Faithful Writers

Do you ever stop to think about the look on your face? Is it full of judgmental glares? Do you see yourself as better than others, never making a moment to offer a friendly hello or a nod someone’s way that you visibly watch their eyes light up, knowing they've been seen?

Even the most radiant sunset cannot erase the weight of life’s struggles—but it can remind us of God’s enduring promise. Hope, though often tested by pain, is the flame that never dies. Rooted in Romans 5:3–5, this reflection invites us to see beyond despair, to embrace the Spirit’s strength, and to recognize that God’s hope will never disappoint.

I’m more of a disco ball, or better yet, a “Lite Brite” because it is the gut-wrenching stab of each pain, grief, and horror-filled peg I’ve experienced that causes my light to show so colorfully through those particular breaks.

She’s read that God loves her, that Christ has set her free to live a victorious life over sin, so why does she keep blowing it? Her fist pounds the wobbly metal table, hoping the inanimate object will let out the scream she can not.

Then, take your accompanying high heel and kick him down the steps, knowing perfectly well that man ain’t getting to heaven any other way, but the blood of Jesus.

I think more so, my mind should stay fixed on my Savior, the Author and Finisher of my Faith. The beauty of Who He is far more captivating than any of my five senses have beheld, albeit they’ve beheld much.

Dazed and confused, she senses a calm presence approaching her. My child, “What if?” A weak smile crosses her face as the Lord gently pulls the tip of the knife from her blood-stained chest. The self-inflicted wound remains. “What if I heal you?”