Answered prayers

 Mrs. Nell had been watching the sky all morning.

Her garden hadn't seenered a good rain in weeks, and the beans were beginning to wilt beneath the August sun.

She carried one last bucket of water down the rows.

She looked toward the little church on the hill. The sky beyond it was just as blue as the last time she looked.

“Lord, we sure could use some rain.”

That was all she said.

Before she reached the porch, a cool wind moved across the yard.

Then came one drop.

Then another.

Within minutes, rain was dancing across the garden.

Mrs. Nell stood beneath the porch roof and watched it soak into the thirsty ground.

The church bell rang in the distance.

She smiled.

Her prayer hadn't been long.

It hadn't been fancy.

But it had reached heaven.

Sometimes faith is simply asking and trusting God with the answer.

“The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.”

— Psalm 145:18 (KJV)

Dropping things

 

Wallace had just stepped off the porch of the old country store when he heard the screen door slam behind him.

“Sir!”

He turned around.

An elderly man stood on the porch holding Wallace's wallet.

“You dropped this inside.”

Wallace walked back toward him and gratefully accepted the wallet.

“I didn't even know it was gone.”

The old man smiled.

“That's usually how losing something happens.”

Wallace thanked him and started toward home.

A little farther down the road, he cut through the churchyard.

Those words were still on his mind.

How many things had slipped away without him noticing?

His patience.

His gratitude.

Time in prayer.

Wallace stopped beneath the old oak and looked toward the little church.

A man had noticed what Wallace had dropped.

Now Wallace was thinking about the things in his life worth going back for.

“Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.”

— Haggai 1:5 (KJV)

God's love for me

 

Lord, You love me more than I'll ever understand, with a depth I can't measure, a width I can't span, a height I can't reach, a love beyond my comprehension.

My mind tries to grasp Your love, to fit it into categories I know, but it keeps exceeding what I can hold, surpassing what I thought love could be.

Teach me to stop trying to fully understand Your love and start simply receiving it, to accept that mystery doesn't diminish reality, that incomprehensible love is still completely real.

You love me more than I love myself, more than anyone else could love me, more than I can conceive, and that's both overwhelming and exactly what I need.

Help me rest in love I can't fully grasp, to find security in affection that exceeds my understanding, to be held by love too big to measure.

Remind me that if I could fully understand Your love it would mean Your love was limited to my understanding, that the vastness I can't comprehend proves how infinite it is.

Give me peace in the mystery, wonder at love this big, gratitude for being loved in ways I'll spend eternity discovering and never fully exhaust.

Let me rest today knowing God loves me more than I'll ever understand, and that incomprehensible love is holding me, choosing me, delighting in me right now.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Psalm 23:2-3

 

God sees

 

The battle belongs to God

 

What if the resistance isn't a warning to stop...

but proof you're building something the enemy wanted left in ruins?

Have you ever noticed that some of the fiercest battles show up after you finally start moving forward?

Not when you're stuck.

Not when you're comfortable.

Not when you're doing nothing.

But when you're praying more.

Trusting God more.

Healing.

Growing.

Stepping into obedience.

Rebuilding what was broken.

That's exactly what happened in Ezra 4.

God's people were rebuilding the temple—doing exactly what God had called them to do.

And almost immediately, opposition showed up.

Discouragement.

Fear.

Lies.

Intimidation.

I've noticed something in my own life...

The moment I start taking steps of faith, that's often when resistance shows up.

Not because God left.

But because growth rarely happens without opposition.

Maybe you're wondering why everything suddenly feels harder.

Why the criticism increased.

Why the resistance appeared.

Why the doubts got louder.

It’s because you're building something the enemy hoped would stay in ruins.

Your faith.

Your marriage.

Your family.

Your purpose.

Your relationship with Jesus. ❤️ 

Don't assume resistance means you're outside God's will.

Ezra 4 reminds me that sometimes opposition shows up because you're right where God wants you.

The same God who called you to build is the God who will sustain you while you build. 🙏 

So don't quit because it's difficult.

Don't mistake resistance for rejection.

Keep moving forward. 

This battle belongs to the Lord.

Keep praying.

Keep trusting.

Keep building.

Because what God begins, He is faithful to complete. 🙌 

📍 The Narrows • Zion National Park, Utah

Waterfalls