Year of the Bible

The more we live, the more we understand that things are not black and white—that life is complex and messy most of the time. When it comes to faith, categorizing to avoid confusion and ambiguity seems paramount.

John 16:33 is the verse that I have held on to. My grandpa’s passing was just one of the many trials I’ll face in life.

These verses make me think of myself standing on a large stage with the whole world watching me. Everything I say has an impact and a meaning to every person, young and old. Because of this, I must choose my words wisely and point others to Christ.

Every summer, for the first 8 years of my life, our family drove from our home in the metro-Detroit area down to our family farm in Boone, N.C. While our summer trips to Boone continued, I dreaded them. It seemed as if Grandma Annie detested me, and my heart began to grow cold.

When I knocked on his door 30 years ago, I never imagined the conversation we had would impact me to this day. I asked, “Pastor, if you had to give one piece of advice on how to live a life like yours, what would it be?”

Sometimes friends, spouses and parents don’t completely understand what we are going through, but God does, and He cares. How comforting it is to know that wherever we go, God is there with us.

When I came across this text, I instantly connected with it. God asks me to give Him my worries and anxieties and then promises that He will never let me be shaken.

These verses challenged me to try to understand the heart-faith change God was seeking, and this became my daily reading.

God’s thinking and ways are not ours (Isaiah 55:8). He is infinite. We are finite. He is far beyond our vaunted logic, reason and sense of fairness.

I am not supposed to worry about tomorrow, but still, I tend to worry.