MAY 11, 2026

 

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.” 
― William G.T. Shedd

2 KINGS 1-3

9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.10“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”11As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.13Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

JOHN 3:22-36

27To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must become greater; I must become less.”^h31The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for Godⁱ gives the Spirit without limit. 35The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

JOURNAL 

There is something tragic about a person spending their life trying to become smaller so the world will feel more comfortable around them. We hide gifts, silence convictions, suppress dreams, and live cautiously because rejection, failure, criticism, or pain once convinced us that it was safer not to fully live. But nowhere in Scripture do we see God calling His people to shrink back from who He created them to be.

Elisha did not ask Elijah for safety. He did not ask for comfort or ease. He asked for a double portion. That is a bold request. It would have been easier for him to stand quietly in the background and simply admire Elijah from a distance. But Elisha understood something powerful: when God places a calling on your life, humility is not pretending you are less than what God made you to be. Humility is accepting the gift and stewarding it faithfully.

The same is true with John the Baptist. When John says, “He must become greater; I must become less,” he is not saying he has no value or purpose. John fully embraced his role. He spoke boldly. He confronted kings. He baptized publicly. He prepared the way for Christ with courage and conviction. His “less” was not insecurity or self-hatred. It was surrender of ego. There is a massive difference between lowering our pride and diminishing our God-given identity.

Too many people confuse holiness with becoming invisible. But God never asked Moses to hide his voice. He never asked David to stop fighting. He never asked Esther to remain silent. He never asked Peter to stay in the boat. He never asked Paul to stop preaching because people rejected him. In every case, the danger was not arrogance. The danger was fear.

Fear shrinks us. Fear tells us to stay in the harbor when we were designed to sail oceans. Fear tells us to bury talents instead of multiplying them. Fear tells us our past failures disqualify us from present purpose. Fear convinces us that rejection from people means rejection from God. But the Gospel destroys that lie completely.

If the God of creation lives within us, then we are not meant to walk timidly through life apologizing for existing. We are meant to live courageously, lovingly, truthfully, and fully awake. The enemy would love nothing more than for gifted people to spend their lives doubting themselves into passivity. Because a diminished person rarely changes the world.

That is why Paul writes to Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God.” Not hide it. Not apologize for it. Not compare it. Fan it into flame.

God’s Spirit does not make us timid. The Kingdom of God is not built by people trying to disappear. It is built by surrendered people fully alive in who God created them to be. The teacher should teach boldly. The artist should create courageously. The leader should lead faithfully. The encourager should encourage relentlessly. The servant should serve joyfully. Every gift matters because every gift reflects the Creator Himself.

To diminish what God placed inside you is not humility. In many ways it is distrust. It is saying, “God, what You made is not enough.” So live fully today. Speak truthfully. Love deeply. Create boldly. Forgive freely. Step out of the harbor. The world does not need a smaller version of who God created you to be. It needs people willing to carry His light without fear.

6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 

 2 Timothy 1:6-7

MAY 10, 2026

 “Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.”

― Robert Browning

1 KINGS 21-22

41Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. 43In everything he followed the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

JOHN 3:1-21

 1Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”3Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^a ”4“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”5Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^b gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^c must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^d9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

JOURNAL 

In John 3, Nicodemus comes to Jesus carrying knowledge, status, and certainty, yet he still cannot understand what Jesus means when He says we must be “born again.” Nicodemus thinks only in physical terms, but Jesus is pointing toward something much deeper. He is speaking about awakening. About seeing life differently. About the Spirit opening our eyes to truths that were always there but that we somehow missed while chasing control, certainty, and validation.

As I reflect on Mother’s Day, I cannot help but think about the miracle of life itself and how easy it is for us to overlook it. Mothers carry us in their wombs, protect us when we are helpless, nurture us when we cannot survive on our own, and in countless ways give pieces of their own lives so that we may live ours. To set aside one day a year to honor that almost feels trivial because the gift is so enormous. Yet maybe the purpose of honoring mothers is not simply celebration, but remembrance. It forces us to pause long enough to recognize the beauty of God’s creation and the sacredness of the roles He gives each of us. 

The older I get, the stranger it feels that humanity constantly searches for bigger entertainment, more validation, more distraction, as though ordinary life itself is not miraculous enough. Scientists call Earth’s placement in the universe the “Goldilocks Zone” because it exists in a place so unbelievably precise that life can flourish in all its complexity. That alone feels almost like a fairy tale. Oceans, forests, ecosystems, birth, breath, consciousness, love, memory, music, laughter, sacrifice, mothers holding newborn children. The wonder is already here all around us, yet we often live blind to it while searching for something “more.”

Maybe being born again is partly waking up to that reality. Maybe it is seeing creation, people, relationships, and even suffering through different eyes. Jesus tells Nicodemus that the Spirit moves like the wind. You cannot control it or fully explain it, but you can feel it and witness its effects. I think one of those effects is gratitude. Another is humility. Another is becoming fully awake to the sacredness of life itself.

When we honor mothers, in many ways we honor all of life because motherhood reflects the heart of sacrifice, nurture, protection, and love that sustains humanity itself. It mirrors the nature of God, who continually gives life, mercy, and grace to people who often fail to notice the beauty surrounding them. 

The danger in life is not merely evil or suffering. Sometimes the greater danger is becoming numb. Becoming so distracted, entertained, bitter, or self-focused that we no longer stand in awe of existence itself. Christ’s invitation to be born again feels like an invitation back into wonder. Back into gratitude. Back into seeing that life itself is holy and that every breath is evidence of grace.

17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  

John 3:17

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