Living Untethered: Relinquishing Control to God

  Many people in Western Canada are disappointed with the 2021 federal election results. It feels like our beloved country is racing toward the edge of a cliff. I wonder what God is up to. The bible is clear that God is in control of who leads the nations. What could he possibly have in mind for us? Sometimes it doesn’t feel like his plans are all that good. I do not know the answer to these musings. But I DO know one thing: the Church must rise up and live as citizens of heaven and ambassadors for Christ. We must stop putting our hope in the government and put it solidly on God! “ Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. ” ( Psalm 20:7–8 , NIV84) Could it be that the Church has become too comfortable and set in her ways? Could it be that God wants to rock her boat a little, so she takes note of what is really important and who is really in charge? On the ...

“[God] You are glorious and more majestic than the everlasting mountains. ” ( Psalm 76:4 , NLT) That verse stopped me in my tracks this morning. There is nothing quite like sitting beside a peaceful lake with the mountains in the background, to bring shalom to my soul. Our family has a favourite spot where we go camping whenever we get a chance. There is no cell reception back there and it is about the most peaceful place we have ever gone. I never get tired of sitting beside the pristine lake, gazing up at those majestic mountains. Mountains depict strength and majesty. They have been around since the beginning of creation. Generations come and go, while they stand unmoved by the busyness of mankind. They can stand against the worst storms assailing them. If they could talk, oh, the stories they could tell. Mountains represent endurance and timelessness, so much greater than anything the most brilliant of humans could build. Yet, as amazing as they are, even mountains crumble an...

  We were on our way home from our grandson’s grade nine graduation. We almost always go via Red Deer when we go see our daughter and her boys, but this time Tom decided he wanted to take the scenic route home. It takes about the same amount of time just has narrower highways, more stops and turns, and not as much traffic, etc. About five minutes north of highway 27, our last turn before we would be home, we saw this clump of cloth beside the road. “What was that?!”, I asked, a little shaken. Tom replied, “I think it was a person.” We had to turn back. What if the person was in need of assistance? If we end up having to call 911, we’ll be up all night. We had no idea what to expect but we knew we had to go back. When we pulled up to “the clump of cloth” it sat up. A young man waved enthusiastically and cheerfully at us. When we asked if he was okay, he replied, “Oh, I’m great. I just got very tired because I’ve been walking all day.” This young man was on his way to Calgary and...

  I don’t even know where to begin, I have so many thoughts chasing each other through my mind and my heart. Political uncertainty. Divisions in the church, community of believers, and families. The uncovering of the atrocities committed against our beautiful Indigenous peoples have rocked our country. Conspiracy theories abound all around me. There seems to be a clammouring for control in an out-of-control world. Someone should do something! We’re losing our rights and freedoms and we need to step up and fight to keep them. The level of anxiety has skyrocketed in this past year and a bit. I may sound angry or frustrated in this blog, but I don’t know how else to communicate the grief in my heart, I grieve as I observe the manner in which my fellow believers are responding to the chaos around the world, in our country, and our province. I’ve been accused of “just rolling over and ‘caving in’ to the government’s agenda” because I refuse to take up the banner of fighting for our fr...

  On January 6, 2021, I published a blog based on Psalm 136. My mom, inspired by what she read, decided to write her own version of the same psalm and sent me a copy. I filed it and forgot about it. It didn’t really register just how significant her psalm was until my niece read it at Mom’s memorial service. You see, Mom lost her battle with breast cancer on May 13, 2021, just a few weeks after she penned the last verse of her psalm. The Lord did not answer her prayer according to how we had hoped. There was no miraculous healing but rather an arduous short journey as cancer took her from us one day at a time. And yet we witnessed many miracles the greatest of which was the grace with which my mom died. She was full of gratitude for everything we did for her. So very quick to forgive those who had hurt her. Her sense of humour never waned. Though she had questions for God like, “Why are you waiting to take me home?” as she struggled to get enough air into the lungs that were fill...

  Grief. Here we go again. Just when I could finally breathe easier, I got another sucker punch. Like a litter of puppies tumbling all over each other as they wrestle to prove who is ‘top dog’, my emotions tumble over one another wresting to see which one will win out. Which one will surface this minute and which one the next? To be perfectly honest I have been pretty much on auto pilot ever since we were told that my Mom’s cancer was back. It is incurable, stage 4 breast cancer that has metastasized to her lungs. I live two provinces away with Covid restrictions refusing to ease up. When people ask me how I am doing, I have no idea how to answer. I’m angry, hopeful, frustrated, grateful, ready to ninja-punch someone or something, so very sad… One morning as I was pondering this grief journey, the Lord gave me a picture of a broken window. The glass was still intact, and light was coming through, but the view was distorted. It wasn’t until I got right up close to the glass that I...

  “ And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. ” ( Romans 8:28 , NLT) It will all come out in the wash…well at least that’s what I’ve been taught this verse means. That if you give your heart to Jesus, he will take all the crap in your life and make something good come out of it. As I studied the context of this verse with the help of Stuart Briscoe and   his commentary on the book of Romans, I’ve just uncovered a bit of a different application. The very next verse starts with ‘for’ which means that it is attached to this verse. If you have walked with God for any length of time you know He is good. The good that God is working is for (or in) those who love him. But stay with me a bit longer because the verse does not stop there. “…and are called according to His purpose for them…” What purpose? What does that even mean? “ For God knew his people in advance, and he chose t...