When You Wonder if God is Faithful and Good | Hosanna Revival

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When You Wonder if God is Faithful and Good | Hosanna Revival

I’m honored to be a guest contributor at Hosanna Revival | WHEN blog. You can find an excerpt below and click the link to read the full article.

When my father’s substance abuse could no longer be hidden, denied, or explained away, his public fall––unavoidable as a pastor in a small town––wasn’t even the most painful part of it all. It was the sorrow that happened behind closed doors in the hearts of my immediate family and within my own soul.

Shattered, broken, and questioning God’s love, goodness, and faithfulness, I sought Christian counseling. Nestled between two pillows, I slumped on the leather couch within the cozy surroundings of my counselor’s office when she prompted me to admit my struggle with seeing God as a faithful Father. 

I sat in my car in the counseling center parking lot after our session, bent over the steering wheel as tears formed puddles on my lap. Before turning on my car’s ignition, I sputtered a prayer that I….

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God as Father: Finding His Faithfulness When Earthly Fathers Fail | Family Life→

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God as Father: Finding His Faithfulness When Earthly Fathers Fail | Family Life

I’m honored to be a guest contributor at Family Life. You can find an excerpt below and click the link to read the full article.

Throughout my childhood and early adulthood, I counted on my dad to be my rock. He was a pastor who consistently studied the Bible, introduced me to Jesus, fueled my desire to serve the Lord, and imparted unto me a love for the Scriptures. I was secure in his love and care.

But in my thirties, my relationship with my dad shifted. After decades of suffering with chronic illness, the medication that was meant to help him turned into an addiction. My father’s drug abuse changed him––and it also shifted something inside of me, as his behavior produced a distance that caused me to question his goodness. It also brought a question to the surface of my heart: Is God a good father to me?

It was difficult to admit, but because it seemed….

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Enduring to the End | Brianna Barrett Blog

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Enduring to the End | Brianna Barrett Blog

I’m honored to share one of the devotions found in my book 40 Days to God, My Father on my friend Brianna Barrett’s blog. You can find an excerpt below and click the link to read the full devotion.

He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.” therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

God never audibly said no to me. But on the day I turned forty years old, the hope that swelled in my heart to have children one day wouldn’t rise above the floor. Before that moment, I’d gripped expectation and pled with my whole heart for God to give me babies. As far back as I could remember I wanted five, but I resolved to settle for just one—it never happened.

Chronic illness stole my child-bearing years, and although forty is not too old to conceive, I knew my window of opportunity had slammed shut. This realization shook me with grief. Throughout that day, even during a surprise birthday party orchestrated by my husband, one question burned in my mind: Why, God?

Looking back on my fortieth birthday (over a decade ago)—the day I knew the Lord’s answer to my prayer for children was no—I latched onto God’s words to….

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