He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
Isaiah 53:3-4 NIV
Do you long to experience God in the thick of life’s demands? If you’re honest with yourself, do you admit, “I barely know you, God”? Do you consider God to be a familiar stranger?
A lot of Christian leaders are sending the word “fear not.” That is appropriate (the Bible says it many times), but there is so much more to say. We need to know the reasons for faith and peace.
"Fear not!" Are we radical enough to apply the knowledge of God’s love to the Coronavirus outbreak and even the common flu?
How does the book of Psalms help make sense of life, art, metaphor, violence, suffering, and mortality? How do the Psalms reflect God’s attributes of justice, grace, goodness, healing, power, and refuge? How are the millennia-old psalms a guide to living faithfully the modern Christian life in the midst of joys, sorrows, angers, doubts, praises, and thanksgivings?
You won’t lose weight unless you’re deliberate about it. You won’t gain muscle unless you intentionally exercise. You won’t earn a college degree unless you plan to achieve it. What does it mean to intentionally seek a deeper relationship of faith with God?
