I just returned from a short road trip (is there such a thing?) to Montana. The shortest route took me cross country, only putting me on a major freeway for about 300 of the 1900 miles. The rest of the time I was on small, scenic highways—two lanes, little traffic, and lots of rolling farmland going one way and forests coming the other. The views were absolutely beautiful.

But there was a price to pay for this remote beauty.
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It’s called . . . No Service.

It happened multiple times, but most notably on my way home. I was driving US 37 in Montana next to Lake Koocanusa. It was absolutely beautiful, but there wasn’t a town for 69 very windy miles, and I watched my cell service go from multiple bars, to one, then to SOS, and then—to nothing.

I felt a sense of unease. I hadn’t seen a car in my review mirror for miles, and couldn’t remember the last time a car came from the other direction. By my calculations, if I broke down, the buzzards could eat me before anyone would find me.

I took a deep breath and prayed. “God, you’ve been with me this entire trip. You’ve seen me safely to my destination. I pray you see me safely home. If I should break down, I pray that you provide the assistance I need. Thank you.”

I took another deep breath and felt myself calm. And then realized something.

I wasn’t without service. God still had me as he had the entire time. While man’s network wasn’t working, God was.

Then the verses came flooding back.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place … Proverbs 15:3

You know when I sit down and when I rise up … Psalm 139:2

The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. Psalm 121:8

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Psalm 121:2

Man cannot promise a world free of glitches and malfunctions or that we will always have human help available. But God . . .
Those two words will take ALL uncertainty out of a very uncertain world. Any situation that looks hopeless, just say those two words and you will remember that God has overcome it.

I am stranded, but God sees me and knows where I am and knows what I need.

I am sick, but God is the Great Physician.

I have done some unpardonable things, but God is the God of mercy and grace and redemption. He makes “all things new.”

Remember . . .

​But God . . .

I recently returned home from being away for six weeks. Though I had a wonderful time, when I turned onto my street and saw my house, I was overwhelmed with a sense of joy. 

I was home. A place I knew well and felt comfortable.

That’s why, when I picked up the devotional book I had been reading before I left--pray a word a day: volume 2 --and saw the word for that day was “place” my interest was piqued. After reading it, I had to share it with you.

Here it is.

“A good friend told me the importance of having a place to pray.

My first chair still holds fond memories. It was a $5 special from Goodwill. It was in this chair I made my place to pray before my family got moving each day.

It was in that chair I began reading through the Bible, which I would do over and over again as the years passed. It was in that chair I asked God why my eleven-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer. It was in that chair I wrestled with financial debt and worry.

That was the spot where God met me every day. He never missed a day. Having a place to meet with God has been invaluable.

The practice of being in a solitary place for ten, twenty, thirty minutes each day reminds me where my help comes from, the Maker of Heaven and earth.” — Mark W. Salley

This devotion reminded me that if our physical home can provide us with a sense of peace and comfort and security, then how much more important is it to have a “place” where we meet with God who provides perfect peace and comfort and security. 

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. (Matthew 6:6 NIV)

Do you have that special place, a special chair, where you and God get together each day? I hope so.

I just returned from a vacation that wasn’t quite like previous ones. Because of circumstances, we weren’t able to do and go as much as we had in the past. At one point, I was asked if I was bored. I thought about it for a moment but could honestly say—I wasn’t.

Despite not being on the go a lot, there was plenty for me to focus on. 


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I observed fat pigeons trying to balance on skinny wires.
I tried to identify and sight birds based on their chirps and songs.
I looked at gardens and smelled flowers.
I watched people walking dogs and dogs walking people.
I took long walks.
I met and talked to new people at the bus stop.
I read . . . and read . . . and read . . . and renewed my love of reading.

And there were multiple opportunities for good conversation.

This restriction on activity gave me time to rest and reflect. Something that is often absent in our busy, task-oriented lives.

Do you know that the word boredom never appears in the Bible? The closest to the concept comes in Ecclesiastes 1:2-8 which talks about the meaningless of so much of human activity. Then in Proverbs 19:15 Solomon states that "Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry.” But that is self-induced boredom.

Then I thought about Eden. Perfection before the fall. Adam and Eve did not have games, computers, books, … but they had God-given jobs, each other, the beauty of God’s creation, and communion with God himself.

And that’s the touchstone.

While the world is telling us through commercials and social media and store ads that we need more and more, and newer and newer to be happy and fulfilled, we don’t. In fact, as I stated in an earlier blog, those are ultimately empty and unable to sustain satisfaction.

But, if we find our satisfaction in God alone, then we will be content with what He gives us at any given time. We will find purpose and meaning. We will be content. We will be spiritually engaged.

Therefore, as our lives become filled with more noise and distractions, let us remember what David said in Psalm 16:11:

​You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

It’s a trap. It’s a con. It’s a scam. And it’s winning.

I had convinced myself that it would be only one scoop. One scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Just a little something sweet to finish off a nice meal.

But . . . the sugar took over, and its ability to release dopamine into the brain’s reward system and create pleasure made me crave more . . . and guess what? Yup. One scoop turned into two, which turned into . . . 



Scientists say this sugar stimulus is similar to what happens when we consume cocaine or nicotine. It’s addictive.

The clincher was . . . that even after I had satisfied my cravings, I wasn’t satisfied. Instead, I was upset with myself and realized that my indulgence was actually going to cause more problems than benefits.

And that’s how Satan works in this world of addictions, isn’t it? Temporary delight but no lasting satisfaction. Whether it is ice cream, drugs, money, fame, power. If we crave the world’s version of happiness we will never be satisfied. The sugar high or power high or fame high will always be followed by a letdown. An emptiness.

This is why Jesus told his listeners to “not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20). 

God is all we need. We are told this over and over and over. 

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength (Phil. 4:12-13).

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). 

And we already know those desires are not of the flesh for they fail to sustain us, but of God who provides exactly what we need to be truly satisfied and at peace.

I love to read. I love to write. Let’s just say I love words. They have power.

Little black and white markings on a page, put in the right order, have the power to make me laugh, cry, grow cold with fear or hot with rage.

And I am reminded that not only is language a gift from God, but that it is a reminder that we humans are created in His image. For in the very beginning of the Old Testament and the New Testament we are reminded that words were God’s building blocks. All three members of the Trinity are a part of the creation process—which happened with words.

"And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light.” Genesis 1:2-3

“In the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:1-3.

And God has created us in His image so that we too can use words to create, to encourage, to build community.

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6)

The soothing tongue is a tree of life (Proverbs 15:4a)

A gentle answer turns away wrath (Proverbs 15:28a)

Unfortunately, in our fallen state, we also have the ability to use words to hurt and destroy. 

. . . a perverse tongue crushes the spirit (Proverbs 15:4b).

. . . harsh words stir up anger (Proverbs 15:28b).

As Solomon reminded us “Death and Life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). 

Let us use our words for life and thereby reflect the glory of God.