Month: February 2026

Today a friend posted this on social media; “Nowhere in the Bible does it say Worry about it, Stress over it, or Figure it out. What it does say, over and over, is Trust God!” Just this week I discovered again why that statement is so important and true.

For the last five months I have been in a tight squeeze due to rising expenses. I prayed to God for help, but when a loan restructure offer fell through after a 90 day trial, worry and stress began to try to weigh me down. That is when God answered my prayer. First, the mortgage company notified me they had applied my payments for the offer to my original account and I owe no payment for February and only a small amount for escrow in March. Then, my church called the next day to tell me they will pay my large two month gas heating bill and had a delicious meal  delivered to my home to make up for taking so long to return my call. All of this will give me a financial cushion that will  keep me comfortable the rest of this year. What will happen next year? If He doesn’t call me home or come back for His church before then, I am sure He is already working on that without my worry or stress.

One of my favorite pastors preached today from Hebrews chapter 12, about the race Christian believers must run to gain the prize when we reach the finish line.  Scripture describes the Christian life as an endurance race like a marathon, not a short dash . God provides each of us with our own lane to run in when we believe in and follow Jesus. There is something my long race has taught me and I want to share it with you.

I’m not competing against other Christians. Every one of us who make it to the end will win. Our opposition is Satan. He wants us to get discouraged and fail. There have been times my lane looked like high hurdles instead of marathon. either the Holy Spirit gave me strength to clear them or Jesus kicked them out of my way. I have surrounded myself with strong Christians to help me when I struggle. But I also keep an eye out for a brother or sister in Christ     who needs encouragement and help that I can provide. We weren’t created to do this race alone.

 

Like the good Father He is, God answers our prayer requests in one of three ways.

1. Yes. we always hope for this answer, because He will start working on it before we say amen.                                                                                                                      2. No;. When you have a long life in God’s family, as I have, a no answer isn’t as disappointing, because it always means He has something better planned.  I have discovered the truth in the lyric of an old Garth Brooks song. “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayer”                                                                   3. Not yet. This is the one that we all have a problem with. We know that patience is a virtue, but it can be difficult even for Christian believers. An earthly father would tell his 12 year old son not yet when he asks for the key to the family car because he isn’t old enough for a driver’s license or mature enough for that responsibility. God not only knows what we can handle and when, He knows our future and how that will affect us. When we pray, we must not only trust His answer will be best for us, but we must trust His perfect timing as well.

How about some good news for a change? On Friday evening the twin cities of Minneapolis  and St. Paul held a prayer service titled “From Chaos To Christ”. Sean Feucht and his Let Us Pray evangelistic team were guest leaders. The event was not streamed, but afterward an exhausted Sean did a podcast from his hotel room to share what he had just experienced. Sean and several of the pastors involved received death threats, but there was no  protests or interruptions. Twenty-five people were healed and three people were freed from thoughts of suicide. Sean described how the Holy Spirit was moving with power throughout  the service.  Don’t be fooled. Satan seems to be getting most of the news coverage, but God continues to move and will win.

For any group of people to become unified,they must have something strong in common. It might be a common goal or a common feeling of superiority or even a common fear or hatred. Whatever it is, the same thing that unifies them also separates them from other groups. Growing up I witnessed this in Christian denominations and churches. When John F. Kennedy was elected our first Catholic President, some Protestant leaders were warning that the Pope would be in control of our country. That never happened of course and I have watched most churches and denominations grow closer since then.

What is uniting Christian believers from all backgrounds? The basic facts that each of us is a believer in and follower of Jesus Christ with God’s Holy Spirit in us for strength and guidance is a great place to start, but there is something else powerfully uniting us and it can be described by one word – LOVE! Jesus gave His disciples (and us) a new commandment that we love one another. He assured us the world will know we are His because we love each other. But Jesus also tells us to love our neighbors and even our enemies. Jesus demonstrated how we do that when He died for us when we were still sinners and even loved those who were torturing and killing Him by asking God the Father to forgive them. I now have close ties with three different multicultural, nondenominational churches and it is love that unites each of them with each other and other . Christians. I’m no prophet, but as I see Christians beginning to unite around the world, I wonder if Jesus is coming back for us soon.