Lance Brown
Suffering
Re-routing to joy path #8 is through suffering. It strikes every one of us, somehow, some way. Yet, our redemptive God uses even the very worst that happens to us to bring us, eventually, to a kind of joy that nothing else will produce! Though it is painful, it brings us back to God in a…
Read MoreTrials
Trials are something we don’t really look forward to, but they come into everyone’s life, shaping and testing us. For some, trials shape us toward resentment, bitterness, and cynicism, but God makes the audacious claim that when trials come, they provide a reason for joy! This week we’ll discover why and how that happens.
Read MorePearls of wisdom
I love the book of Proverbs. In some places there are streams of wisdom, and in some places there are just a list of these “pearls of wisdom” that are standalone bits of truth that are relevant to us. I came across one today, that I know well. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way…
Read MoreHeartache
God’s back road of heartache can be excruciatingly painful. Sometimes is involves human betrayal, lying, deception, rejection or even being replaced. Yet, God can use even this pain redemptively. We’ll look at a woman who had failed in five marriages, yet found the love and acceptance her heart had always craved.
Read MoreThe Fallen World
Although we wish this world were a lot more like heaven it certainly is not. It is meant to be hard. Why? Because our hearts are hard. As long as life is “smooth” we will have no motivation or reason to face and admit our sin, our need of a new heart, and a new life. Only…
Read MoreLoss of Control
We’re not good when the “unexpected” comes crashing into our lives. We’re REALLY not good when TWO big unexpected boulders crash into our lives. God re-routes Hannah to the back roads of the Unexpected, circumstances you never imagined YOU’d ever have to go through. Along the way, Hannah found JOY she never expected to find, and…
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