Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

I'm in a good place these days. But this wasn't always the case. Life was hard, very hard, for a very long time; almost unbearable.  So much so that I started to doubt that God loved me.  As i type these words, I'm not very proud to admit this.  But it's true. During this long spell of trial after trial, I wrote this song, "The Love of God."  Go figure. I still believed that God was love, that He loved the world.  I just wasn't "feeling the love" from Him personally. Been there?  If you have been a Christian for any length of time, I'm guessing you've been there.   Stuff happens.  We live in a fallen world.  And trying to take comfort in God's Sovereignty can only magnify our soreness.  Why?  Because if God is Sovereign (and He is), then why does He allow horrible stuff to happen to us?   It's easy to believe that God loves me when I feel that things are going well.  But I have also believed and felt God's love when I have fac

It was dark.  The disciples were on their own in the boat.  The waters around them grew rough.  The winds were blowing. Scripture does not record the disciples praying, crying out to God, in this tumultuous moment.  They simply rowed faster.  They rowed for almost four miles!   They kept trying to find their way out of the storm in their own wits and ways.  It didn't work. They got out of their fix only when Jesus arrived on the scene.  And boy, what an entrance! Jesus walked on water in order to reach His disciples.  This tells us that Jesus will go to great lengths in order to help us. What mess do you find yourself in?  Are you still trying to "row" your way out of it in your own strength?  That does not prove that you are strong or have your wits about you.  It proves that you do not trust Jesus. Unless Jesus is telling you to "row harder," then your rowing is in vain, friend. Jesus got into the boat with the disciples, and immediately they got to where they