MAY 9, 2026

 “Our identity rests in God's relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ.”  

― Brennan Manning, Abba's Child

1 KINGS 19-20

1Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”3Elijah was afraid^a and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

JOHN 2

6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.^b7Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.8Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, 9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”11What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 

JOURNAL 

What struck me after watching Remarkably Bright Creatures was not just the loneliness in the story, but the hidden depth inside every person. Yesterday I wrote about the pain of being misunderstood and how quickly that can stir anger in me. Today I’m thinking about the opposite reality…how often I misunderstand others. How often I assume I know someone based on a moment, a reaction, a failure, or even a success, when in truth I have no idea what battles shaped them. I do not know their private griefs, their fears, their disappointments, the dreams that quietly died, or the sacrifices they made that no one ever noticed. I also do not know the beautiful ways they have loved others when nobody was looking.

The older I get, the more I realize that every human being carries an entire universe within them. Every person is remarkably complex. Every person has scars, memories, hopes, contradictions, and hidden acts of courage. To claim that I fully know another person is actually an incredibly arrogant thing. At best, I only see fragments.

What amazes me about scripture is how deeply God understands the full story of a person and yet responds with tenderness instead of condemnation. Elijah runs in fear after witnessing miraculous power from God, collapsing under exhaustion and despair beneath a broom tree. God does not shame him for weakness. He feeds him. He lets him rest. He tends to him gently in the middle of fear and confusion.

Then in Cana, at what could seem like a trivial social embarrassment, Jesus quietly turns water into wine. The miracle itself is astonishing, but what moves me most is the sensitivity behind it. Jesus cared about the embarrassment of a family hosting a wedding feast. He cared about joy. He cared about people having enough. And most of the room never even knew what He had done. Only the servants saw it. The miracle happened quietly, almost hidden, which feels like such a picture of how love often works.

That is the heart of God. Powerful beyond comprehension, yet deeply attentive to the smallest wounds and needs. The God who commands storms is also the God who notices exhausted prophets and anxious wedding hosts.

I think about Brennan Manning’s words: “Our identity rests in God’s relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ.” That tenderness changes how I should see people. If God Himself handles broken humanity with compassion and patience, then who am I to quickly dismiss, define, or reduce another person?

Even the relationship between Jesus and Mary reveals this beautiful tenderness. The perfect Son of God chose to enter humanity through the care of an imperfect mother. From birth to death, Mary remained near Him. There is something profoundly moving about the idea that divine love was expressed through ordinary human tenderness. The all-powerful God allowed Himself to be held, comforted, nurtured, and loved.

Maybe that is part of the great mystery of life. We are all far more fragile and far more remarkable than we appear on the surface. Every person I encounter is carrying a story I cannot fully see. Every person is someone God has pursued, tended, and loved in ways I will never completely understand.

And maybe wisdom begins the moment I stop assuming I fully know anyone at all.

12“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. 

Matthew 18:12-14

MAY 8, 2026

  “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” 

― Winston S. Churchill, Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches

1 KINGS 16-18

36At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”38Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.39When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” (18:36-39)

JOHN 1:29-51

 35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”39“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.40Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter^g ).

JOURNAL

Yesterday I had an encounter that shook me a little. Nothing catastrophic happened. The world did not fall apart. But I felt misunderstood, and for me that has a way of setting off alarms deep in my heart and mind. It touched old wounds I probably carry more than I realize. I could feel how quickly that feeling can turn into defensiveness, frustration, and reactions heavier than what the actual moment deserves. It reminded me how dangerous it can be when my identity becomes too attached to being understood correctly by everyone around me.

The truth is, we are all going to be misunderstood at times. No matter how sincere we are, how careful we try to be, or how much we desire peace, there will still be moments where people see us incorrectly. And when I look at Scripture, that reality becomes impossible to ignore. Jesus Himself was misunderstood constantly. The Son of God, perfect in truth and love, was falsely accused, rejected, abandoned, and ultimately executed. And somehow, even that was within the sovereignty of God. That is difficult to fully comprehend. Yet there is something unbelievably beautiful inside that truth. Love still endured. Love still conquered. Love did not retreat, harden, or quit. It persisted through betrayal, suffering, misunderstanding, and death itself.

That same love still persists today. It moves through broken people like us. It calls us higher when our pride wants to defend itself. It reminds us that being misunderstood is not the end of the story. Sometimes it is actually part of the refining.

I think about Elijah standing alone on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18. Surrounded by opposition and a culture that had turned away from God, he still stood firm in obedience. He did not control how people perceived him. He simply trusted God enough to remain faithful. And when the fire fell from heaven, it was not ultimately about Elijah being vindicated. It was about revealing the truth and turning hearts back to God.

Then in John 1, I see Jesus quietly calling ordinary men into something eternal. Andrew follows Him after hearing only a few words from John the Baptist: “Look, the Lamb of God.” Jesus simply says, “Come and see.” And when Simon arrives, Jesus immediately renames him Peter, speaking identity and purpose into him before Peter had accomplished anything at all. Jesus saw beyond weakness, confusion, failure, and misunderstanding. He saw what Peter could become.

That comforts me deeply because it reminds me that God knows me fully, even when others do not. He understands motives, wounds, fears, and intentions better than I ever could explain them. I do not have to spend my life trying to force everyone into understanding me perfectly. That is an exhausting burden God never asked me to carry.

What He asks instead is faithfulness. Humility. Love. The willingness to keep showing up with grace even when old wounds flare up and pride wants to fight back.

And honestly, maybe those moments reveal something important. Maybe they expose places where my heart still longs too desperately for approval, validation, or control. Maybe God uses misunderstanding the same way He uses difficulty, suffering, and stretching. Not to destroy us, but to refine us. To teach us how to love without conditions. To trust without constant reassurance. To remain grounded even when emotions rise up.

Because love that only survives easy circumstances is fragile love. But love that persists through disappointment, rejection, misunderstanding, and pain begins to resemble the heart of Christ.

Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

That means misunderstanding does not get the final word. Fear does not get the final word. Old wounds do not get the final word.

Love does.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 

JOHN 16:33

MAY 7, 2026

  "Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy."  

― Kahlil Gibran

1 KINGS 14-15

11Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done. 12He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made. 13He even deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 15He brought into the temple of the Lord the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.

JOHN 1:1-28

 9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 

JOURNAL

Lately I have been confronted with the difficulty of work in a deeper way than I expected. Rejection, silence, uncertainty, and effort without immediate results can wear on the soul if we are not careful. There are moments where discouragement creeps in and whispers that if the reward is not coming quickly enough then maybe the work itself is not worth it. But the more I sit with that tension, the more I realize that God never intended work to simply be a mechanism for reward. Work itself is a blessing because it shapes us. It exposes us. It teaches us obedience, endurance, humility, and faithfulness.

Most of us naturally want satisfaction now. We want affirmation, visible progress, recognition, and reassurance that our labor matters. Yet some of the deepest work God does within us happens precisely when those things are absent. In those moments we are forced to confront why we are working in the first place. Are we working only to receive something back, or can we learn to work from obedience, gratitude, and love? That is what strikes me so deeply about Jesus in John 1. The Creator of the universe stepped into his own creation and the world did not recognize him. He came to his own people and many rejected him. He healed people who still doubted him, loved people who betrayed him, and served people who mocked him. Yet he kept going because his purpose was rooted in the Father, not in the approval of man.

That truth confronts me because I can see how easily my own motivation becomes attached to outcomes. Rejection has a way of exposing idols. It reveals how much of my peace can become dependent upon success, comfort, affirmation, or visible results. King Asa in 1 Kings remained fully committed to the Lord even when obedience required discomfort, sacrifice, and difficult decisions. He removed idols and confronted corruption because faithfulness mattered more than convenience. That same invitation stands before all of us. To continue working with integrity when no one notices. To continue serving when there is no immediate return. To continue giving our best even when the outcome feels uncertain.

What I am beginning to realize is that there is a hidden joy found in that kind of obedience. When I stop demanding that work constantly reward me, I become free to experience the joy hidden inside the work itself. The joy of discipline. The joy of surrender. The joy of becoming someone who remains faithful regardless of circumstance. That kind of joy cannot be taken away because it is no longer dependent upon results. It is rooted in purpose. Rooted in obedience. Rooted in God himself.

"Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men..." 

COLOSSIANS 3:23

MAY 6, 2026

   “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”  

― J.K. Rowling

1 KINGS 12-13

26Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

28After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 29One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.^d

LUKE 24:1-35

45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

JOURNAL

Our lives are shaped far more by our daily choices than by our talent, intelligence, or intentions. Every commitment we keep to ourselves strengthens something inside of us. Every commitment we repeatedly break weakens something inside of us. That is true even in the smallest areas of life.

When we continually choose comfort over discipline, avoidance over responsibility, or immediate pleasure over long term purpose, it slowly affects our psyche. We may think those little compromises are harmless, but over time they reshape the way we see ourselves. We begin to lose trust in our own word. Motivation fades because motivation is often connected to integrity. Joy fades because deep joy is connected to purpose, growth, and honesty. Discipline weakens because the mind begins to normalize escape instead of perseverance.

That path becomes dangerous because once we train ourselves to seek relief above truth, we begin craving the easy way out in more areas of life. We start self-serving rather than living with courage and responsibility. Addiction often grows from this exact place. So does anxiety, bitterness, apathy, and destruction. We can slowly become people who are ruled by impulse instead of conviction. The tragedy is that this erosion rarely happens all at once. It happens through thousands of tiny decisions.

Jeroboam’s story reflects this perfectly. His downfall did not begin with golden calves. It began with fear, insecurity, and self-preservation. He did not trust God enough to remain obedient, so he created a more convenient version of worship that protected his own power and comfort. He chose what was easier instead of what was true. Those choices did not just affect him. They affected an entire nation.

The same principle exists in our lives today. Every choice is shaping us into someone. We are either becoming more grounded, disciplined, honest, loving, and courageous, or we are becoming more enslaved to comfort, fear, distraction, and self-indulgence. There is no neutral ground.

In Luke 24, Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. These were ordinary and frightened men, yet they would become bold and transformed because God would dwell within them. That same truth exists for us. God does not ask us to white-knuckle our way through life by sheer willpower alone. He calls us to surrender daily, to walk in truth, and to allow His Spirit to strengthen what our flesh constantly wants to weaken.

The encouraging part is that the opposite is also true. Small acts of integrity strengthen the soul. Keeping your word matters. Getting up when you said you would matters. Exercising discipline when nobody is watching matters. Choosing honesty matters. Refusing to numb yourself matters. Serving others matters. Daily obedience slowly rebuilds confidence, clarity, peace, and joy because we were designed to live aligned with truth.

Who we become tomorrow is being shaped by what we repeatedly choose today.

In God, whose word I praise, In the LORD, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? 

PSALM 56:10-12

MAY 5, 2026

   "Are you capable of forgiving and accepting in love a world which has disappointed you by not being perfect, a world in which there is so much unfairness and cruelty, disease and crime, earthquake and accident? Can you forgive its imperfections and love it because it is capable of containing great beauty and goodness, and because it is the only world we have?...And if you can do these things, will you be able to recognize that the ability to forgive and the ability to love are the weapons God has given us to enable us to live fully, bravely and meaningfully in this less-than-perfect world?” 

― Harold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People

1 KINGS 10-11

1King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.(11:1-6)

LUKE 24:1-35

1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8Then they remembered his words.

9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

JOURNAL 

It is so easy to get consumed with the challenges of life. Not just distracted by them, but absorbed to the point where they begin to define how we see everything. There are moments when I catch myself wishing it all away, imagining a version of life where there are no problems, no tension, no uncertainty. A life where everything works out exactly how I want it to. On the surface that feels appealing, even justified. But the more I sit with it, the more I see the danger in that way of thinking.

That version of life is not real. And when I begin to expect it, I set myself up to become frustrated, bitter, and even angry when reality does not cooperate. The deeper issue is that many of my wants are not grounded in truth. They are shaped by comfort, control, and self-interest. I want ease. I want clarity. I want outcomes that favor me. But life does not operate on my preferences, and Scripture never pretends that it does.

When I look at Solomon, I do not just see a man who made poor choices. I see someone who had everything most people believe would eliminate struggle. Wisdom, wealth, influence, favor. Yet even he drifted. His story is not unrealistic. It is painfully honest. It reminds me that the problem is not external circumstances alone. It is the condition of the heart. Even in the best situations, the heart can wander when it is not anchored in truth.

David’s life shows something similar. A man after God’s own heart who still made decisions that brought real consequences. His story does not sanitize failure. It reveals it. But it also reveals something deeper. God works within the reality of human weakness, not outside of it.

Then I come to the empty tomb. The women walked toward it carrying spices, expecting death, expecting to finish a process that felt final. Everything about their reality pointed toward loss. But what they found did not match their expectations. The stone was rolled away. Jesus was not there. In the middle of what looked like the ultimate defeat, God revealed something far greater than what they could see or understand.

That is where this begins to shift for me. The beauty of life is not found in the absence of problems. It is found in seeing what God is doing within them. If I spend my energy wishing away hardship, I will miss the very places where God is revealing something deeper. Something stronger. Something more real than my limited understanding.

The world is not perfect. It never has been. There is unfairness, loss, sickness, disappointment, and things that do not make sense. But it is also the place where grace shows up. Where love is revealed. Where redemption becomes visible. If I only focus on what is broken, I will become hardened. If I begin to accept reality as it is, not as I wish it to be, I can start to see the goodness that exists within it.

Forgiveness and love are not passive responses to a broken world. They are active choices that allow me to live fully within it. They keep me from becoming consumed by what is wrong and open my eyes to what is still good. They allow me to trust that even when I do not understand, God is still working.

Loving God with all my heart, soul, and strength is not about escaping reality. It is about stepping fully into it with trust. It is about anchoring myself in something deeper than my circumstances. When I do that, I begin to see differently. I begin to notice beauty where I once only saw frustration. I begin to find purpose where I once felt resistance.

The challenges do not disappear. But they no longer define everything. They become part of a larger story. And in that story, there is still goodness, still growth, still grace.

4Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^a 5Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

DEUTERONOMY 6:4-7