God counts every tear you cry. God sees your tears fall. He counts them in his bottle according to Psalm 56:8. He does this because He loves you.

A collection of songs for when you are suffering.

We all bring objections to God’s love for us. The question is, what does God do with our objections?

Having unmet desires is not a unique experience for some Christians, we all experience it. But each experience of it is unique. Here are a few thoughts to help guide us when this is our season.

As you look back on 2019, you might find that what fills you is regret over your sins and mistakes. Here are six anchors that will hold you amidst the waves of regret.

You can be still because HE is God.

There are far more women out there who have sexual sin scars than people realize. We don’t tell anybody because we think it will cause people to see us differently. How should we think about these scars?

If I fall again, will He be there to pick me up? Can we find hope in the wake of committing the deepest and darkest sins of our lives? After the affair. After the adultery. After the murder. After the deception. When we are most disillusioned about our own salvation because of our depravity, this is when the doctrine of the atonement and mediation shine brightest.

I’m far more sinful, broken, and weak than I want to be. Do you still love me?

God has given us such a gift in the words of the Bible. He’s given us language to explain and express the good and difficult states of our hearts. For those of you that are in a difficult spiritual state, remember the blessing of imagery. May we read our Bibles all the more! Consider using these words/images (and others!) to pray to God about what is going on in your life. Know that God, in His deep love for you, has given other people words to say, pictures to paint, and songs to sing that can be used to give you words and names for your difficulty.

We sin, we feel shame, that shame leads us to run away from God and others in isolation, then the isolation leaves us empty. Thus, turning to sin we begin the cycle again. Where do we go when we are trapped in this hell of a cycle?

A song for the discouraged soul. It is not your hold of Christ that saves, but His hold of you.

Nights full of lonely accusatory questions aimed at yourself. “Am I even a Christian, does God love me anymore?” Your sin, like a desert, drying up every bit of hopeful water you have. Where do we turn when this is where we find ourselves?

His love for you was never given based on your goodness. He loved you, wanted you, and sent His son to die for you while you were rebellious. He’s not going to leave you now. There is massive hope for you. Keep going back to the cross. To the one who does not deal with us according to our sins, but abounds in steadfast (long suffering) love and mercy.

What if in our productivity addicted culture we confuse the potential blessing of the green pastures and the still waters with the valley of the shadow of death because we detest the stillness of waiting? What if God's green pasture for you was a season of waiting—Because thats the only place He could get you to stop and sit still? What if the season you needed to hear his sweet, tender voice was the quietness found in waiting? Everybody likes the idea of the still waters until you’re there- and you find that theres nothing to do but wait.

About six months into my seminary career; however, the excitement started to fade. God became less real to me. The God who bled and died for me became the God whom I merely read and wrote about. I eventually began to question God entirely. I went  through seasons in which I questioned my salvation, questioned the goodness of God, and even questioned the very existence of God.

People often say things like “things will get better” or “God is still working.” If we are honest, when we hear these things, it can be hard to believe they are true. But luckily we don’t just have my grandmother’s wisdom of “just stay on the bus and one day the view will be beautiful again” but we have the Scriptures from our king to rest upon and take courage from. You are not as alone as you thought.

Have you ever felt too dirty to go to God? Perhaps because of your sins. The ones you swore you’d never do again… and yet here you are. Perhaps because of the Church. You know, the ones who are supposed to be a safe place for hurting people?

What does God say to the anxiety you feel after graduation?

Are you too dirty for church? Was Jesus too dirty for his religious culture?