Some of you thought your life would look different by this point. Maybe you thought you’d be married by now. Or still married at this point. Maybe you dreamed of having children and haven’t yet. Or maybe you thought you’d be settled into a lucrative career inching closer to retirement.

And then you wake up and look at the life you have.

You have a choice to be bitter over what could have been or to be thankful for what is. You can lament all those might have beens or rejoice that you are still alive and blessed with so much that you take for granted. And yes, I am preaching to myself.

You can’t go back and redo the past. You can’t go forward and manipulate the future. All you can do is live in the here and now, trusting the God who was and is and is to come to lead you through paths of righteousness to a good destination.

Bloom where you’re planted. Instead of always wondering why the grass is greener somewhere else, try watering your own yard and making your own life better. Maybe get God out of that co-pilot seat and let Him lead. And trust that He knows what He’s doing.

“Dear Lord, you are the first of the just. You lived the righteous life. It is because of you that your heavenly Father keeps this world in existence and shows his mercy to us sinners. Who am I, Lord, to expect your love, protection, and mercy? Who am I to deserve a place in your heart, in your house, in your kingdom? Who am I, Lord, to hope in your forgiveness, your friendship, your embrace? And still this is what I am waiting for, expecting, even counting on! Not because of my own merits, but solely because of your immense mercy. You lived for us the life that is pleasing to God. O Lord, you are the just one, the blessed one, the beloved one, the righteous one, the gracious one.

I pray that your Father, the Father of all people, the One who created me and sustains me day in and day out, may recognize in me your marks and receive me because of you. Help me to follow you, to unite my life with yours and to become a mirror of your love. Amen” (Henri J.M. Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy: Prayers from the Genesee).

It’s not your job to bear the burdens of the world. I think it’s a timely reminder in an age where we are bombarded with news from all over the world literally nonstop. It can be overwhelming if you let it. But you don’t have to.

Jesus didn’t say for you to fix every problem that you see or that you become aware of. He didn’t say to protest every wrongdoing at every possible opportunity. Your shoulders aren’t big enough to carry all the weight of all the suffering in all the world. But His are.

That’s why He said for you and me to cast our cares and burdens on Him and take His yoke of obedience and trust, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He said through the Apostle Paul to be anxious about nothing but to pray about everything. Then live as though the answer is already given and the victory already won, because it has been and it is.

I don’t know if you’re like me, but I’m a classic overthinker. If overthinking could be an Olympic sport, I’d be a multiple gold medal winner. But lately, I’ve been thinking . . . . haha . . . and maybe every time I start to go into overthink mode, I could use that as an opportunity to turn it into prayer.

It’s freeing to me that I can share everything with God, not just the “spiritual” and “holy” things. It can be like “God, I’m thinking this way about a certain person, and I don’t know what to do with it, so I give it to you. I surrender this thought to You.”

I think the more we live in the mentality of praying without ceasing, the more peace we experience. Obviously, I don’t mean we spent the whole day walking around with eyes closed and hands folded, bumping into everything and everyone. But the idea of turning every thought into a prayer and constantly offering up short petitions and praises throughout the day changes how you see God, yourself, and your circumstances.

I’ve learned that for me praying doesn’t so much alter my circumstances as much as it alters me and the way I see my circumstances. It gives me the ability to persevere through my trials instead of immediately taking my trials away. It helps me see more of God at work in me and around me.

I read that purity of heart is to will one thing instead of being pulled in multiple directions all the time. I think a prayerful mentality is the best way to have the mind of Jesus, who is the best example of living out of His purpose and calling. May we do the same with the same Jesus who now indwells us.

“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal” (John 12:24-25, The Message).

Sometimes what feels like death can actually be a rebirth. When you see the death of a dream, of a career, of a relationship, or of a loved one, it can feel like the end. It feels like there will never be life or hope or joy on the other side.

But when that one seed falls into the ground and dies, it births something far greater than one single solitary seed. It multiplies into something far beyond what you could have ever hoped or imagined. It’s like God takes away your short story and sets you down in the middle of a sprawling novel with possibilities and outcomes you would never have thought of on your own.

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!” (Ephesians 3:20-21, The Message).

“No matter the pressures at the end of this week,

let’s just quietly exhale…

and lean into Jesus.

‘Jesus said, “Come along with me.’

Mark 2:13 MSG

Only in Christ can we experience extravagant acceptance without experiencing exhausting performance. Because the thing is? Unless we walk with Jesus every moment, we’ll be driven hard by pride and fear every day.

Relax about the weekend ahead — it’s already okay: you are already loved. Jesus wants to walk with you today — *so you aren’t driven by pride or fear.*

#TheBrokenWay#TheWayOfAbundance” (Ann Voskamp)

As you may have heard before, every other religion is spelled d-o. As in do this or do that, keep these rules, and you will get into paradise. Christianity is spelled d-o-n-e. As in all the work you need to get into heaven has already been done in and by Jesus and all you have to do is receive His free gift of salvation.

It’s not about working for and hoping for God’s approval, but working and living and worshipping out of the approval of God that you already have. One is exhausting. The other is exhilarating. One leads to failure and burn-out. The other leads to freedom and blessing.

I learned something that fairly blew my brain recently. It was in the middle of a fantastic sermon by Matt Pearson on John 15. The text deals with God’s people as the vine and God as the Vinedresser. Part of that process involves grafting.

I learned that grafting involves taking a helpless vine and attaching it to a healthy vine. To attach another vine, you must first wound the healthy vine to be able to join it with the vine that is helpless. That way they can bond.

Interesting how the Bible says that Jesus was wounded for our healing. He who knew no sin became sin for us and took on the awful punishment that such sin deserved so that we who were the ones who deserved punishment might know what it’s like to be God’s family and be called the sons and daughters of God.

Sometimes I would be wise to remember that it’s not that Jesus ever needed me or my talents or my wisdom or my anything. It was I who desperately needed Jesus. It’s still my need for Jesus that drives me.

I love that Jesus doesn’t need me for anything but still wants me. I don’t add a thing to Him or anything He does, but He still chooses me to be a part of what He’s doing. And He’s not about to quit on me or decide that I’m just not worth it. And the same goes for any of you.

“I believe one of our greatest sins is that we are too content. We will take a little of God’s life, a little of his goodness, but are often afraid he will give us too much of himself. We are afraid of what the fullness of joy might look like. We don’t think we can take it. And it is true that we can’t. There’s not enough life in us to match his own, not enough joy in our hearts to comprehend his mirth and delight” (Gracy Olmstead).

I think the greatest sin isn’t contentment, but complacency. At some point, we quit seeking God as fervently and praying as boldly. We stop making Jesus the supreme part of our lives and treat Him like one among many. The life of faith becomes less of a love affair and more like an employer-employee relationship.

Just because we can’t handle all of God doesn’t mean we shouldn’t seek more of God. We should always want a little more grace, mercy, love, joy, and peace than our capacity to receive these things. We should strive to be overwhelmed by all that God is and all that God does. If we’re at a place where we know all there is to know about God, then we haven’t yet gone nearly deep enough. There’s always more. Even in heaven, there will be more.

The beauty is that even when we cease seeking after God, He will never stop chasing after us. He will never let us be content with anything less than the fullness of joy and peace and love that is found in God through Jesus.

“O Lord, who else or what else can I desire but you? You are my Lord, Lord of my heart, mind, and soul. You know me through and through. In and through you everything that is finds its origin and goal. You embrace all that exists and care for it with divine love and compassion. Why, then, do I keep expecting happiness and satisfaction outside of you? Why do I keep relating to you as one of my many relationships, instead of my only relationship, in which all other ones are grounded? Why do I keep looking for popularity, respect from others, success, acclaim, and sensual pleasures? Why, Lord, is it so hard for me to make you the only one? Why do I keep hesitating to surrender myself totally to you?

Help me, O Lord, to let my old self die, to let me die to the thousand big and small ways in which I am still building up my false self and trying to cling to my false desires. Let me be reborn in you and see through you the world in the right way, so that all my actions, words, and thoughts can become a hymn of praise to you.

I need your loving grace to travel on this hard road that leads to the death of my old self to a new life in and for you. I know and trust that this is the road to freedom.

Lord, dispel my mistrust and help me become a trusting friend.

Amen” (Henri Nouwen)

You will have several different kinds of friends over your lifetime. God uses each kind to play a part in your life.

You have specialty friends, like work friends or church friends that you only see at specific places (like work or church).

You have seasonal friends that come into your life for a short season to help you grow, to help you through a trial, or to teach you a lesson.

You will have social media friends who you only interact with over Facebook or Instagram. Most of these you will never actually meet in person.

You have secondary friends where you step in when the regular friends aren’t around.

Each friendship is valid and each one can be a blessing if you can appreciate it for what it is instead of wishing it were something else or something more.

But best of all are the special friends. Those are the ones who will go out of their way to make time for you, who will always seek you out and make you feel welcome no matter where you are. Those are for a lifetime.

You can appreciate your specialty, seasonal, and secondary friends, but you cherish and honor your special friends, because they are precious and rare.

Above all, you can even be a friend without receiving friendship in return. You can love and give, expecting nothing in return but the knowledge that God loved you like that when you were least deserving and lovable.