single act of disobedience changed the world.

Most of us don’t wake up thinking, Today I’m going to gossip, or I’m going to ignore my neighbor who needs help. Sin rarely begins with a dramatic decision. More often, it begins with one small compromise—one little step away from what we already know God has said.

Satan delights in this kind of disobedience. He rarely tempts us with giant leaps. More often, he whispers us into taking one little step away from God’s Word. That’s how the enemy works. He doesn’t usually push us off the cliff. He simply whispers until his voice becomes louder than God’s.

Here’s the good news. We all fall short, but we know the One who never did. Jesus’ perfect obedience covers our imperfect lives. When we confess our sin, He forgives us, restores us, and lovingly leads us back to Himself.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24

I am joining a great group of Christian writers at 5-Minute Friday. We write for 5 minutes each Friday (sometimes longer). You can share your blog here https://fiveminutefriday.com/2026/07/02/fmf-writing-prompt-link-up-outcome/

The Vibe May Change…

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A couple of days ago, I spent hours trying to figure out why the “Follow Me” button had disappeared from my blog. With the help of my AI assistant, I checked settings and lists, tried everything I could think of, and followed every suggestion. I knew the answer had to be somewhere in the program.

I could see the follow box. I could see the list of followers. Everything seemed to be there, yet the button refused to appear on my posts.

Then I discovered a list of buttons that had somehow been switched off. All I had to do was turn one setting back on, and voilà—my button was restored.

That little adventure made me think about our relationship with God.

Sometimes we experience a sense of goneness. We pray, worship, and read Scripture, yet God feels distant. We wonder, I’m here. Where is He? We can’t feel the vibe of His presence, so we begin to assume something has gone wrong.

But feelings are not facts.

God is faithful and always keeps His word. David wrote in Psalm 139:7-10, “Where can I flee from Your presence?” The answer is nowhere. Joshua reminds us in Joshua 1:9 that “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” And Jesus promised in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The bottom line is this: God hasn’t gone anywhere.

When His presence seems hidden, the problem isn’t that He has disappeared. More often, we’ve become distracted, discouraged, or focused on the wrong things. The connection is still there because He is still there.

In Isaiah 41:8-10, God makes this promise:

“You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off;
fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

The vibe may change.

God never does.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up

When Gratitude Becomes Worship

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Giving thanks for who God is, what He has done, and what He will continue to do for us should be as natural as breathing. Yet, if we’re honest, we often need reminders.

Every book on prayer I’ve ever read encourages believers to include thanksgiving in every prayer. More importantly, Scripture does the same. Passages such as Philippians 4:6-7 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 call us to live with grateful hearts and offer thanks in all circumstances.

During a past worship service, we shared what was called a “Wave of Thanks.” While it wasn’t the same kind of wave offering described in Exodus 29:24, the idea was similar. One by one, people offered words of gratitude before the Lord.

Many of the blessings mentioned were familiar and precious: family, new babies, new homes, faithful friends, our church family, and, of course, Jesus and the salvation He freely gives. Others spoke of God’s faithfulness through difficult seasons. We have witnessed cancer in some of its ugliest forms, yet we have also seen God intervene with His healing touch.

One expression of thanks, in particular, captured my attention: the miracle of life.

Within our church family, we have seen life-threatening traumatic brain injuries, including one that resulted in a coma. Humanly speaking, the outcomes could have been very different. Yet both men survived and are living life to the fullest today. What a testimony to God’s sustaining grace!

The words of an old hymn came to mind:

“Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God the Creator triumphantly raise,
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who guideth us on to the end of our days.”

Even more amazing, our Creator has offered us more than physical life. Through Jesus Christ, He has made eternal life available to all who believe. The greatest miracle is not simply that we live today, but that we can live forever with Him.

Prayer

Lord God, Creator of Life, thank You for the gift of every breath and every day. Thank You for sustaining us through trials, healing us when we are broken, and reminding us of Your faithfulness. Most of all, thank You for the eternal life found in Jesus Christ.

Give us the desire and courage to live fully for You. Let us never lose our sense of wonder. Help us never to take Your blessings for granted, and never let us forget the greatest gift of all—the life we have through Your Son. Make it so in Jesus’ name!

The hymn “Let All Things Now Living” was written by Katherine K. Davis and set to the traditional Welsh melody “The Ash Grove.”

This is an edit of a post originally posted on 11.23.2011.