When the shepherds were greeted by the angel in Luke 2 the first thing they heard was “fear not.” Anyone who sees an angel coming out of the sky has reason to fear. It’s unknown. It’s scary. But they are told not to fear. Do not be discouraged if you are fearful today. We all are fearful of something. Some of us fear more than others. The reality is we live in a scary, sinful world. Bad things happen all of the time, and sometimes to people we love deeply. The curse is everywhere. And Jesus came to reverse the curse.
Missions Wednesday: Israel
As Christians, when we hear about the country of Israel we tend to think about the biblical stories. We remember Jacob’s name being changed to Israel and his sons representing the twelve tribes of this new nation that would be God’s people. But for centuries following destruction from the Ottoman Empire, the actual nation of Israel was not even in existence. It was not until 1948 that the modern nation of Israel was even in existence. And it is much different today than it was during the reign of King David, or even the first coming of our King Jesus.
Help After Miscarriage: Knowing Your Friend
It is estimated that 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in miscarriage, in other words, as many as 25% of pregnant women will not carry a baby to term because of an early or middle pregnancy loss. This statistic does not include the scores of women who lose children through stillbirth or even early infant death. In some medical circles, these numbers reflect nothing more than an assumed defect or chromosomal abnormality. They are just statistics for research. But to a mom and dad, this number represents a life—shattered dreams for a child never held.
Packer on Suffering
Justin Taylor compiled some encouraging quotes from J.I. Packer on how to understand suffering in our lives. Usually I skim through his blog, but today I lingered. Every word from Packer pointed me to the God of all hope and comfort. I needed this today. May you be as encouraged as I was.
Missions Wednesday: Algeria
Algeria is a country that has faced tremendous heartache from colonial exploitation by the French to various wars. This suffering has left an imprint on the lives of many Algerians. Algeria is a predominantly Muslim country (97.29%) located in North Africa, next to Morocco. Eighty percent of Algeria is desert and there are 41 different people groups. Eighty five percent of these groups are unreached.
Missions Wednesday: Yemen
Yemen has been in the news in recent days over the possibility that recovered packages intended to be used for terrorist plots originated in Yemen. It’s really easy to allow situations such as these to breed hatred and dismay for the people of a particular country. Ignorance only fuels that fire. The less we know about a people, often the easier it is to hate them.
Review of The Undistracted Widow
Help After Miscarriage: Hope for Them
Yesterday, I talked about how helpful prayer is in the weeks and months following a miscarriage. One of the things that has been such a blessing to me since we lost the baby is how much hope other people have had for us. We’ve received emails and cards with hope-filled words. Women who are dear and close to me have hoped in God’s goodness for me when I couldn’t bring myself to hope—or when I couldn’t see far enough ahead to hope.
Missions Wednesday: North Korea
North Korea is almost always in the news, but as of late this country has been making headlines because of the impending passing of the leadership baton from Kim Jong Il to his son. We often hear of North Korea as a harsh and oppressive country, and this is true. Yesterday, the Desiring God blog posted a story from the Lausanne Conference of a North Korean woman who came to Christ. It's worth reading. Korea was divided into North and South after World War II. Communism rules this small nation. The border is considered to be very difficult to break, and those who do often are never seen again.
God is All I Need
In his book Future Grace, John Piper says that “suffering helps us see that God is all we need.” Before we lost the baby I knew that conceptually, but didn’t fully grasp it. I see things differently now. When the life you want so desperately is taken from you, all you are left with is Christ. Before we got pregnant I thought I “needed” this baby. I wouldn’t have admitted it to you. But all of my actions and talk would reveal a heart that was banking all of my joy on whether or not I could get pregnant quickly. I don’t feel that way anymore. I do desperately want to have another baby. But I don’t “need” a baby like I thought I did. Sadly, it took losing our baby for me to realize the idol having a child had become.