Courage, Dear Heart

This year, one of my goals was to really dive into the Word. I’ve loved reading the Old Testament, and I’m currently re-reading the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a prophet appointed to share the word of God to the Judeans during the Babylonian exile; while most of these prophecies heeded warnings of the trials to come, God would often share prophecies of hope: “‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances. Then they will be my people, and I shall be their God ”  (Ezekiel 11:17, 19-20, NASB).  Though Ezekiel was prophesying to the Judeans, I have often prayed this same prayer... God, please remove this heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh.  I deeply strugg...

The last couple of weeks have been really hard on me and my husband. We’ve had some health scares and a lot of personal struggles that have felt so overwhelming. As I’m sure other couples can relate, I truly believe that Satan fears what a Godly relationship can bring to the Kingdom of God. In response to that fear, he wiggles in the best he can, using lies, fears, strongholds, and reminders of our pasts. He does his absolute best to usurp the power and protection that Jesus has over that relationship. The closer Ethan and I grow to each other and God, the harder Satan fights against that threefold cord. As we have struggled to overcome these strongholds in our own lives and marriage, there has been a story from the Old Testament I’ve fixated on: the story of the prophet Elisha and his servant in the book of 2 Kings. In this story, the king of Aram (present-day Syria) was waging war against Israel; during this time, Elisha was prophesying to the king of Israel in order to prepare him f...