strength

Grief’s Lament

/ The WheatandTares / 8 Comments

What do you do when facing grief?

Do you weep uncontrollably and inconsolably?

Do you grow angry and jealous of those who don’t seem to be affected?

Do you dive into the bottle, the drugs, the prescriptions, anything that will bring relief and simultaneously self destruction?

Do you recede into yourself daring anyone to knock on the wall you’ve built to shield?

Do you quietly reflect, never sharing an inner thought, always brooding, always bracing for the next?

Do you remove yourself from your present day and time and settle into memories of the past, sealing the vault to enter into more?

Maybe you do none of these.

Maybe you do all but at different times.

Recently, it seems I have walked beside so many experiencing this event that one day will, someway, somehow, affect all of us, and it caused me to stop and ponder for a moment.

What do you do when facing grief?

Truthfully, those of us with understanding, knowledge, and even experience with the “Five Stages of Grief,” we can give cliche answers and sound like the most brilliant human beings in the room. We can pontificate on the granduers of psychological pain, suffering, and sorrow. We can present thesis upon thesis on how one should react compared to the case studies of those who were deemed “grieving all wrong.”

But there is no formula to grief.

Oh, how I wish there were!

How I long for a formulaic answer to the mother, who asks, “Why did my son die?” How my heart aches for a well spoken response to the wife who says, “How will I ever live without him?” How my mind races for a piece of comfort to give when the father says, “I would’ve rather have taken her place.”

A studied and proven method would be so much easier to present in these moments of horror and torment. An eloquent quote, a ritualistic prayer, a methodical chant that could wash away the brokenness that remains, these would be like a healing balm both to their soul and mine. How soothing it would be to offer a word that could create the chasm as if there were no remnant of the devastation.

Yet, that is not how grief shows up nor how it makes its exit … if it actually has an exit.

No.

Grief is unexpected, unpredictable, and unwanted…and even truly, unexplainable.

The only thing that has been found a constant in the pain is that He is there. The only name that has stayed stable throughout is Jesus. The only One who has sustained all the shattered dreams and wrecked lives is the One who created our very soul.

And I can’t even tell you how He does it. But He does.

He is faithful and true. And He promises to abide. He promises to stay beside you in the midnight hours. He cannot lie. He is bound by His words of truth. And He will come and dwell. If you’ll but open the door of your heart.

And let Him in.

He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:3-4

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:1

Quiet Constancy

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

You are a quiet constance in my life. 

Always there. Always filling space. 

Quiet, calm, and steady. 

Never imposing. Never crowding. 

Simply there awaiting my awareness. 

Awaiting my world to settle back to You again.

You are a peaceful Journey in my life. 

Always present. An always consuming pace. 

Tranquil, serene, and still. 

Never invading. Never intruding. 

Simply there awaiting my attention. 

Awaiting my mind to turn back to You again. 

You are a compelling Force in my life. 

All encompassing. All enveloping. 

Strong, encouraging, and favored. 

Always faithful. Always true. 

Simply there awaiting my realization. 

Awaiting my heart to yield to You again. 

You are a commanding Voice in my life. 

All protecting. All consuming. 

Fierce, advocating, and victorious. 

Always trustworthy. Always just. 

Simply there awaiting my revelation. 

Awaiting my soul to surrender to You again. 

5/2/26 – MG

Be still and know I am God.

Psalm 46:10

Silly Saturday

/ The WheatandTares
Y. E. S.

Funny Friday

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Point of No Return

/ The WheatandTares

Whatever you left because it broke you, don’t return to it when your tears have dried.

It may have been a person. It may have been a pain. It may have been a sin. It may have been a shame.

No matter what or who, never go back simply because the storm is over.

Too many abused return to their abuser.

Too many released will return to their captor.

Too many wounded will return to their accuser.

Why?

Often the comfort of the cage is easier than learning to live in the awkwardness of the new.

Often the known is more welcoming than the challenge of the unknown.

But be convicted to adjust.

Be determined to redirect.

Do not settle for the norm because it’s comfortable.

Do not settle for the available simply because it knows you.

Allow yourself to resettle.

Allow yourself to dream again.

Allow yourself to grow.

You’ll be amazed at the new you.

As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly.

Proverbs 26:11

Deliver those who are drawn toward death,
And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.

Proverbs 24:11

It’s Not Me. It’s You.

/ The WheatandTares

Oh, if we could grasp this reality, what strength we could gather.

When someone wounds you, it’s not because you have done something wrong. It is because they have something wrong inside.

This is not to say that you could have possibly prevented it. Maybe. sometimes, we don’t notice warning signs until it is too late. Sometimes, we turn a blind eye because of our own hangups and intimidations.

But when someone wrongs you, particularly when it is repetitive, we have to accept it for what it is: their fatal flaw.

We don’t always need to defend ourselves.

And we don’t really need to retaliate.

But we do always need to walk away.

Step back from their negative blows.

Move out of the course of their mayhem.

Set boundaries and close the doors to their reckless endangerment.

Realize it is not your responsibility nor your burden to bear.

Sometimes, broken people try to break others.

Sometimes, wounded people live to wound others.

Sometimes, twisted people endeavor to twist the lives of others.

But this never means you have to surrender to it.

Remove your heart from their hammer and reclaim your peace.

It’s worth the effort.

You are worth the time.

Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not walk in the way of evil.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.

Proverbs 4:14-19

The Lion’s Silence

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

In the brush, you can’t see her silhouette as she glides along.

Below the grass, she hovers and waits.

The stalks swaying in the breeze as she pauses to take in the horizon.

Her eyes never leaving her prey as she haunts him with her shadows.

Believing it is only a myth, he grows complacent in the quiet.

Letting down his guard, his head lowers for a rest, never realizing his mistake.

Suddenly, she pounces from the mist and charges his serenity.

He attempts an escape, but the moment has passed.

She has him in her paws, and the pride closes in to bring her added strength.

Fight though he may, the battle is over before it even began.

All because he grew comfortable in the midst of her silence.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Peter 5:8

Funny Friday

/ The WheatandTares
It’s all in perspective. 😉😆

What Do You See?

/ The WheatandTares

There is a beautiful quote by Marcus Arelius that says, “To offend a strong man, tell him a lie. To offend a weak man, tell him the truth.”

So many people in this world are okay with less than truth. They can be inundated with lies and never be distracted. They can receive half truths and simply run with it and retell the story. And when truth actually confronts them, it is like a slap in the face, and they become offended.

As this becomes more and more prevalent in our modern society, you can watch a whole culture become divided and polarized, as fallacy makes a home like locusts and devours the innocent, while truth reigns in the hearts of a few, and a great chasm opens between them.

May we all examine our hearts today and determine which side of the canyon we belong.

For weak men will rise to power when weaker men rebel against truth and seek their own desires, demanding falsehood as the accepted edicts.

How you respond when you hear the truth exposes your strength of character. How you retell a lie displays to the world the depth of who you are. Even how you respond to this quote can determine your success or failure.

Strong men will be relegated to the haunted ghosts of yesterday as the masses embrace falsehoods as their standard.

But wisdom cries out to be heard. Truth never changes simply because someone silences it.

Rest assured, Truth will reign in the afterlife, and all will weep who did not heed the call.

Does not wisdom cry out,
And understanding lift up her voice?
She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way, where the paths meet.
She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entrance of the doors:
“To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. O you simple ones, understand prudence, and you fools, be of an understanding heart.
Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
For my mouth will speak truth;
Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
They are all plain to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.

Proverbs 8:1-9

Soul Applications

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Truth is not enough to sustain your life lest you apply it.

Application of truth is the only way our lives become transformed from what they have been.

So, let’s ask ourselves some heartfelt questions today,

How much Truth am I receiving?

How much Truth am I accepting?

(And yes. There is a difference in receiving truth and accepting that truth as truth.)

If I am accepting Truth, am I applying it to my life?

If I’m apply this Truth to my life, is there fruit coming from my life?

Simple as that.

We can hear Truth all day long, but if we fail to receive it, accept it, apply it, and then, produce it, we fall into the age old trap of becoming a fool.

The lack of Truth being applied in someone’s life doesn’t change the Truth.

It only leaves a void of change in the hearer’s life.

And that, my dear friends, leads to a most tragic end.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:32

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

James 2:14-19