The Burning Rope
Sometimes giving up is the wrong move. Life can press so hard that you're tired, worn down, and close to quitting. Not because you haven't tried, but because you've been stretched beyond what you ever thought you could endure. Survival isn't always about running or fighting. Sometimes survival is simply staying where God has asked you to stay when everything inside you wants to run. You've done all the "right things." You've prayed. You've waited. You've sought wise counsel. You've forgiven again. You've done your part. And still nothing seems to change. You find yourself standing at the edge, whispering, "God, I can't keep doing this."
REFLECTIONS FAITH FOR THE PLACES WHERE REAL LIFE ACTUALLY HAPPENS
Nothing is Wasted
There are things in life I would never choose to go through again. Mistakes I wouldn't repeat. Pain I wouldn't volunteer for. Years I might use differently if I could have them back. There are also experiences that, at the time, seemed to have no value at all. They felt like setbacks, detours, failures, or simply wasted time. But the longer I live, the less convinced I am that anything surrendered to God has to remain wasted.
The Real You
Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, life teaches us to become versions of ourselves we were never meant to be. We bend. We twist. We shrink. We reshape and edit ourselves to fit into spaces that sometimes seem too small for who we really are. We learn to survive by becoming what other people expect—or what we think they expect. We learn, as the saying goes, to “get in where we fit in.” And somewhere along the way, we can lose sight of who we really are, if we ever fully knew.
When Love is Tested
Few moments in life feel more overwhelming than a marriage in crisis. When a relationship begins to unravel, one question rises above every other: "Lord, what should I do?" We want a clear answer. Immediately. Stay. Leave. Fight. Wait. Forgive. Move on. Yet God often seems quiet when we long for Him to speak the loudest.
That silence can feel unbearable. Sleep becomes difficult. Conversations replay endlessly in our minds. Every memory becomes another piece of evidence. Our emotions swing between hope and despair. When a marriage is in crisis, it can feel as though every part of life is being shaken. The cause may be betrayal, abuse, addiction, financial collapse, or years of slowly drifting apart. Every story is different. Every wound carries its own weight.