I’m now home from our 25th anniversary celebration in Clearwater Beach. Pondering storms and focus. Three of us four Rickers have been long-battling a fairly serious physical storm, even as we intentionally focus on the Son. Storms feel confusing. They don’t make sense. They’re a test. How do we get to the other side? What should we do? What now, what next? The list goes on. Here are a few short lessons I’ve learned from our storms. As always, I pray you’re somehow encouraged and blessed. When you start to feel overwhelmed, meditate on the Word and the good that …
Selfless Example
The fact that Jesus emptied and limited Himself when He came to earth, makes me wonder exactly how much the human part of Him grasped the extent of His imminent suffering. Jesus eagerly desired to save the world, but as the end drew near, as Jesus talked to His Father in a garden reminiscent of the one where the first Adam hid from His Father, as Jesus prepared to absorb in His sinless body all the sins of the world, all the wrath of His Father… His heart picked up, His hands trembled, blood-red beads of sweat awakened the raw …
Sore Spot
The Lord gives me tons of these phrases which I promptly post on Facebook to encourage people. Every now and again, it does the opposite and hits a sore spot. After a positive outpouring, I read this comment a woman named Angela posted: Why do I doubt this? 2 guys tried to break into my home 7 times… I chased after them once, they continued to harass me, I couldn’t sleep for a year and my nerves took years to recoup and only now do I feel a little better. Tonight I spend the night alone and ain’t going to lie, …
Missing Peace?
This morning while reading an email from a friend, the Lord distinctly dropped these words into my heart. I believe they’re also for you. “When I say ‘do not be anxious about anything,’ I mean anything. You need to cast aside regret about things you wish you had done differently. To regret something in the past is to be anxious about it. Instead, you need to commit those unnecessary burdens to Me so I can take care of them. As you pray and petition Me with thanksgiving, fully entrusting your burdens and requests to Me, I will establish peace in …
He Knows Better
Ask “I LOVE when you ask me questions.” God slips this in my spirit like sweet chocolate; and for a second, I wish my husband would say this too, but oh well. He isn’t God, my first love, and I’m glad. “Asking questions shows you trust Me with answers. It keeps us close.” Father, you’re as refreshing as a glass of ice water. You know I want to be close. “Drink deep of My wisdom. It’s your open invitation.” Lord, I love Your wisdom. May my family and I never be like Eve who saw the dangling fruit as a …
Spiritual Caulking
Ooo… Ahh… We have a brand spanking new bathroom. After gutting our old one, we put in a new one with the most beautiful floor to ceiling tiles and clean white vanity. That’s probably why our hearts hit the floor this morning when our son took a shower, went downstairs, and discovered a major leak from the new bathroom above. “No!!!” Morning Surprise We opened the closet, shone a flashlight on and around the pipes behind the new tub, and everything was drenched, especially our new so-called “drywall.” How could this be, Lord? Don’t we have enough fires to put …
Beautifully Illogical
When it comes to prayer, we’ve all been struck by hardballs of disappointment. And when we don’t see results, we’re tempted to lower our expectations, hopes, and dreams. After all, what if God doesn’t come through the next time? I’d better protect my heart and accept my circumstances the way they are. Do you hear that whisper? Where does it come from? It comes from the spirit of fear who wants to keep us from believing the God of miracles. God is bigger than our disappointments, fears, and present situations. IF God can do anything, he can surely move …
Help, I’m Dying!
In speaking of Ema McKinley’s amazing modern day miracle, people ask, “Why did God wait eight long hours before appearing to Ema to heal her? For that matter, why did he wait eighteen years?” Who knows… The point is, Jesus showed up and healed her crippled body from head to toe. After hours on the floor, I’m sure she wondered if she might be dying. Then Jesus suddenly showed up and stood over her helpless body, saying, “Ema, give me your hand.” With her hands in his, He raised her to her feet. Rivers of love passed between them. Just …
Cumulus Glory
Seeing this wild cloud formation yesterday afternoon reminded me how we’re constantly in a battle between light and darkness. Will we say “yes” to the dark sweeping clouds of sin and let them swoop down and threaten our sky, or will we learn to hate what is evil and cling to what is good? A big white cloud of witnesses watches. Our ever-present Savior eagerly waits to help us deal with enemy darkness in its various changing forms. God gives us the gift of choice. So what will we do? [box] Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come …
Closer Than You Think
I’m as close as the mention of My name. Not even an inch can separate us. I blanket you with everything in Me and all I want is your love. You don’t have to jump high hoops to reach My approval. I approved you the moment I made you, and I don’t make mistakes. Here’s what I do with mistakes when you slip them in my hand: I turn them into dazzling diamonds—God-glorifying gems in the crown of your tested testimony. The more you see how much I treasure our closeness, the more you’ll treasure Me and rise to the …
Raging Seas
Shaken Heart Waves ride high, licking the sides of your boat, toppling inside. Water deepens, clawing tightness in your chest. Jesus had snatched this boat at the end of a long, crowd-saturated day, so he could reach the other side of the sea. With Jesus asleep now, you feel abandoned. Must you and your friends battle this storm by yourselves? In a howling gust, your boat couldn’t be more tossed and you know you’re going to drown. What in the world? Shouldn’t Jesus at least see this mess he threw you into? Winds roar so loud you can hardly hear …
And The Lord Says…
I awaken in the middle of the night, fear-struck and wondering, “How will I finish this task when it’s so much bigger than I am?” And the Lord says, “Nothing is bigger than I AM.” Hovering close, His feathery Spirit slips truth into my worry-weighted one. In healing waves, He pours Himself, freely. So what can I do but freely receive… [box] My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9[/box] Lord, it’s a battle, this worry habit. After so many years of practice, I wonder if I’m too good at it. “Practice letting …
Broken Doors
“I’m tired of our latch-dysfunction,” I told my husband. Our van’s power doors took an early retirement, so we need to manually wrestle them open and closed. “It’s good for your muscles,” we tell the boys. But during Minnesota winters, the doors take turns freezing shut. Until we’re driving; that’s when they fly open! Thus, our “discussion.” Can we afford it? No. Can I afford the anxiety of these surprise door openings? No. In the middle of getting nowhere, I pled my case to God. “I feel helpless, but God’s going to make a way,” I told Dwight. “I’ve been …
Missing: Jesus Keys
My Simple Request It’s amazing the things you find when you’re looking for other things. After a month and a half of phone calls and house rampages for a pair of lost keys, I wondered if I should give up and buy new ones. With two Toyota keys and remotes, however, the replacement cost could be over $500. I decided to keep looking and praying. “God, I know you know where my keys are. Can you please tell me… I know they’re safe with you, and I thank you in advance because I really think you want to bring them …
Scars of Trust
It felt like a punch in the gut. My husband and I wrote this for the classifieds: FREE older playground set, complete with swings, slide, and climbing fort. First person to pick it up, gets it! We fielded constant calls before a couple finally padded across our lawn, inspecting their potential treasure. “Oooh…” they gushed. “Our kids will looove it! But we can’t pick it up until Monday. Is that ok?” The couple won us over, so we deviated from our first-picker-upper-gets-it plan. We shook on it, and it was a done deal for Monday. We thought. Monday was family …
Good Morning Thinking
I wake up early. Too early I think. My brain’s still trying to unravel my dream, separate the uglies from reality. No, my husband doesn’t have a problem with that any more. And yes, he still loves me. But ok, I’ll say a quick prayer for his strengthening. I watch him under the glow of the digital clock, his chest rising and falling, his snores gentle for once. Why am I awake? I feel the pull of the Spirit. In the same way hunger awakens me after a workout, some part of me, my spirit I think, starts to hunger …
Ok, God, I’m Listening
Prayer with a friend stopped short when I received a call from the school secretary saying, “Justin was in an accident during gym class.” Racing for the soccer ball in a one-on-one game against time, my eleven-year old collided heads with another boy. Arriving at the nurse’s office, my son lay flopped on her bench with an icepack to the back of his head, eyes glazed. The doctor said he suffered a concussion. A CT scan showed a fracture to his temporal bone, the part of his skull behind the ear. My pastor’s words rang in my spirit, dangling with …
Who’s At The Wheel?
Be still, and know that I am God! Psalm 46:10 Be still in this restless world? Is it even possible? Perhaps not. Unless we let God do the stilling in us. Be still, and know that I am God! Maybe if he does the stilling while we do the knowing, we’ll get somewhere. Somewhere serene on this sacred journey to stillness. Be still, and know that I am God! Why in the world is this taking forever? Are we there yet? Daddy, Sally’s wiggling in her car seat, and Bobby took my doll! Daddy, I’ve got to go pee! Chill. …
Can-Do Attitude
The power of positive thinking jumps to a whole new level when we add the Christ-factor. “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Phil 4:13 When we’re in His will, He strengthens us to do everything. What could be more positive? Some say, “I know He wants us to love all people, even difficult people, and to praise him in the midst of all circumstances, even crazy family circumstances, but do you really think it’s possible to stay Christ-like, self-controlled and patient when life falls apart?” As a sensitive, easily-rattled person prone to ask this herself, …
The Beautiful Choice
Choices…. [box] God could have made us robots, marching to His heart, forced to love completely, obeying from the start. Instead He made us separate, with built-in modes for choice, so love would prove more precious when we finally hear His voice…[/box] I wrote this as a young teen in the trenches of a choices… I was the girl who believed if someone didn’t like her, there was something terribly wrong with her. Have you ever met someone who was so insecure about relationships that she sometimes controlled, manipulated, and strangled them? Love, by nature, can’t be forced; it necessitates choice. …