If I’m completely honest, life is a bit difficult right now. Who knew I’d find myself in such uncertainty? What makes this season in my life so difficult is being so keenly aware of just how dependent on God I am and evidently, I don’t trust Him. One minute I’m confident that God will see me through and the next I’m questioning why Jesus can’t just ask me to do “normal” things. In my fear, what once came with ease now seems so hard and it’d be easier to just ignore it all (well at least in the moment). With the highs and lows of this roller coaster ride it's hard to keep everything in perspective. My mind is clouded with insecurities and fears, some rational and some not. But, there’s hope. Thankfully, God continues to remind me that no matter the issue, when God is in the equation what’s “foolish” is wise.

We tend to act as if Christ Jesus isn’t “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The same God who is urging you to depend on Him, is the same God who commanded Noah to build an ark. He is the same God who gave Gideon and his measly 300 men army victory. He’s the same God who helped a boy defeat a giant and He’s the same God who called flawed guys to abandon all to become fishers of men. Can you imagine what these individuals went through? How in the world’s eyes they may have seemed extremely foolish and even stupid?

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Matthew 7: 14, 13). It may be hard, probably even scary. You may even look foolish but, remember "...the wisdom of the world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: He catches the wise in their craftiness" (1 Corinthians 3:19).  Know that God will be with you all of the way. There's no need to be discouraged.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

“By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” Matthew 7: 16-18

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” Galatians 5:19-23

“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. …” Matthew 7:22

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18

Paige Henry is a school social worker and independent artist in Detroit, MI. Check out her music at www.sydneyandpaige.com or www.facebook.com/sydneyandpaige.
Twitter: @PaigeAHenry

Growing up, I could not imagine what a life absent of attending church for regular service, bible study and prayer would be like.  Like many of us who grew up in the church, I really had no choice. You could count on me to be present every time the doors of the church were opened.  It seemed as if every time my mother thought about church, we were there!  I recall a conversation with my mother where I questioned the point of attending church as often as we did. What else could the pastor possibly say every Sunday that he had not said before?

      When I found out that I was with child, I was full of mixed emotions. Knowing that my life was about to change, I was highly dissapointed in myself.  I never wanted to bring a child into this world unmarried and without proper planning.  I was smart and I knew what the consequences would be, yet I found myself in this situation.  I felt an overwhelming sense of self-condemnation, doubt and fear.  I no longer saw myself as the vibrant, smart, and intelligent young lady full of potential.  I painted a very negative image of myself and somehow I was convinced that I identified more with those who never dreamed. My low self-esteem led me to believe that I could no longer dream, and that it was selfish of me to do so considering the fact that I was unpreparred for the child I was carrying inside of me.  I had the support of an amazing friend during this time, however I was in a very dark place on the inside.  No matter how much anyone did to try to show me that I was still the same person and that I would be ok, I had given up. My dreams of becoming a professional singer were replaced with nightmares of how I would live downtrotted for the rest of my life, and for a while I would not sing, not even to myself.

       So, what did I do? Who did I turn to? What could lift my soul from the pit of condemnation? Where did I go to find myself again? I returned to that same word of God that I had read about all of those years. I returned to my foundation and God began to strengthen my broken heart.  It has not been an overnight process, but healing began to take place when I decided to believe in the God of my salvation.  I knew that in him I could be redeemed. Looking back, I realize that the word of God that was repeated over and over in my youth was for now.  I required that foundation because I would not know that God was for me and that he would never leave or forsake me. I would not know about the Love of God and how he says in Rom. 8 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."

      Now I stand from a place of victory. I love my healthy, smart, intelligent and amazing son who's birth gave new life to me! I know about God's love for myself and it's what I sing about everyday!

-Colandra McDowell



Colandra is an independent artist in Raleigh, NC. Follow her on twitter: @colamcdowell
Check out her music ministry at www.colandramcdowell.com

      Certain recent events in my life prompted me to take a closer look at the story of Jonah. Sadly, at most the last time I read the book of Jonah was in high school. I remember as a child thinking the moral of the story was obey God or He’ll punish you. Cleary I missed the mark. My conclusion had a lot to do with how I viewed God then. I’m not exactly sure why but, I grew up feeling especially special to God. I even remember sitting in church thinking to myself about how while I knew God loved everybody if He had to have a favorite it’d be me. Don‘t judge me ;). While I didn’t worry much about God punishing me for doing wrong, I did believe that my fairly obedient behavior, my desire to please God and inherent specialness meant that God would spare me from any really bad experiences. All in all, whether the belief is that you will be spared from harm or punished in complete accordance to your behavior it’s pretty much the same thing and is it ever truly the case? We all can look back on our lives and remember times when we didn’t experience consequences we very well deserved and times we endured adversities we didn’t. But still, we all from time to time, find ourselves certain that the wrath of God will be upon us at any moment or angry with God because of our misfortune. I think it all stems from the notion that this Christian walk begins and ends with behavior. It’s more than that.

Just like an earthly father, God wants to commune with you and prosper you (Jeremiah 29:11, 1 Timothy 2:3-4) both in this life (the womb, developing you until your birth in…) and in heaven (…eternal life). Now when I say that God wants to prosper you, I don’t mean that God wants you to have a rolls royce but, that He wants what’s best for you. Not everybody can handle a rolls royces, worldly wealth or certain successes. If you gain the whole world for say a short 70 years and lose your soul it will not be prosperity but, foolishness (Mark 8:36). Even earthly fathers will not allow their children to indulge in every pleasure of this world only to find themselves in ruin. The only way he can truly prosper you and be in relationship with you is to save and transform you. In the most practical sense sin separates us from God.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23. 
“For the living know that they will die, but, the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten” Ecclesiastes 9:5. 
There is nothing prosperous in death and having a relationship with someone who is dead just won’t work. Therefore, God journeys with us so that we will know/experience Him, accept His gift of salvation and its resulting sanctification.

Many times this journey can be perceived as coercion. For example, when Jonah refused to obey God and decided to run he ended up in a whale. What could be seen merely as punishment is only love. God knew Jonah would run and he used it as an opportunity to show him, and us for that matter, his love for mankind. Jonah finally obeyed the Lord and as a result Nineveh repented "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, "O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, "Do you do well to be angry?" Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die." And the Lord said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?" Jonah 4