Healing at Work: Why God Leads Us Through Desert Seasons

June 22, 2025June 25, 20251 Comment

The other day, I was catching up with a former colleague when the following topic came up: Why does God lead us to places we don’t belong, places so far out of our giftings and comfort zones, they are practically impossible?

These are fair and popular questions during and after seasons of intense shaking and course-correcting. If we’re to start our exploration on the right foot, we must know who God is and how He journeys us. After all, God’s concern is not so much where we’re going as much as who we’re becoming. While man, in his lust for understanding, craves direction for his gain, be it clarity, validation, or something tangible, God is always after our hearts, relentlessly pursuing us in love (1 John 4:19). True to His Word, He never forsakes us and is always ready to help when we ask for it (Matthew 7:7; John 14:13-14).

So, if God is all this and more, why does He migrate us into deserts and wildernesses? Why does God sometimes open doors to places we’re hard-pressed to thrive, to be most effective?

As Jennie Allen suggests in her book, Untangle Your Emotions, when processing these questions, we must start with the right ‘W’. Often, we wonder why so we ask ‘why’, when really, we should be asking, ‘what’. For example, rather than ask God, ‘Why did you lead me here? Why did you let this happen? Why aren’t you manifesting’, inquire with, ‘God, what do you want me to know? What must I do to help this situation? What is it you want me to receive from you at the moment?’ While these are but a few examples, the mere shift in approach gives us a healthy starting point from which we can troubleshoot internal dissonance.

I believe for many of us, we’re searching not only for answers but stillness with a side of healing. Often, to what we hope for, we’re desperate for an improvement of circumstance, character, even health. The problem is while our reliance in the vertical is perpetually possible, the restoration we crave in the horizontal isn’t always plausible; hence, why we sometimes succumb to a ‘why’ question as we seek to bridge the disconnect. The good news is while this divide may hurt in the short term, it can have long-term, large-scale impacts given it validates our call to rely on God when we’re overwhelmed. Feeling down in your doubt? Cast it on Him! Sensing unfair treatment? Pray for peace-making discernment. Struggling to reconcile the past or advance in your way? Submit your intent to Christ knowing He desires to mature you according to His purposes.

Stumble as we may, our grooming for eternity doesn’t pause in the potholes of life but by His stripes can be enhanced in our weakness.
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Accordingly, if you’re questioning God at a crucial intersection, if you’re struggling to arrive at peace, rest, forgiveness, whatever it may be, consider changing your ‘Why God’ into a ‘What God’ and watch what happens. Once your ‘what’ questions are in rhythm, marinate in the sweetness of God’s sanctification and strategize ways in which righteousness and holiness can cover your interactions with other people. Like ‘why’ questions, harboring offense and intentionally withholding good things (i.e. availability, a gentle critique/response, a listening ear, an effort to understand, etc.) will only cloud judgment and cap God’s love from flowing through us. Rather than quench the fires of tension or repair the damages of burnout, inquire what God wants to show you as you walk through it in humility. No need to panic or freak out; just leave it to the wrath and ways of God to straighten and enlighten. From there, all you have to do is breathe, release, and release again.

Ultimately, what compels us to journey through impossible places is God’s love filling in possible spaces – those spaces being our ‘deep’ (Psalm 42:7) desiring to know and grow in God within the world around us. As the Word attests, we were made to discover God; however, this cannot happen without the opportunity to trust Him in the desert, the wilderness, and all points in between. Remember God uses all things for good according to His perfect will purposed for those He loves (Romans 8:28). Core to our maturation as believers, we must learn to align faith and hope during adversity so any wresting against God can turn into wrestling with and for Him. Granted, this isn’t possible in our strength and requires daily sacrifice and surrender. But at the very least, we can respond to God’s pursuance and where He’s leading us, knowing we have nothing to lose and everything to gain in Christ Jesus following in His footsteps.

Cover graphic creds: Framework Recovery

Cultivating Compassion: The Power of Empathy at Work (Part 1)

May 3, 2025May 5, 2025Leave a comment

When we assess intelligence in the marketplace, we often refer to one’s aptitude. If one can critically think and problem-solve under pressure, chances are they’re qualified enough to do the job. But in an increasingly tolerant and diverse era, executive priorities are changing. Long gone are leadership committees prioritizing the paper and potential. These days, employers are not only looking to scale one’s ability to reason but also their capacity to relate to colleagues, clients, and social climates.

Essentially, while intellectual ceilings are still being explored, how one nurtures endurance is being implored all the more. In the construct of empathy, this promotes some imperative questions with candidates. Are they willing to broaden their perspective to extend awareness and morale? Can they pierce through emotional dissonance in high-stress situations? Are they able to resonate with the thoughts and feelings of others?

As for those in leadership, are we taking thorough inventory? Have we corporately inquired, ‘What space are we making for cognitive empathy in our workplaces? Heck, do we even know how to define and refine it, let alone shine it?‘

Regardless, to best answer these inquiries, we must start our examination in the Word. As always, let’s dive in…

Although empathy is not directly stated in Scripture, the concept is conveyed through the behaviors of Jesus and apostolic teachings on love, kindness, and understanding (Romans 12:15, 1 Peter 3:8, Philippians 2:4, and 1 John 3:17-18). While secular approaches paint empathy as little more than emotional sensitivity and selfless concern, when we consider the empathy of Christ, we discover how the virtue goes beyond shared feelings into hands-on support.

One of my favorite examples of this takes place in Luke 13:10-17. In this passage, we find Jesus teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath when he notices a woman with a disabling spirit. Unable to stand up straight, the woman seeks him in desperation anticipating her deliverance. Upon seeing her, Jesus calls her over, declares her freedom, and proceeds to heal her condition. No longer crooked, she gives glory to God stunning the Sanhedrin.

To me, this story has profound implications in the marketplace. For starters, if we want to lead effectively, we must seek the Lord and apply what He loves with whom He loves. As John 15:13 alludes, no greater love has no hidden agenda, and we must abide accordingly. As leaders, we shouldn’t wait for opportune moments to find us. Rather, we should pursue them with aligned surrender and humility. Christ in us, we don’t need to prove our solicitude, but with eager attentiveness, comfort those who struggle and rejoice with the joyful, allowing our fear of God to be set in motion. In this life, there will be times when we must bear another’s burdens; however, there will also be moments when we must enter into the victory God is unlocking within us as well as those around us. Hence, the significance of empathy in that it keeps us ready to act selflessly in any circumstance!

Furthermore, if we desire empathy, we must aspire to inspire unity in community. Depending on your vocation, this may involve relating to a customer’s experiences, playing peacemaker between colleagues, or offering help on a challenging project. No matter the opportunity, empathy allows you to take heart as you give heart. Within boundary and bandwidth, you can enter into one’s grief, talk to those who may be lonely or hurting, even approach correction with compassion. Honestly, the possibilities are endless!

Bottom line: You have a valuable part in not only enhancing the well-being of your colleagues but also improving the health of your workplace culture. Applying Scripture to your surroundings, you have everything to gain living like Jesus. The more empathy abounds, the more peaceful and effective your organization will be. No need to fear what others say or think as long as your aim is anchored to the voice and heart of God. As for those wrestling with idolatry in the form of craving influence, remember Jesus didn’t passively connect to gain followers but intentionally pursued the salvation and heart change of others. May it be so in our respective surroundings as we believe and minister in greater confidence!

Stay tuned next time when I’ll break down different types of empathy and tie them to various Scriptures and scenarios. Until then…

Selah.

Cover graphic creds: PeopleTalk Online

Springs Within You: A SOAP Study on Psalm 85-87

March 8, 2025March 8, 2025Leave a comment

Well, folks. The weather outside is finally changing. You know what that means…

Fire up ‘severe weather mode’ on Flash Weather.
De-winterize the house.
Compose another SOAP Bible study!*

*For those who don’t know, Lys and I are huge fans of this practice having implemented it during our youth pastor tenure. While our time in student ministry is long gone, in recent years, we’ve efforted to tailor these studies towards vocationals as part of our His Girl Fryday initiative; hence, why the legacy lives on.

Today, we’ll examine Psalm 85 and Psalm 87 in the context of Israel’s exile. While these selections may seem random at first glance, my hope is you’ll know why I chose these chapters by the end.

As always…

Observations: If you’ve studied the Psalms in detail, you know the book is composed of 150 chapters broken down into sections. With Book 3 (Psalm 73-89) focusing on the tragedy of Israel’s uprooting and downfall of David’s family, one might think the tenor of Psalm 87 is out of place; however, this is partly due to how the sons of Korah¹ constructed their songs. Anticipating transition, Psalm 87 represents a confident foreshadowing, specifically Israel’s restoration and relationship to other nations.

A precursor to Psalm 87, Psalm 85 establishes the following tropes, all essential to our spiritual walk:

God is faithful to bring a foundation to our footsteps, especially during seasons of adversity (Psalm 85:13).
God draws near to those who fear and revere Him, who anticipate His voice and glory to manifest (Psalm 85:9).
God’s love and faithfulness aren’t mutually exclusive as they’re intertwined within the same flow (Psalm 85:10-11).

These realities set the stage for Psalm 87, in which the privileges of God’s people are recognized and celebrated. Although the chapter is relatively short, the song lacks no exclamation given the holy tribute and 3:1 ‘verse-to-selah’ ratio. The general gist is straightforward and simple: As salvation comes forth from Zion, God takes note to what He can foresee.

But perhaps my favorite part of Psalm 87 is the final verse (v. 7): “All my springs and sources of joy are in you.”

While the ‘you’ is a cite to Jerusalem, given the polysemy of the Psalms, one could deduce this refers to something more than the city itself. Again, we must discern the tone and style of the author. For instance, the sons of Korah tended to ask questions they knew the answers to but framed anyway.

Will God do ‘x’? Why, God, do you ‘y’? How long, O Lord, will you ‘z’?

In almost every case, the resolution comes in the conclusion and inspires a modern-day practice. No matter, how dire, how challenging, how impossible a situation might seem, God, in both His Word and Way, is everlasting. Even if we seem far from the promised land we seek, God’s sovereignty is constant and His love is steadfast. Knowing this, the concerns we have should not interrogate God’s nature but inquire how we must journey with Him to see greater character, intimacy, and fruit result.

As for us, there may be an uptick in storms in the weeks and months ahead, literally and figuratively. but spiritually speaking, why not let the word picture of ‘spring’, both the season and water source, refresh our inner man? As Psalm 85:10-11 and Psalm 87:7 encourage us, why not receive the fullness of God’s springs and assess our return flow? After all, every good and perfect gift is from above. All we are or hope to be, all we have or ever hope to have, all we attain or ever hope to attain is from Him. Let the people of God acknowledge this and praise Him for it.

Application:

Prayer: Lord, as the winds of change surround us, we thank you for being at hand. As we worship you in Spirit and Truth today, we’re reminded how grateful we are that you are Lord of all, the God who sustains our help and gives us everything we need for goodness and godliness. No matter what tomorrow holds, we pause now to reflect on your love, your faithfulness, and how we can allow your currents to purify the rhythms in which we believe and operate. To what needs to be surrendered, convict us with grace so we may properly deal with our baggage. To what needs to be received, we ask you to not only revive us to taste you in full but to broaden our capacity to trust your truth in an increasingly compromising world. Help us not be overly discouraged by where abandonments are occurring. Rather scale our faith to see the grander scheme unfolding and how we can partner with you in victory. Give us this day and season as bread so we may feed your sheep as fed. In your holy and precious name. Amen.

Footnotes:

The sons of Korah were Levites, from the family of Kohath. By David’s time, they served in the musical aspect of the temple worship (2 Chronicles 20:19).

Cover graphic creds: Wallpapers.com

Real-Life Habits: A Practical Example to Transform Your Life

February 13, 2025February 20, 2025Leave a comment

Written 11/26/24 for our latest MercyTalk podcast…

Back in April 2018, four months removed from a seven-year youth pastor assignment, I had a revelation that produced a habit I still practice to this day. As a state employee working in a stale environment, I sensed my walk with the Lord was starting to wane. For so long, motivation and inspiration overflowed naturally courtesy of 50 students and an opportunity to mature leadership in a liturgical setting; however, once I released the calling, I realized how much of my identity had become baked into my influence. Without youth in my life, I felt lost. Apart from my family, there was little to no accountability to guide my relationship with Jesus. Needing a spark, I knew my internal compass needed a reset.

So, I decided I would not only have daily quiet times during each morning commute but record them on my iPhone. With my weekly commutes averaging out to 6.5 hours, I figured I might as well talk and pray with God as I battle the banes of Nashville traffic. The decision turned out to be a game-changer as not only did the practice settle my spirit each day before work but allowed me to hear the mix of truth and lies roaming within. On some days, conviction came by declaring God’s Word out into the open; on others, I found grace simply in coming to Jesus as I was. In either case, my quiet time commutes were my happy hours during which I took thoughts captive and replaced them with holy perspective.

Fast-forward to October 2022 and I’m a month removed from losing my daughter, Jubilee, who took her last breath in my lap after a 393-day fight with chronic lung disease. For weeks I had been stone cold, flooding the pavement with tears during my workouts. Yet, everywhere else, the frozen numbness of grief had overtaken me. That’s when I returned to the practice of recording my quiet times on drives to work. During Jubilee’s life, the habit had faded to back-burner status through all the hustle and bustle. While there were times before Juju’s death when I felt as if I was walking on water, I sensed the sinking heading into 2023. If there ever was a time to rekindle the rhythm, this was it.

Like five years prior, I found myself pressing the red record button in my Audio app more frequently. With vulnerability on blast, there was never an intention of sharing the files with anyone. I simply needed to feel a connection with God, to feel His presence and listening ear calming the choppy waters of my soul. Occasionally, I would stumble upon an ‘ah ha’ moment, an epiphany with content-creating potential; however, the end goal was always to make room for God to invade my space and to catch Him doing it so I wouldn’t forget.

Having reached 400 records as of 11/20/2024, I can confidently say this habit has proven effective in stabilizing my mind, emotions, and walk with God all in one swoop. I especially recommend the practice for those in seasons of chaos in which they want to declutter or ‘spring clean’ their heart to hear the Shepherd’s voice more clearly.

Cover photo creds: Medium

Let Your ‘In Christ’ Be at Work

February 3, 2025February 3, 2025Leave a comment

Last December, I was taking inventory of my New Years goals and resolutions when the following revelation occurred to me: Why is it we’re more comfortable being for Christ than in Christ? Why does the thought of ‘in Christ’ intimidate us?

For many of us, we trust God and His Word as irrefutable truth, our belief a banner we wave and a root system anchoring our thoughts and behaviors. Like many Christians, we can wrap our minds around Christ in us by way of salvation and sanctification. Yet, even though we know God is infinitely greater, even though we can generally comprehend the life He facilitates, we sometimes struggle to grasp our lives 24/7/365 in Him and accordingly struggle to scale the challenges in front of us.

Often, we settle into rhythms, patterns, and mindsets where faith exists at their core. Still, I can’t help but wonder how they would change if we saw the ‘abiding in Christ’ potential in them. As to how we connect the dots, I submit we start by considering not only what does it mean to be ‘in Christ’ but how do we let our ‘in Christ’ be at work?

First, we must discern what it means to be ‘in Christ’. To be in Christ means we’re unified with Him personally and corporately. In Galatians, Paul talks about our new ‘in Christ’ identity by way of putting our hope and faith in Him. For many, we hear the phrase during baptisms and communions when we identify with Christ in the likeness of His death and resurrection. Where the Cross has power, there we can abide in Christ as we walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:4-5), which defined one way, is resurrection applied to every thought, pattern, belief, decision, temptation, all facets and modes of life.

While ‘newness of life’ can seem like a lofty phrase, one can always translate this to the surface through basic affirmations, saying ‘yes’ to ‘I’m loved by God’, ‘yes’ to the Cross and Jesus purchasing us at a price, ‘yes’ to leaving our sinful pasts behind, to ‘It is finished’, if you will. When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we embrace a new identity as children reconciled to God and our part of one body, the family of God, in which we abide from victory, not for it. 

In Christ we find deliverance and healing, victory and life, goodness and godliness. Colossians 3:3 says we have died and our lives are hidden with Christ, notable as this also reflects how we’re to store His Word after spiritually ingesting it.

Effectively, to be ‘in Christ’ means God sees the righteousness of His Son operating in and through us.
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But how do we exactly walk in this? For starters, we must position ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. While many recognize this opportunity as a gift of accepting Christ’s sacrifice as payment for our rap sheets, unfortunately, not all believers allow their minds to be renewed as spiritual walks fatigue and, in some cases, become compartmentalized. Sometimes, the hindrance is due to offenses that have matured to doubts, fears, bitterness, and resentments. When we tolerate these love-forsaken realities, our spiritual accounting becomes off-balance, where the cost of following Christ becomes almost equal to not following Him; hence, why many grow weary and stagnant. Over time, we become like vehicles wanting to hit the road yet are too scared about the fluids required to get there. Eventually, we stomach enough to reset and ramp onto new pathways, but with limited containers of health.

This leads me to another critical point…

When we take stock of our walk every new year, we must understand ‘reset’ and ‘renew’ are not the same.
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With a reset, you take your plate to God where grace is received through humility and rest is received by the surrendering of your will in the moment, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, one must be daily dying in the context of vertical intimacy. Take it from one who’s failed in this time and time again: It doesn’t make sense to reset our walks, and by proxy, our vocational and spiritual trajectories, if we don’t intend to renew our minds, respond to conviction, and invite God into our brokenness.

Again, the obstacles are many but with them comes a challenge we must relish: In our aims to be equipped and effective, from knowledge base to spiritual growth, in our desire to experience greater wholeness, we must open ourselves up to be healed in our emotions. How we tend our broken hearts corporately cannot be swept under the carpet of mission, in the call we have to lay groundwork for holy repair. In the context of heaven meets earth, we may genuinely desire effectiveness; however, if we’re not acknowledging God in all our ways, if we’re not grasping our ‘loved-by-God, in-Christ identity’, our reach, the authenticity of our influence, will be capped.

So, my hope for us this year is at the least two-fold:

That we release any inhibitions in fully surrendering our lives to God.
That we give God more room to invade our space in all areas of life.

Not just at church, on Sundays, in our quiet times, but in our offices, the phone lines, conversations, yes, even the secret thoughts we have about each other. For if we’re not committed to being in-Christ, then our pride, anger, fear, self-centeredness will remain relevant, hinder our transformation, and prevent our minds from being renewed as God intended.

In summary, to be ‘in Christ’ is more than being content under the shadow of His wings, more than being grateful on account of sovereignty and grace, even more than our redemption. To be ‘in Christ’ is to be so united to Jesus by faith, so in awe of the Cross and the ministry of reconciliation that our dependence detaches from anything that could make it conditional and the transformation by the renewal of our minds become an overflow of discovering God as He pursues us.

May our ‘in Christ’ be at work, always and forever, even as we heal, even as we’re desperate, on and off the clock.