Like so many others, my heart has been heavy lately. I’ve tried and failed to lift my own spirits with distraction, food, family, entertainment, etc. It helps for a little while, but the undercurrent of unrest and fear still courses like an underground spring, and I feel its vibration in my core. So I turn to my Bible. It’s more bracing, more solid, its unchanging nature and absolute truth something to hold onto so I don’t get swept away, but the verses I’ve been reading haven’t felt...

When we stop justifying our rebellion and own the ugliness of our own hearts, when agree with God that we are guilty in the way He says we are in His Word by His Spirit, He lifts the burden. Completely.

As a kid, I didn’t really know what “trouble” was, only that grown-ups regularly told me to stay out of it, so I tried. I must have done...