There you are. You beautiful thing you. Someone wanted you dead before you were even born. Still, here you are. Not in spite of suffering, or out of spite toward everyone who accused and betrayed you. No. You’re soft. Curious. Receptive. You don’t give your heart in pieces. You give your blazing, expansive heart, bursting […]
Forget Jerusalem
“How can we sing the LORD’S song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.” An impossibly thin silver chain […]
I Was the Other Woman
Imagine someone built a luxurious home on an upscale lake shore property and gave it to you outright. How would you respond? What would prevent you from enjoying such an extravagant gift? Recently our family stayed in a house like that. When we drove up oooo-ing and ahhh-ing, we had no idea this stately historic […]
Mud in Your Eyes
Come sit next to me and let me confess something to you. But first, let me ask you something: Have you ever clung tightly to a biblical truth, and later realized you weren’t grasping the whole truth after all? Without ever meaning to, I misunderstood God’s word and used it against the person who is […]
The Midwife and the Stripper
“The voice of the LORD makes the deer calve and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everything says, ‘Glory!’” You know that idea of the cosmic watchmaker, who wound up the universe and walked away? I don’t buy it. This verse illustrates why, describing how God’s voice engages with creation in an intimate, […]
Where God Speaks
When you hear the word wilderness what comes to mind? Here are some of the most common responses I hear from other believers: barren lost desolate wandering forsaken wasteland And that pretty much sums up how I used to think of the wilderness. Being there meant I had messed up or missed out. God went […]
That time Jesus Used a Racial Slur
For the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at each breathtaking, heartbreaking description of God’s voice in Ps. 29. Each one is so personal and so universal, and this is no exception: “The voice of the LORD divides flames of fire” This verse is translated a few different ways because, even though the word for […]
Why Does God Break what’s Working to Heal what’s Broken?
For weeks I’ve been wrestling with these few words, trying to unpack what’s going on here: “The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars…” Here’s why it’s complicated: Several times in the Bible cedars symbolize worldly might and power, specifically power that sets itself up against God. And the first two letters in the Hebrew […]
A Majestic Voice and an Open Door
“The voice of the LORD is majestic.“ The word “Majestic” always felt like the Grand Canyon to me: distant and impossibly vast. It’s inspiring, but in the way that images of eagles soaring toward the sunset with motivational quotes are inspiring. It leaves me cold. God is impossibly vast. And we each need to […]
Why Are We Playing Fetch in a Minefield?
I was a dog in a field. Again and again God threw a stick and asked me to fetch. Each time I heard the excitement in his voice, and ran after the stick with everything in me. Then I felt a tug, and realized I was chained. Each time, the chain ran out before I […]