🌿 Mystical Gardens Tale 🌿 🪑 The Empty Chair Mary had friends, technically she wasn't alone. That was what she always told herself. She had people she could call. People who would answer a message. People she could talk to about the weather, the latest news, or something funny that had happened during the day. What she didn't have was someone to do things with. She wasn't completely alone, but there was a difference between having people she could talk to and having a companion to spend time with. Mary knew there was a difference. She knew it every evening when she came home. She knew it when she made dinner and automatically put two plates on the counter before realizing there was only one person eating. She knew it when something funny happened on television and she turned toward the other side of the couch to share the joke, only to find an empty cushion. She knew it when she poured herself a glass of tea and, without thinking, reached for another glass. Then stopped. There was no one to pour it for. One evening, Mary sat on the couch with her dinner untouched beside her. The television was playing, but she wasn't watching it. Her eyes kept drifting toward the empty chair across the room. It wasn't anything special. Just an old chair with a cushion that had lost some of its shape, but tonight, it seemed to be extra empty. Mary stared at it for a long time. Then she whispered, “I wish somebody was here.” The words surprised her. She had spent years teaching herself not to say things like that. Whenever she admitted she was lonely, someone would remind her that she already had friends. Whenever she said she wanted companionship, someone would tell her she needed to learn to be happy alone. Whenever she complained about having no one to do things with, someone would say, “You just have to get out there.” Mary knew they meant well, but sometimes she wanted more than advice. She wanted someone to sit beside her. Someone to go places with. Someone to call and say, “Want to grab a coffee?” Someone who would watch a terrible movie with her and laugh at how terrible it was. Someone who would notice when she was quiet. Someone who didn't have to be invited because they were already there. Mary leaned back against the couch. “I don't want to be needy,” she whispered. The room offered no answer. The loneliness tightened around her heart. The loneliness engulfed her and tears formed in her eyes. Mary closed her eyes, curled into a fetal ball, and allowed herself to cry. When she opened them again, she wasn't in her living room. She was sitting in a beautiful garden beneath a giant tree. The mystical garden stretched around her in the soft evening light. Flowers moved gently in a breeze she couldn't feel. Somewhere nearby, water trickled over smooth stones. Mary didn't know how she had gotten there, but she wasn't frightened. She had been to this garden before. Some people claimed it was magical. She looked up at the giant tree. “You know why I'm here, don't you?” The leaves rustled. Mary smiled sadly. “I'm so lonely.” The tree remained silent. Mary pulled her knees toward herself. “I know what everyone says. I know I do have people in my life. I do have friends. I know I should be grateful. I really am grateful.” She swallowed. “But I want someone...” The words finally came out. “I want someone to share my life with.” A breeze moved through the branches. Mary looked up. “Can you help me?” The tree did not answer. Mary waited. “Can you find someone for me?” Still nothing. Her smile disappeared. “It's silly, but I thought that since I just appeared here, maybe you had some magic that could help me.” The branches swayed gently. Mary looked away. “Apparently not.” She stood and began walking through the garden. At first, she noticed all the companionship around her. She saw two birds that sat together on a branch. A pair of rabbits chased one another through the flowers. A butterfly rested on another butterfly's wings. Even the bees seemed to have somewhere to go and someone waiting for them. Mary stopped beside the pond. “Even the animals have someone.” Her voice cracked. “And I don't.” She sat beside the water. For a long time, she didn't notice anything different. Then something strange began. The garden seemed to change. Mary watched as a bee landed on a flower. The flower gave it the nectar that it searched for. A bird flew down to the pond where it found a worm in the soft soil and water to quench is thirst. A fruit fell from one of the branches and disappeared into the soil where the seed would grow. Mary watched quietly. She finally began to understand. The garden wasn't showing her perfect lives. This wasn't exactly the companionship she longed for. What it was showing her was a different kind of companionship. It showed her the connections that are made in all life. Little ones. Simple ones. Necessary ones. Then its leaves shimmered and Mary heard a whisper in her heart. "You are not wrong for wanting companionship.'' Mary's eyes filled with tears. People had told her it was good to be independent. They had told her to enjoy her own company. They had told her she didn't need anyone, but nobody had told her that wanting someone beside her wasn't a weakness. Mary rested her hand against the tree. “I don't want someone to rescue me.” The leaves rustled. “I just don't want to do everything alone. I just need a friend to do things with.” The tree remained silent, but somehow Mary understood. There was a difference between being incomplete and being lonely. She could be whole and still want someone to share some of the things in her life with. She could be grateful and still wish for a little companionship. She could love herself and still want someone sitting in the empty chair. Mary wiped her eyes. “Then why can't you find someone for me?” The tree's branches slowly moved toward the ground. One small branch pointed toward the garden gate. Mary frowned. “You want me to leave?” At first she was hurt, but then she understood. The garden couldn't choose another person's heart. It couldn't manufacture friendship. It couldn't make someone walk into her life. It couldn't promise that tomorrow she would meet the person she'd been waiting for. But it could give her somewhere to come back to when the loneliness became too heavy. It could remind her that loneliness wasn't proof that she was forgotten. Companionship had many different forms. Perhaps most importantly, it reminded her not to close her heart simply because she had been disappointed before. Mary stood. The tree's leaves shimmered. “I guess I just stopped trying.” She looked toward the garden gate. “Because every time I tried, I got hurt.” The garden grew very still. Mary took a deep breath. “Maybe I decided it was easier to do things alone, preferring to be lonely than to be hurt. That's not the same thing as being okay, is it?” The tree answered with a gentle shower of golden leaves. Mary laughed through her tears. “No,” she whispered. “It isn't.” When Mary returned home, the television was still playing. The empty chair was still there. Nothing about her house had changed. But Mary had. She looked at the chair. For years, she had thought the empty chair was proof that nobody was coming, no one wanted to be with her. Tonight, she saw it differently. It was simply an empty chair waiting to be filled. The next morning, Mary picked up her phone. She stared at the screen for several minutes. If she wanted a friend, she should make an effort. There was a woman she occasionally talked to. They had always talked easily, but Mary had never asked her to do anything outside their usual conversations. Her finger hovered over the call button. Then she pressed it. “Hi,” Mary said when the woman answered. “I was wondering…” She almost stopped. She fears that the woman would be too busy. That she would think Mary was being strange. But Mary continued. “Would you like to have coffee with me sometime?” There was a pause. Then came the answer. “I'd love to.” Mary smiled. It wasn't a miracle. It wasn't the end of her loneliness. It wasn't the person she had dreamed about finding for a relationship. It was simply coffee and the beginning of a new friendship. Sometimes the beginnings of any kind of relationship are very small. Sometimes they sound like: Would you like to come with me? Would you want to watch a movie? Do you want to get coffee? Would you like to sit here? Mary still visited the garden. She still had lonely evenings. There were still nights when she looked at the empty chair and wished someone were sitting in it, but now she wouldn't allow the loneliness to tightened around her heart. She knew she could ask for simple companionship when she felt lonely and she could always come here for comfort and peace. Wanting someone beside you does not make you weak. Being lonely does not mean you are forgotten. An empty chair is not a threat that no one will ever come. Sometimes… It is simply a chair waiting for a story that hasn't been written yet. Seed from the Garden “God setteth the solitary in families.” — Psalm 68:6 Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two people are better than one because they can help each other up. God sees the lonely places we don't always know how to explain. He doesn't shame us for wanting companionship. While He may not answer that longing in the way or timing we expect, we can trust that our loneliness does not mean we have been forgotten. Sometimes the first step isn't finding the person we've been waiting for. Sometimes it's simply finding the courage to open the door to allow people in. #christianwriter #christianfiction #christianfantasy #stacyfrantz #MysticalGardens

Good evening to everyone. Grace and Peace be with you. Catawampus. That is my word of the day. Catawampus. It is a beautifully weird word that can be used in a myriad of ways to describe the perfect blend of chaos and dumbness in any given situation. The definition actually is: going badly, awkwardly, or in the wrong direction. Most Mondays are, by definition, catawampus. As you read from last night’s post, mine was extremely catawampus. Today tried to slide sideways but quickly smoothed out. Another vibrant way to describe something going haywire is “off-kilter”. The actual definition of this word is: out of balance. So, if your catawampus is off-kilter … is that good or bad? The purpose of this paper today is to make you laugh with the playfulness of words. We make up words every day depending on how our brains and mouths communicate. Sometimes real words come out; sometimes weird syllables that formulate a weird concoction of letters into a word come out. Most of those situations result in gut-filled laughter and a sense of relief because of the guffaw. What if we approached our off-kilter moments in life in the same manner? Throwing off the stress of the catawampus event and finding the hilarity in the guffaw. If we look, most any stressful situation can find some humor or light, even if it is deemed ‘inappropriate’. Such as, a friend of mine had a falling-out with their dad. They got sick, and when asked if the dad had been notified, I was promptly told no. For whatever the reason, I simply stated that had they called the dad, my friend may have just died on the table, to prove the point that they did not want to speak to him. Dark humor, yes. Somewhat funny in the moment, yes. Appropriate, not really. However, the levity of looking at something bad in a light that can bring a smile … totally worth it. A business deal is heating up. Everyone involved is losing patience. Someone sneezes softly. Another person belts out, “No need to bring in biological warfare.” Inappropriate, yes. Funny, yes. Mowing the yard with my borrowed mower, I missed a stump. Yes, a stump. Did not know or see it there. When the mower locked up and stopped mowing, instantly I saw my retirement check fly out the window. This mower was in my care; I was not careful enough, and instant panic set in … when explaining to the owner, he laughed and said he would like small bills. (FYI the mower was fixable) There are going to be times in life when the situation or circumstance is not good. It is the habit that we have formed to always go dark and negative. That is fine if you only stay there for the moment, but immediately you should be searching for the bright side, the humor, the sarcastic satire. Something that shows you, in your heart, that God is in control and it will all work itself out. Catawampus and off-kilter moments are a part of life. Do not allow them to remain permanent residents in your lane; find that inappropriate giggle line, and give it back to God. You will find that it helps alleviate your stress level and replace it with His love. Be blessed. **Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. – Colossians 3:2

WAIT… THAT’S IN THE BIBLE? — DAY 15 A lighthearted look at some of the wonderfully unexpected things you discover when you actually read your Bible, context still matters! “Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me?” 1 Samuel 21:15 David is running for his life and ends up in Gath. There’s just one problem… THEY RECOGNISE HIM. So David quickly comes up with a survival plan. Disguise himself? Sneak away? Hide somewhere? Nope. HE PRETENDS TO BE COMPLETELY MAD. He scratches marks on the doors. He lets saliva run down his beard. The servants bring him before King Achish, who takes one look at David and basically says: “DO YOU REALLY THINK MY PALACE DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH CHAOS ALREADY?! WHY ARE YOU BRINGING ME MORE CRAZY?!” In fact, Achish’s actual words are almost as funny: “Am I so short of madmen…?” Basically: “Gentlemen, my crazy department is FULL. We are NOT accepting new applicants.” PALACE VACANCIES Madmen required POSITIONS FILLED. ✅ Context still matters! David wasn’t simply behaving strangely for a laugh. He was frightened for his life and pretended to be insane so Achish wouldn’t regard him as a threat. There’s actually something beautiful underneath this bizarre episode. David looked ridiculous. He was frightened. His circumstances were completely out of control. But God still brought him through. Sometimes deliverance doesn’t look quite like we imagined it would. But still… Somewhere around three thousand years ago, an exasperated king essentially looked at his staff and said: “I HAVE ENOUGH CRAZY AROUND HERE ALREADY!” And honestly… some sentences are timeless.

Good evening to everyone. Grace and Peace be with you. Today was nothing like I had imagined it would be. Mind you, we did not really have any ‘plans’ for today with the exception of taking the dog to the vet and me helping my brother on the computer. The rest of the day really was not accounted for. HOWEVER … leave it to us to figure out a way to fill out a day without even trying. Started with hubs getting sick last night and I ended up taking the dog to the vet. Missed my turn and had to turn around on a busy highway. On the way home, I was not really in a hurry, just driving and when I pulled up to the house, there was a random car in my driveway… no clue who or why … except it was my brother … right on time. Brain fart 101. Totally forgot he was coming, even though my stepson and I had just discussed it. Get inside to help my brother in a computer/tech assistant nightmare for his new job. 2.5 hours later, we think we figured it out. In the middle of that, we get a notice that hubs needs blood work before his appointment tomorrow…we forgot. No worries, plan to go to the new park on the west side, drop kids off, go to get blood work, pick up lunch, have a picnic in the park, then go home after playing. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. What a funny plan. Dropped kids off, no problem. Get to the lab; they were closed. Then they opened the doors, only to tell us that they were still closed. Stopped and got lunch for the kids, drove to the lab’s second office. Get to that lab only to be told, sorry can’t help you; go to the hospital. By now, hubs is starving … haha … go get a sandwich, then the hospital; he gets labs, and I get a cold sandwich. While at the hospital, get notified that the dog is ready to be picked up … the vet is in the opposite direction of the park, and then meds need to be picked up also; fortunately meds and vet are in the same town. By now it is going on 3 p.m.; no time to go back and play at the park. A completely full day…but wait…I am not done yet; we get home and because it is supposed to rain tomorrow…take advantage of the good day and mow. Finish mowing at 9 pm. All of this because I did not make plans. Haha. But … with all that chaos and nonsense that went along with the chaos, there were plenty of laughs, a few arguments, some severe rolling of the eyes and lots of blessings. Even with the chaos, things got done respectfully; kids got to go to their favorite park and have McDonald's, the dog is now talon-free and clean and we got notified that our appointment was moved up by half an hour. All positives. Just because something does not roll down the hill the way that you think it will or should, does not make it bad or a negative. There were plenty of negative aspects to today, but not one of them overshadowed a millimeter of the positives. Each day we have a choice to make: see the positive or see the negative. If you see the positive, it is a great day; if you see the negative, you have a choice … focus on the negative or look for a positive in or from the negative. If you focus on the negative, you will have a bad day; however, if you look for a positive within the negative or because of the negative, you will have a good day. As you prepare for bed tonight, I urge you to look back on your day and see what kind of day you think you had. Look at each component and how many negatives come to mind first…then how many positives? If you are seeing the negatives over the positives, try realigning your sights so that the positives come to mind first. It makes for a much more peaceful mindset. I will confess that it takes some time and practice, but it can be done. Be blessed and good night. **You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. – Matthew 5:14-15

Good morning to everyone. Grace and Peace be with you. Today looks to be a potentially soggy day again. I checked the weather on my phone and it was a muddy puddle. This brings me to my funny story for you today. Yesterday, my husband and I had a meeting with our VA lawyer in a new town. Because of all the storms and flooding issues, the crowd was much smaller. We actually got to ask a couple of questions when we sat down with him. We did not feel rushed. As good as that was, it was not the highlight of the trip. While waiting for our turn, we met some new friends. Two of which just happened to be authors. One of which just happens to run a podcast. Hmmm. Any thoughts on why we went to ‘this’ meeting with the lawyer and not the meeting place? I wonder if Someone knew who we were going to meet. One of these two individuals’ spouses has memory issues. The other is applying for their survivor’s benefits with the lawyer’s help. I wonder Who designed this meeting? Since I have been retired, I have been hyper-focused on making sure that I take care of my husband and keep his medical stuff straight and on track. I have been hyper-focused on keeping our lives as smooth as possible. So hyper-focused that when my littles from across the pond arrived, I was not the fun American grandma. I was grumpy grandma. That changed yesterday. On our way home from the lawyer, I was thinking about all this rain, the flooding, and then I thought about the muddy puddles in my yard. I decided on the way home that we were going to play in the muddy puddles. God gave them to us, why not play in them? So, when I got home, I changed into shorts, kicked off my shoes, and challenged the grandkids to a splash fest. I do not know how long we played, but we all needed showers when it was over with … and that is after washing off with the garden hose. I even got the other grandma to play in the muddy puddle. We all were muddy puddle winners. Too often, the enemy gets grown-ups to think they have to be adults all the time. When in fact, Jesus tells us that we are to come to Him as children. In all these storms, there have been ugly skies, so dancing in the rain has not been possible … however … splashing in the muddy puddles … well now, that is an awesome stress reliever. Today is His day. Today we are going to his house to worship him, whether in a church or a prayer closet. Today we are going to thank Him for his blessings and for the trials. Today, we give God the glory and enter His presence as children. Will you join me on the heavenly playground of muddy puddles? Be blessed. **And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18:3-4

Good morning to everyone. Grace and Peace be with you. This month, I have taken a break from doing events in an attempt to sell my books. I have got the giveaway going, but that is all for now. It is funny that in a matter of just a couple of hours, I have September looking pretty solid for different sites. Add to that a couple of new projects in the works. So, while my physical is taking a break while the littles are here, my mind never shuts off. Haha. Today we have an appointment to see the VA lawyer and work on next steps for my hubby’s compensation. I have questions, and supposedly this alternate site has a calmer venue to ask those questions. As the rain falls, yet again today, please pray for those areas that are over drainage capacity and are flooding. My yard is a soggy mess and when I actually get to mow … in six months … we will need a rake to bundle the grass for the horses; however … my little puddles in my yard are nothing compared to those who have been ousted from their homes and businesses. I would encourage you to seek an audience with the Father today, as you should every day; however, today make a special appearance and pray for those who are watching their livelihood wash away in the floods. Pray for the emergency workers who are trying to keep everyone safe. Pray for the linemen who are trying to keep the power on. Pray for those who just happen to be in the wrong place when a road washes away. Pray for those in your community who are struggling with something that you are not aware of. Pray for our government leaders to put Him first and to follow His direction. Today, spend a considerable amount of time in prayer. Let's come together as a church and cover our country. While in the community, randomly stop and help someone … be the church in the physical as well as the spiritual. Today, let us show the world how His church demonstrates His love. Be blessed. **Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” –Matthew 22:37-40

Lesley Sumrall : Smith Wigglesworth knew these pioneers who were British intimately. He knew the pioneers of Pentecostalism. He often ministered with the Jeffreys, Donald Gee, Howard Carter, T.B. Barratt of Norway, Stanley Frodsham, and most of the others I have mentioned. Of a truth, he was born in very favorable times, surrounded by unusual men who blessed and inspired one another. And, like many other great men, he came from a humble beginning. Much of this has been told in detail in Frodsham's books and in books by others about Wigglesworth .He was hardly known beyond his hometown of Bradford until he was forty-eight years old when he received the Pentecostal experience at Sunderland under the ministry of Episcopal Vicar Alexander Boddy and his wife. Until this time, Wigglesworth was a plumber and assisted his wife, Polly, in a mission. She did the preaching, and he greeted people at the door, passed out books, and counseled at the altar. From the time Wigglesworth was six years old, he helped support his family, first by pulling turnips then by working in a factory with his brother and his father. Because he was deprived of an education, he never learned to read until he was an adult. In fact, his wife taught him to read. In later years, he said that he never read anything but the Bible. Wigglesworth was converted at eight years of age at a Wesleyan Methodist Church. At ten, he changed to the Church of England and was confirmed. He was sixteen when he went to the Salvation Army. At twenty he moved to Liverpool to work. He won hundreds to Christ, particularly the poor children who lived near the docks. He fed them from his salary and preached Jesus to them. At twenty-three, Wigglesworth returned to Bradford, where he made his home for the remaining days of his life. There, he opened his own plumbing business and met the young lady who was to become his wife. Wigglesworth received healing from a ruptured appendix. As a result, he said that God gave him great faith to pray for people suffering with appendicitis. He began his healing ministry before he was baptized in the Spirit. He usually concluded his sermons by praying for the sick. Polly Wigglesworth died before her husband began to be well-known and to preach extensively in other countries. In his later years, he became one of the best-known evangelists in the Pentecostal movement. He was accused of being "rough" with people, but he was never accused of being weak in faith. Of course, I heard about him long before I ever met him. In Sidney, Australia, a pastor asked me, "Have you ever met Smith Wigglesworth?" I said, "Not yet. I'm on my way. I'm going to find him somewhere. I have heard of some of the miraculous things that happen in his unique ministry." The pastor said, "He was here in my city recently, and did we ever have a time! I took him to one of the fanciest restaurants to have lunch on Sunday. When we came into the restaurant, someone took his coat and hung it up for him. He looked around like an eagle. Only wealthy people ate in this restaurant. Instead of sitting down, he took a fork and began to hit the side of his glass with it. Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing! Everybody stopped eating. "Here was Wigglesworth, a handsome-looking man, beating his water glass. Then he raised his hand and said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I have noticed since arriving here that none of you prayed over your food. You resemble a bunch of hogs to me. You just jump in and eat without giving thanks to the One Who provided it for you. Bow your heads, and I'll pray for you.'" The pastor told me, "I could have crawled under the table very easily and gotten out of the way so people wouldn't see me. Wigglesworth raised his hands and prayed for those people. Before we left the restaurant however, two families came over and got saved. Then I was ashamed of myself for not being as strong as Wigglesworth." Wigglesworth's ministry centered on salvation, healing, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He was strong in character and created his own atmosphere wherever he went. After receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Lord spoke to Wigglesworth to prepare a banquet for the poor, the lame, and the blind. He secured tickets and hired two people to go throughout the city and find the afflicted, the tormented, and the crippled and bring them to a supper he would provide at the mission. He often said the sight of those suppers was beyond description, and that this was the happiest time of his life. The mighty healings that took place during those times increased Wigglesworth's faith. During the 1920s, he came to America on severalevangelistic tours. The first time I heard any specific details of his ministry was in San Francisco before starting around the world with Howard Carter. I was preaching at the Glad Tidings Tabernacle, which seated more than three thousand people. People said to me, "Have you met Smith Wigglesworth?" I said, "No, not yet," and they told me he had been there in the same tabernacle where I was preaching. They told me of a cancer patient brought to the healing service. Wigglesworth went down the line, saying, "What'sup?" British-ese for "What is wrong with you?" When he got to this man lying on a bed wearing only a little hospital gown that tied in the back, Wigglesworth asked the doctor with the man, "What's up?" The doctor explained that his patient was dying of cancer. Wigglesworth asked, "Where is it?" and the doctor replied, "In his stomach." The evangelist promptly balled up his fist and hit the man in the stomach so hard the man appeared to die. His hands fell off the bed, and the doctor began to scream, "He's dead! He's dead!" He looked up at Wigglesworth and said, "You've killed him! The family will sue you!" Wigglesworth calmly looked at the doctor and said, "E's 'ealed." He talked with a Yorkshire accent, not pronouncing his "h's." He did not stop but kept on walking down the line praying. About ten minutes later, the man came down the line behind Wigglesworth on the platform. He had stood up, moved the doctor to one side, and was walking around in that funny little hospital gown with his backside hanging out before more than three thousand people! He did not have one thought for his appearance, however. He had his up hands over his head and was screaming, "I'm healed! I'm healed!" Even the doctor had developed faith. He was right behind the sick bed yelling, "He's healed! He's healed!" The man caught up with Wigglesworth and said, "I have no pain. I feel wonderful inside. I have energy I have not had for I don't know how long," but Wigglesworth never even turned around to look at him. He just said, "Well, thank God for it," and went on praying for people. It was no big surprise to Wigglesworth. He already knew the man was healed. That was the first time I had heard a detailed story of Wigglesworth's ministry, although I had heard about him since I was a small boy. After hearing this story, I thought, "Say! Someday I want to meet him." Then I went to New Zealand and Australia and heard more stories, including the incident in the restaurant, which only increased my desire to meet this man. When I met him I was not disappointed. He was just what I expected him to be from all that I had heard about him from the people of the nations I had visited, where he had conducted meetings. Some ministers found Wigglesworth too strong in faith, and that frightened them. Also, he was strong in rebuking them for not having any faith. I loved him and his attitude against sin and sickness. In fact, the stories had not been enough to really tell me what the man was like, nor can any book written about him do Smith Wigglesworth justice. - Dr Lester Sumrall (Pioneers Of Faith)

Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional. Music to My Ears By Jenni Poling August 4th, 2026 “For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” Song of Solomon 2:11–12 What is the sign of the coming of spring for you? The first green blades of grass? Robins in the yard? For me, the frog choruses are always what I look forward to. When I lived in Michigan, I was amazed to hear the tap-tap-tapping of the wood frogs as soon as the ice thawed; but in southern Illinois, the first songs we hear are the chorus frogs, followed closely by the spring peepers. The former reminds me of the sound you get when you run your finger over the tines of a comb, and the latter sounds like the cheeping of little birds. These are soon followed by the wailing of Fowler’s toads, the snoring sounds of the crayfish frogs, and the cackling of the southern leopard frogs. I often like to tell people that the crayfish frogs are snoring and the leopard frogs are laughing at them! More voices soon follow, for the sounds of other species will take up the call as the first ones cease. There will be voices all summer long and well into the fall. While it isn’t exactly music, frog sounds fill my heart with joy. God’s funny, rubbery little creatures sing with such boldness and abandon! Only the threat of imminent danger will silence them—and then, only temporarily. God is always faithful. As we move through the seasons of our lives, we may mourn the losses and ignore the gains. One constant remains, however: God is with us through everything. Our Creator never tires of sending us evidence of His love, from one season to the next. The same God is the Creator of all, and He never changes. Bible prophecies tell us that difficult and dangerous times are coming. God has revealed these things because He wants His people to be forewarned, not surprised. But instead of gaining confidence because of the trustworthiness of God’s Word, some are filled with fear or panic instead. Perhaps, like the frogs, they will lapse into frightened silence. So how is it with your heart? Is the future still something to look forward to? Do you fear it or face it with the expectation of good? Trial and danger may silence us temporarily, but we can have confidence and joy, knowing that whatever comes, it will end in good. The future is better than the past. In the words of Paul, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17–18.

Continuation chapter 3 3.1 The book of Proverbs, that ancient collection of wisdom and one-liners, gives us the antidote: "A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back." (Proverbs 29:11). A fool gives full vent. He opens the valve and lets the emotional steam blast out in every direction, scorching everyone in the vicinity, and then he calls it "transparency." The wise man, on the other hand, holds it back—not to suppress it forever, but to examine it first. He looks at the cake and says, "Before I serve this to everyone and insist it's from God, let me check the ingredients. Was this anger baked with love, or was it fried in last week's resentment? Was this righteous fury, or am I just tired and hungry and someone looked at me funny?" The wise man puts a pause between the feeling and the action. The fool just hits "send" on the email he wrote while the emotion was still a fresh, steaming loaf of nonsense. ‎ ‎Now, the truly spectacular part of this whole theatrical production is that the illusions are not random. They have a specific purpose. They are designed—by you, for you—to protect your fragile ego from the unbearable truth that you might be wrong, or selfish, or in need of genuine change. The illusion is a bodyguard hired by your pride. It stands at the door of your consciousness and says, "No, you can't come in here with that nonsense about humility and repentance. This person is a victim! A hero! A misunderstood prophet!" And the emotion that the illusion generates is the bodyguard's paycheck. As long as you stay angry, the bodyguard stays employed. As long as you feel sorry for yourself, the bodyguard gets a bonus. As long as you're right and they're wrong, the bodyguard gets a corner office with a view. ‎ ‎So how do you fire the bodyguard? How do you shut down the bake-off and stop eating the emotional cake that's making you spiritually obese? You do the one thing the illusion absolutely cannot survive: you laugh at it. Not a bitter, cynical laugh. A genuine, delighted, "oh my goodness, I've done it again, I actually convinced myself that my indigestion was a prophetic word" kind of laugh. You step back from the emotion and say, "There goes my heart again, being deceitful above all things. What a rascal. What a brilliant little con artist. Look at it go, spinning that same old story about how I'm the victim and they're the villain. It's almost adorable, like a hamster trying to operate a forklift." And when you laugh, the illusion loses its power. It cannot thrive in the light of genuine, humble humor. It needs you to take it seriously. It needs you to believe the drama. The moment you chuckle, the whole set collapses, and you see the strings and the plywood and the guy in the back operating the smoke machine. ‎ ‎King David, who was no stranger to emotional chaos—the man once danced nearly naked in public and also wrote some of the most anguished poetry in history—had a habit of talking to his own soul. He would say, "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God." (Psalm 42:5). Notice what he's doing. He's not taking his downcast soul on a road trip of despair. He's interrogating it. He's cross-examining the witness. "Why are you downcast? Give me a reason. Is it a good reason, or did you just eat bad spiritual pizza again?" He's refusing to let the emotion drive the bus without showing its license. And then he redirects the soul to hope in God. Not to hope in the resolution of the immediate problem, not to hope in being proven right, but to hope in the character of the Almighty. That's not suppression; that's redirection. That's saying to the emotional cake, "Thank you for your submission, but I'm on a diet of actual truth now." ‎

Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional. A Promise of Success. By Ian Vandervalk August 1st, 2026 How many times have we relied on ourselves and our own efforts, only to fall short of our goals? How many times have we only partly depended on God when He had already given us the promise of success? When we do this, we fall short of God’s blessings because we were determined to push through on our own plans, ideas, works, and ways, rather than completely surrendering to our Father in Heaven. God has given us a promise of overcoming, yet we fail to grasp the vastness and depth of it all. At times, we seem to fall flat on our faces by only partly overcoming sin, fear, depression, marital or relationship challenges, pride, selfishness, or only partial success in the Lord’s work. In 2 Kings 13:14–19 the Bible tells us that King Joash had the same problem. Israel had been oppressed by Syria for quite some time, and as Joash visited the dying prophet Elisha, his faith was tested. God’s prophet told the king to pick up arrows, which he called the “arrows of deliverance from Syria,” and strike the ground with them. Joash obeyed and struck the ground three times, but Elisha told him that if he’d struck five or six times, he would have had complete victory over Syria’s oppressive army! As we read further, we discover that Joash did defeat Syria three times, but never achieved complete victory, just as Elisha had told him. I once heard a preacher say that Joash received little because he expected little; and that he expected little because he surrendered little. I can completely relate to that! I can’t even begin to count how many times I fell short because I didn’t completely surrender myself to the Lord and fully claim His promises. It’s almost a symbiotic relationship, because God has the desire to give us success and wants us to have a loving, obedient, and trusting relationship with Him. He yearns for that! He calls us His children and even gave the life of His Son, Jesus, for that relationship! Now, I’ve shared what happens when we only partially claim His promises, but let me share what can happen when we do it fully. I was in my last week of basic training in the Army, and it was the last of a seven-day training exercise in the middle of nowhere. This was the culmination of everything we’d learned over the past ten weeks and our final test was a 10.2 mile “ruck march” back to our base carrying approximately 50 pounds of gear in our rucksack. Over the course of basic training, I’d developed pain in my knee. At times it was even difficult to bend it, but for some reason, I hadn’t had much trouble with it that week. Then came the ruck march. We began around 4:00 a.m., and two miles into the march, I stepped into a ditch and twisted that knee. I could no longer bend it, and the pain was so intense that I began to doubt whether I could make it to the end. You should know that I was not a Christian at that time, but I remembered Philippians 4:13, which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” so I repeated that verse over and over in my mind. Tears ran down my face from the pain, but I never stopped claiming that promise—and then came the hill. I truly thought I wasn’t going to make it to the top, however, since soldiers often help each other when they see one struggling, I felt the weight of my rucksack lighten, and a push to help me get to the top. As we started heading down the hill, I turned to the soldier behind me and thanked him for helping me, but he looked at me funny and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t help you.” At the time, I didn’t understand what had just happened, but I now know that God must have sent an angel to help me. I claimed His promise in faith, reached the end of the 10.2 mile ruck march, and completed the final phase of basic training. As you go throughout this day, this week, or this month, ask yourself if you’re really claiming God’s promises over your sins, your struggles, or your battles. What weight are you carrying or, as was the case with King Joash, what is your “Syria?” Remember to surrender all, keep striking, and obtain victory through our Lord and Savior.