People are usually happy to help a neighbor out. When my neighbor needs a package collected or a cup of sugar or a recommendation for a good plumber, it feels good to do this favor.

But after a while, when the favors begin to add up, we all start thinking, “Wait, what’s in this for me?” A mental scorecard is conjured, and we begin to tally the favors given vs. the favors received. We may even stop helping our neighbor altogether if the balance is too far off.

This world is a very transactional place. That’s part of its brokenness. The devil taught us a lie about fairness, and we believed him. He told us that nothing is (or should be) free, and we’ve designed our society by that principle ever since.

Even as children, we seek a “tit” for each “tat”. Sharing is a hard-learned lesson, but even when I agree to it and share my toy with you, I’m looking at which toys of yours I might like to play with.

God’s kingdom doesn’t work that way. Jesus saved us from our constant selfish clamoring by offering the free gift of salvation. Free. There’s no “tat” with God.

“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭7,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

When I pray to God with a request, He never says, “What have you done for me lately?” All God asks for is gratitude for the last thing He did. (And for the billions of other beautiful ways He has blessed His creation.)

God promises a world without score-keeping in relationships. I don’t need to worry about what I owe or who owes me. And I never need to worry about what I owe God because, while I owe Him everything, He doesn’t keep track. All I need to do is say thanks. What a relief.

Dear God, I’m so thankful for your forgiveness. And I’m so glad you don’t keep track of the ways you have blessed me, answered my prayers, or forgiven me. I can never repay you so I am utterly grateful that you don’t ask me to.

My husband and I walk our dog every morning. There are a few routes we can take, but all of them include some dry and dusty paths since we live in a desert.

One route winds behind a large hardware store. We only take that route on Sundays to avoid delivery trucks. Along that back alley, there is a large sandy hill with sparse desert plantings and a bit of irrigation — just enough to keep the existing plants alive to hold the sandy soil in place.

One day, one of the irrigation heads broke. Water gushed out freely instead of the planned dribble. I reported the leak, but weeks passed before a repair was made, and I noticed a beautiful thing. After only a few Sundays, the area around the leak went from a few clumps of dusty, spindly grass to a lush, jungle-like oasis. Flowers bloomed, birds sang, and rabbits frolicked. The air was cooler in that area as we walked by. I loved that ephemeral garden.

All it took was turning on a little water.

“Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭18‬-‭19,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

God can turn any desert into a lush garden. It’s a simple thing to Him. No matter what my life looks like right now, God can remake it entirely. A seemingly lifeless relationship can be rejuvenated. An unhealthy habit can be washed away bringing renewed hope and vitality. A country that has been upended by fear or greed can be restored to faith, generosity, and love.

All it takes is turning to God, the source of true life and love.

Dear God, thank you for the example of your restoration and love that I see when water arrives in this desert. Please bring your healing waters to my life, my family, and my country. I look forward to the day when all deserts of the soul are made lush.

Human nature tends to conjure up enemies. We see them everywhere we look, whether they truly exist or not. We divide people into either “us” or “them,” and the latter are always our enemies.

The divisions can be broad and arbitrary (skin color, occupation, address, education). And they can become very fine-tuned. (Did you attend college? Which college? What did you study? Were you in a fraternity? Which one?) We just love to know who we should hate.

You never have to look very far to find division, enemies, and hatred. A simple look at a globe shows thousands of lines we have drawn, literally, dividing up the earth between many “usses” and “thems.”

Each country has its own leaders with their own agendas and power to wield. They have a flag and a national anthem and sports teams. And an army. Nations go to war over and over to fight the “enemy” on the other side of those lines.

“On that day the Lord will become King over the whole earth  — the Lord alone, and his name alone.” (Zechariah‬ ‭14‬:‭9‬, ‭CSB‬‬)

One day, none of those lines will matter anymore. There won’t be any more presidents, prime ministers, dictators, or emperors. There will just be one King, ruling all of creation. And He will utterly destroy our only true enemy — evil. All that will remain is God’s sovereignty and love. We will finally be able to recognize each other as friends instead of enemies.

Dear God, thank you for your promise of an end to hatred, war, fear, and enemies. Forgive me for the times I have viewed others as my enemy when they were not. Open my eyes to the lies of the devil regarding divisions between “us” and “them” that don’t actually matter. Teach me how to always live as a friend.

I can’t imagine being a doctor who has to give someone a diagnosis of a terminal illness. Especially an advanced stage disease with no cure, no treatment plan, and little chance of recovery.

Some say the doctor shouldn’t offer such a person any hope. They say the person should spend their remaining energy and resources on enjoying the time they have left instead of trying to fight an unwinnable battle. Hope is just a waste of time.

“Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalms‬ ‭42‬:‭5 or 11,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

We all have a terminal illness. We will all die of it, sooner or later. It’s called sin. We have no chance of recovery. There is no cure on earth and no treatment plan. Death is certain.

And yet, hope is not a waste of time. Not at all. Not if this hope is aimed at the right person. God provided our cure for certain death by sending Jesus.

Whether we suffer from a dire physical ailment or a spiritual one, hope placed in God is never a waste of time. God has the power to save, to heal, to bring peace in the midst of the storm.

The devil would love for me to toss out all hope. He loves apathy. He loves it when I look around and think, “What’s the use?”

On the other hand, the devil really hates it when I turn to God with a glimmer of hope and ask for help. Praising God, remembering who He is, how much He loves me, and how powerful He is, is a great way to ignite my lost hope.

Dear God, you are the God of hope. Thank you for always being here with me, as you were yesterday and will be again tomorrow. Thank you for loving me and caring about the details of my life. I don’t always understand why things happen the way they do, but I have hope that your will is good and my salvation is sure.

I live in a desert. It’s harsh, dry, and unforgiving. Anything I try to grow here will be scorched in the sun without a lot of extra water and shade. And even then, the summer heat is too brutal for anything but native creosote bushes.

So I can relate to the Bible story of the Israelites wandering in their desert wilderness. I can understand their panic the first time they found themselves a long way from any kind of oasis. Their hunger and thirst deepened as their provisions dried up, and the sun grew higher in the sky. Desperation set in. They cried out for water and food.

God heard them and provided for them in a plentiful way. They managed to live full lives for forty years in that desolate place.

But the interesting thing is that God only provided enough food for one day at a time. He gave them the miracle of manna. It appeared on the ground every morning and apparently had all the nutrition they needed. But it couldn’t be stored, hoarded, cured, dried, or canned. It lasted for one day (two on the weekend.) After that, it spoiled.

Why did God do that?

Did God want His people to go to bed every night worried about whether there would be any food the next day?

Maybe at first they experienced that anxiety. But over time, they grew to trust God’s provision. Decades went by, and they came to rely on manna the same way they relied on dawn. They learned to be confident in God. That was the lesson God wanted them to learn when He sent them to that wilderness in the first place.

“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭25,‬ ‭CSB)‬‬

God is the same today as He was during those days of the Israelites’ wilderness experience. He is just as loving, generous, and faithful. But He requires obedience and reliance on Him to receive His miraculous provision.

When I have been following God but still find myself in a desperate situation, the right thing to do is to cry out to God, like the Israelites did. God promises to hear me and provide exactly what I need right now. No more. No less. And He expects me to keep coming back to Him for my next helping.

Dear God, thank you for providing everything that I need when I am obedient to you. Thank you also for wanting to be part of my daily life. Forgive me for the times I want to control things so I don’t need to rely on you. Forgive me also for worrying. Teach me to trust you completely today.

Whenever I am presented with the reminder that God is all-powerful, with unlimited resources to accomplish anything He feels like accomplishing, I always wonder, “Well, then, why doesn’t He…?”

“Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us —  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬-‭21‬, ‭CSB‬‬)

This verse is one of those that reminds me of God’s staggering power. He can do more and greater things than I could ever dream up. No matter how far-fetched, wild, or impossible my idea, God can do so much more. Easily.

So then why is there such a thing as childhood leukemia? Why did he create mosquitoes? Why do pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria exist? Why aren’t the people I love healed and saved from an early death? Or any death at all?

We all struggle with this question. Pain, death, and grief touch all our lives, prompting us to ask “why?” from a God who claims to love us. Ever since Adam and Eve first took a bite of the forbidden fruit, rejecting God’s plan, we have been suffering and asking why.

Even Jesus wrestled with this question during His time on earth. In His last hours, Jesus agonized over the suffering He was scheduled to endure. He begged God to change the plan, to find another way, to take the pain from Him. But God didn’t do it. Even though He could have swept Jesus safely back up to heaven in an instant, God stuck with His plan because it was the right one, the only one that would bring victory over death for me and for you for eternity.

I’m so grateful He did.

God is not only powerful, He is also wise. And loving. And holy. Although He can do anything I am able to imagine, and more, He also sees all the ramifications of His actions in our lives. He can see how His answer to my prayer may impact my neighbor or future generations. So, He waits, or says no outright. It may not seem good or right or fair or loving to me today, the way it seemed awful to Jesus in the days and hours before His crucifixion. But it is always best when God sticks with His plan, not mine.

Dear God, You are sovereign. You know best. I trust you. Thank you for your wisdom to always do the perfect and loving thing despite my complaints and confusion. To you be the glory for all generations forever and ever.

Even if you don’t live near the ocean, you’ve heard of it, probably seen pictures of it, and maybe even visited. And if you have been to the seashore, you may have been struck by the vastness of the expanse of water. It just keeps going.

The ocean is used as a metaphor for overwhelming amounts, as in “an ocean of debt,” for example, or “a drop in the ocean.” Even though people have been exploring this world since the dawn of humanity, we still don’t know everything that’s down there in the watery depths or out there in the vast landless expanses.

When I’ve been on a ship at sea where no land is visible, the size of the earth and the amount of water covering it boggles my mind and makes me feel tiny. It’s humbling and awesome at the same time.

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory, as the water covers the sea.” (Habakkuk‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬, ‭CSB‬‬)

God’s glory is more vast than anything He created including the ocean. But because of our limited perspective here on earth, it is an apt simile.

God isn’t revealing Himself in the world right now. He’s waiting for just the right moment for that. We can catch glimpses of His majesty reflected here and there in His creation and some of His activity. But it pales in comparison to what is to come. Our present experience of God is just a drop in the ocean.

One day we’ll see the whole shebang, God in all His glory, swallowing up all that is, like the water covers the sea.

Dear God, my mind is too small to imagine your glory in all its fullness. Thank you for the metaphor of the ocean. Thank you for actual oceans, too, for that matter. Your creation, even in its current less-than-perfect state, is awesome and beautiful. I am so excited to see how your glory remakes it.

There are a lot of things I can’t see, or use any of my senses to detect for that matter. For example, I can’t see oxygen. But I believe that it exists, floating around for me to breathe in to my lungs, keeping me alive somehow.

I believe this because I have a lot of faith in science. I read textbooks in school about oxygen in our atmosphere and about how our lungs absorb it.

I have never seen oxygen. But I am convinced it exists and does all that I have read about.

As another example, I can’t see George Washington. I’ve seen paintings of him and read all about his exploits during the founding of the United States. So, I believe that he existed. I believe because I have faith in the historians and record keepers who pored through writings, documents, and first-hand accounts.

I have never seen George Washington, but I am convinced that he existed and was America’s first president.

A third example involves my future. I cannot see tomorrow. And yet I believe that it will arrive exactly when my clock tells me it will.

I believe this because tomorrow has consistently arrived on time every day for my entire life. And I’ve never heard anyone mention a time when tomorrow did not arrive as expected. I plan for it, write appointments in my calendar, set alarms, and create to-do lists.

I cannot see tomorrow, but I am convinced that it exists and will arrive as it always has.

“Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” (Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭1,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

I also have faith in God. I believe He exists and is the ultimate source of everything that exists. I believe He is good, beautiful, holy, true, and loving.

I can’t see God, but I have faith in His existence as much as oxygen, George Washington, and tomorrow. I feel Him, I see the evidence of Him in His creation, and I read about Him in the Bible’s historical writings and first-hand accounts. I have faith that He has done and will do everything He says He has done and will do.

I have never seen God, but I am convinced that He exists and is exactly who He says He is.

Dear God, thank you for my faith in you. Thank you for building up my faith over time by revealing yourself to me in small and large ways. Thank you for being faithful, generous, patient, and loving. I look forward to the day when I can see you face to face.

When traveling in Botswana, I experienced elephants moving through the area knocking down trees and tearing out shrubs as they went. Occasionally fence posts and sheds would be included in the destruction. Maintaining a safe camp in elephant country was quite a challenge. One of the rangers there was fond of saying, “You can’t have anything nice with elephants around.”

Today, my husband and I use that as a joke when something is damaged by our dog or the wind or our own carelessness. “You can’t have anything nice with elephants around.”

This could be said of the world in general as well. Nothing that is good seems to last. Things break, decay, and wear out. Damage comes from all directions: weather, war, sabotage, greed, vandalism, theft, neglect…

In our own lives, we have to deal with disease, injuries, attacks, loss of all kinds. It is a broken world. No one is immune to hardship and suffering.

The elephant in our story is sin.

“One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all.” (Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭19,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

Fortunately, God has a solution to our elephant-sized sin problem. He plans on making a world free of elephants, I mean sin. Anyone who accepts the gift of forgiveness offered through Jesus can live in this new world. We can all finally have something nice.

Dear God, I’m sorry for the ways I have allowed sin to run rampant in my life. Thank you for your forgiveness and for helping me to rebuild. I’m so grateful for your promise to remake the world without sin and the destruction it causes.

Most things in my life are out of my control. Often, I have the illusion of control, but ultimately, every outcome depends on God.

Take gardening, for example. I can attempt to exert control over the success of my garden by purchasing high quality seeds, infusing my soil with rich nutrients, watering thoroughly and consistently, and ensuring a location with adequate sunlight at the right time of year. Then it’s out of my hands. In the end, unless a little bit of germination magic happens inside that little seed, my efforts will have been wasted.

“So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭7,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

This lack of control could feel very unsettling. It could even make life seem futile. And it would be if the one in control were malicious, stupid, apathetic, or selfish.

Fortunately, Almighty God is loving, generous, and good. He has the last word on everything that happens because He is more wise than any other being. He sees everything — past, present, and future — and sees how every little event affects every other little event.

In this case, my lack of control feels like a relief. A burden lifted. I don’t have to worry about the final results. If I diligently obey everything God gives me to do (like the gardener sowing, fertilizing, and watering), I can rest in confidence that whatever comes next will be His good and perfect will. Even if it doesn’t look like it from my perspective.

Dear God, thank you so much for taking the burden of success from my shoulders. Give me the strength and energy to do the work you have given me, but then remind me to trust you with the outcome of my labors. Teach me to stop worrying and lean on your wisdom and generous love.