life. faithful.

Sorrow is a heavy burden, one which is quite often carried alone. Even in the midst of family and friends, one person's grief is so individual--so unique to that person--that it can't be shared with someone else in its entirety. When our hearts are breaking, and no one understands, it is easy to feel completely alone. Abandoned. Like the psalmist, we say, "For my days come and go, vanishing like smoke, and my bones are charred like bricks of a hearth. My heart is beaten down like grass withered and scorched in the summer heat; I can't even remember to eat. My body is shaken by my groans; my bones cling to my skin, holding on for dear life. I am like a solitary owl in the wilderness; I am a lost and lonely screech owl at home in the rubble. I stare at the ceiling, awake in my bed; I am alone, a defenseless sparrow perched on a roof." ~Psalm 102:4-7 Grief is a terrible burden to bear. It can bring us to our knees, break our hearts, and crush

Sometimes, we fall into the trap of thinking we have it all together. When life is easy, we think we know all the right answers. Like David, we say,  "When things were quiet and life was easy, I said in arrogance, 'Nothing can shake me.' By Your grace, Eternal, I thought I was as strong as a mountain" ~Psalm 30:6-7a From that lofty position, it's easy to look down on others and point out everything they are doing wrong, all the ways they are failing. After all, if I have it all together in my own power, doesn't that just make them weak if they can't do the same? The thing is, that's forgetting four key words from David's psalm: By Your grace, Eternal . No matter what good I have in this life, it's through no strength or power of my own. Sometimes, though, I lose sight of that. It's in those times, I think, that God obscures my view of Him. Again like David, I say, "But when You left my side and hid away, I crumbled

For a long time now, I've begged to know God's purpose for my life. My own plans have fallen through so many times--plans that I thought were God's will for my future--that sometimes I wonder if I'm going to drift through life without ever truly finding the path He wants me on (for more on that, check out Walking with Peter ). As followers of the Messiah, we hear so much about God's will. We're reminded time and again that we need to be doing His will: ~"Whoever does the will of God is My true family." ~Mark 3:35 ~"...that you will continue to mature and stand tall in the confidence that comes from knowing God's will." ~Colossians 4:12b We hear all the time about people claiming God's promise to give them the desires of their heart, but something I've been struggling with lately is knowing whether my desires are desires God has given me, or just earthly desires. In 1 Peter 4:1-2, we're told, "Since the Anointed s