Beauty in the Hard

October 2, 2023September 30, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

If you’re growing, there’s going to be pressure.

If you’re moving forward, there’s going to be pressing.

If you have no pressure, no pressing points which have become uncomfortable, you’re probably not developing.

Just as a flower has to break through the seed and push up through the ground, when you are going to bring about change, there has to be a breaking, a crushing, and finally, a breakthrough.

So, if life is heating up, and you’re feeling the weight of responsibilities and decision making deepening around you, stand strong and walk proud.

Not in conceit or arrogance. Only in humility and respect can you truly survive.

But if you’ll rise to the occasion, grasp the reigns of opportunity and ride it to probability, you can thrive under the constraints.

You can succeed under the strain.

And when you do, not only will the blooms be beautiful, but the impact on those around will be spectacular, too.

My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10

Silly Saturday

September 30, 2023July 30, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Funny Friday

September 29, 2023July 30, 2023 / The WheatandTares

Above all, Find Peace

September 27, 2023September 28, 2023 / The WheatandTares

Find the place where your soul can find rest.

Take a stroll along the stream.

Hike to the summit.

Crawl around in the cave.

Bike along the coast.

Sit beside the rushing waterfall.

Where doesn’t matter so long as your soul can breathe.

Too often, we simply push through the hard and forget to let the dust settle.

If your soul can find a calm, it won’t matter if the storms brew, the winds howl, and the chaos rages.

Where the tranquility lies deep, stability will find its level, and grace will thrive.

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Isaiah 26:3

Look Up Through the Hard

September 25, 2023September 24, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

Sometimes, life is just hard.

Circumstances go awry.

Relationships go chaotic.

Things just don’t seem to be as they should.

Add injustice, insecurity or instability of heart to any of this, and it can feel like a pit is swallowing you whole.

At that moment, look up.

See the beam of brightness shining through the rocks?

See that sliver of light at the end of the tunnel?

It’s not a train. It’s hope.

And it’s coming for you.

Keep walking forward, even if you have to crawl.

Keep looking up. Change is coming.

Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.
Luke 21:28

Silly Saturday

September 23, 2023July 20, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Funny Friday

September 22, 2023July 20, 2023 / The WheatandTares

Music to My Ears

September 21, 2023September 21, 2023 / The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

What would your life be like without music?

Honestly, I think any life would be dull and lifeless without music. There’s a quote that says, “Music is the words of the soul.” And I believe it’s true.

I’m not just referring to music with instruments, vocals and different genres, but I’m talking about any music. There’s a melody in the trees as the wind rustles the leaves. There’s a lullaby in the setting sun basking upon the mountains. There’s a cadence in the insects that hum and the birds that sing. There’s a crescendo in the waves crashing upon the rocks and shoreline.

In all actuality, there’s probably more music to be found in the nature around us, or in the children’s laughter that rises above the chaos, or the babies cries that surround a mother’s comforting coos than there is in the simple clanging of cymbals and piano keys.

This music brings peace to the soul and laughter to the lips. It brings strength to the mind and healing to the whole being.

So, where my life be without music: lost. Totally and utterly lost without hope. And I am eternally grateful for great melodies, regardless, of where they come from.

How about you?