This holiday season, I encourage you to see the new thing God is doing in your life. He came to this earth to make a way and a stream for you by suffering through the wilderness and wasteland. Look for Him, and you will see a new thing spring up.

We are immobilized by the suffering and pain in this world and are tempted to give up, not stand and take the next step in front of us.

I’m sitting in this shower and don’t want to get up, because I find relief with the water drowning out the world around me.

All of this laboring, praying, counseling, encouraging, sharing our lives and the gospel…will it be in vain?

How do we live in the middle of what was at Creation and what is to come when Jesus reverses all dying? How do we live in the reality that it was never supposed to be this way, and even the ground below our feet groans to be made whole again?

As much as we want “the best time of the year” to be “happy” and “merry,” it’s not always the case.