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As a kid, I always played it safe. When my uncle wanted to take me around the block on his motorcycle, I said no. When I was doing a report on airplanes and had the chance to take a free plane ride, I said no. And when a family from church invited me on their trip to Disney World—you guessed it—I said no.

It’s easy to sing carols and praise God for sending Jesus on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, with candles glowing and people you love around you. It is harder (at least for me) to look ahead at a brand new untouched year and praise him for what he will do in that year. To do that, we have to ask if we really believe that he can only, ever, work for the good of those he loves.

How can we celebrate Christmas when we struggle with unresolved feelings of hurt and sadness for ourselves, our loved ones, and the world?

Advent is full of the trappings of the coming of God. But often, among the church services, the charitable donations, and the renditions of “O Holy Night,” we miss God. Like Zechariah, we can be so busy creating space for God to dwell that we forget to prepare our own hearts.

How can looking back deepen our trust in God for the future? An often-overlooked passage from Matthew’s Gospel provides an answer.

In this “hurried life,” how can we find more time with God? And how can we go deeper with God this Advent season when shopping, parties, and Christmas events get added to an already packed schedule?

The Bible refers to death as a great enemy. In American culture, there are two ways we usually deal with death: denial and despair. But Scripture offers a different way.

I love being the center of attention. However, when I think my life is about me, I limit my ability to see the life God has called me to and I stop myself from having the courage to follow him on an amazing adventure.

As we stare down the arrival of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I wonder what it would look like for us to cultivate excitement about what we can give rather than expectation of what we’ll receive.

Sometimes God displaces us and sometimes we choose displacement to survive, thrive, or walk in obedience to God. However we end up being displaced, whether through persecution, a natural disaster, or by choice, such as taking a specific job, God uses displacement to shape us and draw us closer to him.