Month: May 2026

counting what ?

Posted on by Grace Day

There’s counting sheep when you can’t sleep, counting your chickens before they hatch, (or not) counting the cost before you commit to something, counting cards, counting down to the new year, counting your losses –

There are a lot of things I can choose to count, but it occurs to me that perhaps I could spend more time counting my blessings and a lot less time consumed with counting my losses. These words of an old hymn come to my mind –

“Count your blessings, name them one by one . . . count your blessings . . . and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

Have I been so focused lately on my losses, that I have been oblivious to God’s goodness, faithfulness, provision and protection surrounding me on a daily basis? Why am I focused on what I don’t have when I could just as easily focus instead on what I do have? That’s a choice that is mine alone to make each day. Where will my focus be? What will I choose to count? I’ve been hanging out with Habakkuk lately and am always surprised at these words of his, even though I’ve heard them before –

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

Habakkuk does start by listing some things that he is currently lacking. But then he pivots, saying that he chooses to rejoice, to be joyful in God, his Savior. Habakkuk acknowledges it is God who gives him strength and it is God who “enables him to go on the heights.” Truly, God’s presence with me brings me everything I need and more. King David said as much in this psalm –

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” (Psalm 23:1)

James said this –

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

And Paul said this in his letter to the Corinthians –

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)

I already have all that I need and more! God’s daily blessings to me far outweigh my life’s losses, which are inevitable for each one of us as long as we inhabit these “jars of clay.” There are so many people that I miss on a daily basis – sometimes the pain is so prevalent that it threatens to paralyze simply by eclipsing the joy, the hope and the peace that my Heavenly Father’s presence provides me in abundance every hour of every day.

BUT – I don’t have to dwell on the pain that comes with counting my losses. I can choose instead to count my blessings. And with God, there are always blessings to count and give Him the thanks for providing them in such abundance and so faithfully. After all –

“His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is His faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

It is up to me. What will I spend my time counting? I will choose to follow the advice of these words –

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16)

Like Habakkuk, even in the tough times, especially in the tough times – I will look to God and count all of His daily, good, undeserved gifts that I continually receive from His hand. Like King David recounted, even in the worst of circumstances, God’s provision and protection were evident and overflowing. Rather than bemoan or count his losses, David gave account in Psalm 23 of all God’s good gifts, of all the blessings given to him, including the gift of God’s Presence always with him. When I need to be reminded to count my blessings rather than my losses, my hurts, my regrets etc. – I will start with Psalm 23, making the words my own –

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:1-6)

Too many good gifts of God to count – His presence with me, His care for me, His provision, His guidance, His restoration, His protection, His comfort, His abundance sustaining me and overflowing – these are the things I will count and recount to others – giving God all the thanks and the honor and the glory.

sincerely, Grace Day

a silent season

Posted on by Grace Day

Job felt it – God’s silence, a silence Job equated with God’s absence. Job’s complaint against God was this –

“Even today my complaint is bitter; His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning. If only I knew where to find Him; if only I could go to His dwelling! . . . But if I go to the east, He is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find Him. When He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him.” (Job 23:1-3 & 8-9)

Sounds to me like Job was pretty discouraged. Yet even during Job’s experience of a silent season, Job maintained hope. How do I know this? Well, Job’s very next words after his complaint regarding God’s elusiveness or apparent evasiveness were these –

“But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)

Even though at the time, Job said he couldn’t see God, couldn’t find God, couldn’t feel God’s presence with him, Job acknowledged that God had not lost track of him. Job’s words reveal that even in the silence, Job trusted God. Job trusted that God knew right where he was and that God knew all that Job was going through during his silent, lonely, painful season.

But Job is by no means the only person to experience a silent season in relation to God just when circumstances are particularly dire. Habakkuk was someone who could perhaps identify with Job’s circumstances and someone who was also unwilling to give up on God. During the worst of times, Habakkuk had this to say –

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

I want to be more like Job and Habakkuk. I want to trust God and to praise God, no matter what my circumstances might be on any given day or in any given season of my life. My earthly circumstances are constantly changing, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. I cannot count on my circumstances to give me peace or joy or hope or anything that I need. BUT – God doesn’t change. Therefore, I can count on God. I have this assurance –

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

So even in this silent season, I can know that God has not abandoned me. I can know what King David knew and expressed so well in these words when he said –

“O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O Lord. . . . Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalm 139:1-4 & 7-10)

Even in the silence, even when I feel all alone, even when life is unbearably painful, I know that God is here with me. As King David said, there is no place I can go from His Spirit. God is omnipresent and He promised this to me and to you, too, dear readers –

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

God also said –

“I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15)

During a silent season, it is easy for me to become discouraged and to feel alone, unseen and unheard. Hagar was someone who felt this way when she ended up alone in the desert. BUT she was not alone and she was not invisible to God. God met her there and gave her hope and a future with these words –

“You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.” (Genesis 16:11)

And fun fact – the name Ishmael means “God hears”. Hagar had a name for God after her desert encounter with Him –

“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’ ” (Genesis 16:13)

When we are in a silent season, isn’t what we each want more than anything else is to know that we are seen and we are heard and that we are not alone? It can be hard to hold onto hope during the silence but God’s word reassures you and me that we are never beyond His notice, nor His watchful care –

” ‘Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:24)

“But now, this is what the Lord says – . . . ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you;’ ” (Isaiah 43:1-5)

And in the end, God gave up His only Son, Jesus, for me and for you, for all who would believe on His name.

In every silent season it is God’s Word that keeps me company, guides me, sustains me, protects me and brings me safely through. He will do the same for you. We are never alone, even in our silent seasons.

sincerely, Grace Day

the unhealed hole

Posted on by Grace Day

I have one. Actually, I have more than one. Truth be told, I have multiple unhealed holes in my heart. And I’m thinking you most likely have them too, dear readers – multiple holes in your hearts, that is. It would probably not be an exaggeration to say that our hearts resemble Swiss cheese, I think. We are the walking wounded of this world.

The particular hole whose presence I am feeling most acutely today is the hole left by the absence of my mom. Of course, today is always poignantly painful, being Mother’s Day. It is impossible to ignore her absence on this day when other’s are taking their mom’s out to eat or spending the day with them. I miss my mom on ordinary days, too, but this day is an annual reminder of what I’ve lost, or rather who I’ve lost.

It’s an inevitable fact of life, that the older we get the more losses we will experience, hence the more holes our hearts will accumulate. Still our hearts keep on beating even as new spaces are created in our hearts for new lives coming into this world and into our families. I choose to fill the hole left by my mom’s absence with all the good memories I have. She left me her legacy of love, her example of courage, devotion, service and faithfulness to family and to friends. This is something I continue to carry with me and never want to forget. She is no longer here to remind me to do good, to do right, to keep going and to never give up. I have to carry on her legacy in her absence. No small task..

But when I feel discouraged, I think of my mom’s faithfulness in difficult, painful circumstances. She quietly persevered. Remembering this, I know that I can too, even though my mom is no longer here to cheer me on. After all, we all need someone in our corner. And I am reminded that when I feel alone, I can know that I am not alone and that I do, indeed, have someone in my corner. God’s word says,

“God sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:6)

and also I have this promise –

“The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)

I don’t have to be afraid or discouraged. There is Someone watching out for me. There is Someone who has my back in this big, uncertain world. There is Someone who knows my name and the way that I take. I am not lost nor am I unseen. In fact, these words reassure me about my Creator’s love for me –

“The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

My mom’s love was comforting and protective and continuous – I miss that BUT – God’s love is everpresent and unfailing – He will one day heal all the holes in my heart. In the meantime, I know these words are true –

“My help come from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121:2-8)

sincerely, Grace Day

perpetual motion

Posted on by Grace Day

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.’ ” (Isaiah 30:15)

That definitely seems to be true of our current culture – we will “have none of it.” We want nothing to do with being still or being quiet. We are in perpetual motion – always in a hurry to go somewhere in order to do some urgent thing. We don’t stop. Maybe that’s because our surroundings don’t stop. Our culture is awake twenty-four/seven now. Some places are open twenty-four hours, they never close. TV doesn’t shut off anymore and social media is always awake. FOMO is more prevalent than ever before.

We are never still and we are never quiet. We complain that we can’t connect with God, meanwhile we are perpetually in motion pursuing many other things. We lament that we don’t hear God speaking to us even while our ears are occupied with whatever is coming through our EarPods or our headphones, continuous music or continuous conversation and comment about something. All of it a constant distraction from what really matters. Of course, you and I can become distracted without the aid of EarPods, TV, social media and all the various kinds of screen time. Jesus’s encounter with sisters Mary and Martha, which occurred centuries in the past, reminds me that distractions have always existed, long before technology provided us with new ones. Mary and Martha’s story unfolded like this –

“As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’ ” (Luke 10:38-42)

Did you catch that? Martha was distracted – not by screen time, not by her social media, but simply by the task of preparing a meal for a guest in their home. You see, there have always been plenty of distractions to derail us, long before the advent of TV or of computers or of smart phones. That day, Martha was in perpetual motion, trying to get everything she thought necessary for a proper meal completed. However, Mary “was sitting” and not just anywhere. We are told “Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said.” “Sitting” didn’t mean that Mary was idle or that she was wasting her time. Mary was listening to every word that Jesus spoke. But in order for her to hear Jesus, Mary had to draw near to Him and then she had to be still in order to hear what Jesus was saying.

When I’m in perpetual motion, it’s harder, if not impossible, for me to hear the voice of my Savior. Like Martha, I am too often distracted by many other things. This must be why King David wrote these words describing how God helps you and me to get to a place where we can hear His voice and we can spend time with Him.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:1-3)

I know I often long to have my frazzled soul restored but I am unwilling to stop, to be still and to take the time to listen for God’s voice. God wants to restore me, the Psalm says so. That’s why God “makes me lie down” in a peaceful place for rest, in a “green” place, implying lots of food to refresh and to restore my hungry body and my hungry soul. Green plants are food for my body. God’s words are food for my soul.

“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:4)

God leads me by those “quiet waters” so that without all the noise surrounding me, I will have a chance to hear His voice. God invites me to “be still and know.” His call is an open invitation. Today is as good a day as any for me to cease my perpetual motion and to instead experience my Creator’s rest and restoration. Then I can say with the psalmist –

“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.” (Psalm 62:1)

sincerely, Grace Day