Wayne Stiles's Blog, page 42
August 14, 2017
Banias Falls—Where Your Overwhelming Despair Meets its Hope
How Jesus’ resurrection gives the solution to the despair we feel.
Sometimes despair can wash over us like a wall of water. One moment we’re dry—the next, we’re dripping with discouragement. I’m talking about an overwhelming sense that it will never get any better.
(Photo: Banias Falls. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
“What if,” to quote Jack Nicholson, “this is as good as it gets?” I don’t know about you, but despair can be one of my greatest struggles. In those moments, I...
August 9, 2017
How to Keep Going When You Can’t Keep Going
Remember that any victory presupposes a struggle in your life.
You’re not stuck. If God has you in a place where your gifts are not fully utilized, or if you feel set aside in God’s grand plan, or if those around you have marginalized you, trivialized you, or flat-out rejected you, I understand how tough that is.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
But you’re not stuck. God isn’t done with you. (If he were, you’d be dead.)
Here’s what perseverance looks like when you can’t keep going.
August 7, 2017
Israel’s International Highway—A Picture of Your Influence
Always ask yourself: Who is influencing whom?
Where God places us is no accident. Throughout biblical history, the land of Israel sat in an amazingly strategic position as the only intercontinental land bridge between the superpowers of the ancient world.
The most important international highway of the Fertile Crescent ran the length of the land of Israel.
(Photo: The Via Maris ran beside ancient Tel Hazor. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Some call this international highway...
August 4, 2017
How to Keep Your Spiritual Horse from Racing to the Barn
Our greatest motivation to obey comes from a better place than fear.
Have you ever ridden a horse that wanted to run for the barn? You have to keep constant tension on the reins, and never for one moment relax your grip. Actually, you’re riding that horse right now.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
I remember once as a boy riding a horse on my grandfather’s farm. The horse figured out he could go to the barn whether I wanted him to or not. So, off he (not we) started running! After about 60-seco...
July 31, 2017
How Gethsemane Helps Stretch Your Prayers Past Your Pain
By asking only for relief, we may miss a surprising blessing.
It’s possible your prayers don’t go far enough. Maybe they need some stretching. I know mine do. Often our prayers begin and end with asking God to change the way things are around us.
(Photo: Mosaic of Jesus praying in Gethsemane. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Our prayers have a familiar pattern:
“Provide enough money this month” “Protect us as we travel” “Heal my friend from pain” —etc.These are fine praye...
July 26, 2017
How Sending a Thank-You Note Empowers You
You have the power of encouragement at your fingertips.
Think about one person who has inspired you, encouraged you, or helped you. Got that person in your mind? Now, let me ask you a question: Have you ever sent a thank-you note to that person?
(Photo: Vivozoom)
Not long ago a client sent a thank-you note to the editors in our department, expressing appreciation for their excellent work. The client told me of the editors’ surprising reply: “No one has ever thanked us before.”
That tragic sta...
July 24, 2017
What to Do When God Gives You a Hard Command
Why God Teaches You the Same Thing Over and Over Again
What God teaches us in one area of life we can easily miss in another area. So God has to repeat Himself. But sometimes the connection isn’t so easy for us to make.
(Photo: Waves crash ashore on the Sea of Galilee. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Jesus performed more miracles in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee than any other place in His ministry. Standing on its shores, one can easily see across the shallow lake. The...
July 19, 2017
Can You Tell the Difference between a Test and a Temptation?
Either way, our reaction should be the same.
Sometimes it’s tough to tell whether we’re facing a test or a temptation. Situations of struggle don’t always come with a label to clue us in on the source. They key is to know the different purposes of each.
(Photo courtesy of Ben White at Unsplash)
A great example is the road tests automakers perform on one another. As objective as the tests claim to be, the goals remain clear. GM tests Ford to show Ford’s weaknesses. GM tests GM to show its st...
July 17, 2017
Mahanaim Teaches Us What to Do with Our Fears
God’s presence is with us long before our spiritual struggle arrives.
We are afraid sometimes, because we think we know what will happen. But the real source of our real fears isn’t in what we see—but in what we don’t see.
(Photo: Mahanaim and fords of Jabbok. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Our spiritual lives hold the solution to our fears. That’s what happened with Jacob.
Returning to the land of Canaan forced Jacob to face a problem he had run from 20 years earlier—his...
July 12, 2017
Kadesh Barnea—How to Follow and Not Get Ahead of God’s Will
Why our goal is not a place to go, but to journey beside God.
Which seems worse to you? Refusing to follow God even though He promises success, or stubbornly pressing forward without Him? Sometimes it’s tough to tell the difference.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com)
God’s people swung on both extremes of this pendulum in the course of one day.
What their experience teaches us can guide us as we anticipate the future God has for us.
Better still, get my full posts t...
