Scars and Sovereignty

Daily Devotionals

  • When the Cure Feels Like the Problem

    Just yesterday, I helped a buddy unload a truckload of bark and another truckload of river rock. Or at least, I tried to help. I couldn’t lift the wheelbarrow on my own. I struggled, embarrassed, having to ask him for help when I was supposed to be there helping him. And I hated that.

    When the Cure Feels Like the Problem

  • Striking When We Should Be Speaking

    It’s not lost on me that I tend to be… reactive. We always joke with our friends J and Monica because Talacey and J are the stoic, level-headed, slow-to-speak ones. But Monica and me? Not so much. My default is to speak before I think, to let emotions get the best of me. It spills…

    Striking When We Should Be Speaking

  • Nowhere Else to Go

    Following Jesus is easy when He’s handing out miracles. But what about when He’s leading us through something harder?

    Nowhere Else to Go

  • Craving the Gift or the Giver?

    It’s 3 a.m. as I sit down to write this. In a few minutes, I’ll step into the shower and get ready for what will be the final general session of the last conference my company will ever execute. The final main-stage event for which I am responsible. And while the uncertainty remains—while I still…

    Craving the Gift or the Giver?

  • Better in Egypt?

    I’ve never wished for Egypt. But I have wished the injury had been cleaner. Maybe if the saw had taken my fingers completely, the pain wouldn’t have lasted this long. The therapy wouldn’t be this difficult. The recovery wouldn’t feel never-ending. The two surgeries to come wouldn’t have to come at all.

    Better in Egypt?

  • Manna, Misery, and Missing the Point

    It was New Year’s Eve. J and Monica came over to ring in the New Year with us. Their daughters ran off to play with Sophia, and the four of us settled in—a charcuterie board on the counter, drinks poured, laughter filling the house as we waited for the ball to drop. Then Monica said…

    Manna, Misery, and Missing the Point

  • Do You Want to Be Healed?

    Jesus never asks pointless questions. And the one he asks the paralytic by the pool? It seems almost cruel… until I ask it of myself.

    Do You Want to Be Healed?

  • The Strength to Keep Pouring

    It’s nearly midnight. My alarm is set for 4 a.m. And after a day that started before the sun and stretched nonstop into the night, I’m running on empty.

    The Strength to Keep Pouring

  • The Poison of Hiding. The Power of Light.

    The slow, corrosive poison of hiding. It festers. It eats away at the soul. And what remains is shame, fear, and a growing chasm between us and God.

    The Poison of Hiding. The Power of Light.

  • To Lead Is to Lower

    A mission trip to Mexico, a widow’s quiet act of service, and a phrase that forever changed the way I see leadership. It’s all in today’s devotional.

    To Lead Is to Lower