Bridget A. Thomas

Psalm 23 – Verse 2

Posted on November 4, 2025 by Bridget

He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. – Psalm 23:2 NKJV

We are continuing our study of Psalm 23, and today we are looking at verse 2.

Notice in these words the role “He” takes. The Lord and the Shepherd is the one who is in control. The sheep doesn’t lie down on his own. The sheep doesn’t find his own way to the still waters. The Shepherd led him there. When the sheep needed rest or water, he didn’t have to worry about getting access to them. The Shepherd took care of those needs for him.

Our God will supply all of our needs when we allow Him to be our Lord. We don’t have to worry about a thing when we are following our Shepherd.

As apostle Paul wrote, “And my God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 AMP).

The Amplified version broadens our understanding with these words: liberally, fill until full, and every need. These words help us see the Shepherd’s love. He gives us plenty of what we need. He always has more than enough to give us. We can rest easy when we are in God’s hands.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures.

Lying down in green pastures might sound like something a sheep would willingly do. However, according to W. Phillip Keller in his enlightening book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, “The strange thing about sheep is that because of their very makeup it is almost impossible for them to be made to lie down unless four requirements are met … It is significant that to be at rest there must be a definite sense of freedom from fear, tension, aggravations, and hunger.” [1]

This sounds a lot like humans, doesn’t it? We often tend to have worries and fears on our minds. Life brings stress and tension our way. We have a myriad of things that cause aggravation. And we sometimes allow hunger (for food or for other things) to keep us unsettled. All of this keeps us from finding true rest and contentment.

But Keller goes on to reflect, “In the course of time I came to realize that nothing so quieted and reassured the sheep as to see me in the field. The presence of their master and owner and protector put them at ease as nothing else could do, and this applied day and night.” [1]

Now that’s a beautiful picture and one we can learn from. When we keep our focus on the Good Shepherd, we find peace. As it says in Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV): “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”

Even in the midst of our worries, we trust that He is in control and He is on our side. Psalm 56:9b (NLT) reminds us, “This I know: God is on my side!”

When we allow our Shepherd to lead us, we can find rest from life’s ups and downs. But it’s important to remember – “There is a direct link between our surrender to God and the rest we receive from God.” [2]

Wow. That truth really hits home for me. Does it for you too? We tend to get in our own way. There are many reasons why this could be so.

It could be that relinquishing control to God makes us uncomfortable because we are used to handling everything ourselves. Or perhaps the challenges in front of us are so great that worry overcrowds our minds. Even just the fact that God is out of sight, but our problems are right there in front of us, can cause us to struggle with surrendering to Him. And it might feel like God isn’t working fast enough, so we take matters into our own hands.

I think it would do us all some good to prayerfully seek ways we might be getting in our own way. Why aren’t we allowing ourselves to fully surrender to God? What would it take for us to completely rest in Him?

When we learn to truly trust God and allow Him to lead, we will find the peace that surpasses understanding (Phil 4:7). Even in the midst of life’s difficulties, we can lie down in green pastures knowing that our Heavenly Father is watching over us and handling our concerns.

He leads me beside the still waters.

The Shepherd is the one that leads His sheep to the water. It is His responsibility to make sure His sheep aren’t dehydrated. W. Phillip Keller wrote, “It will be noticed that here again the key or the clue to where water can be obtained lies with the shepherd. It is he who knows where the best drinking places are. In fact, very often he is the one who, with much effort and industry, has provided the watering places. And it is to these spots that he leads the flock.” [1]

When we stay close to the Shepherd, He will make sure we are never thirsty. Jesus is our source of living water. In John 4:14 (NIV) Jesus said, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus fills us up and keeps us content. But how often do we run towards other things to fill us? This has always been an issue – from the Garden of Eden and every day since. We tend to reach for things that we think will satisfy us. Yet we are left feeling all the more depleted.

Something I find interesting is that sheep get much of their water supply from the dew that’s on the grass they are eating. Early morning hours when the grass is drenched is a key time for the sheep to get their nourishment.

W. Phillip Keller wrote, “In the Christian life it is of more than passing significance to observe that those who are often the most serene, most confident, and most able to cope with life’s complexities are those who rise early each day to feed on God’s Word. It is in the quiet, early hours of the morning that they are led beside the quiet, still waters where they imbibe the very life of Christ for the day.” [1]

This reminds me the importance of seeking the Lord when we start our day. In different seasons of my life, I haven’t always been consistent in this area. But when I am consistent, I can see a difference in my daily life. Seeking Him first thing helps set the tone for our day, brings us peace, and reminds us to follow His lead.

“It’s amazing how He will minister to your troubled heart—giving you unfathomable life, joy, peace, and direction—when you take the time just to sit in His presence.” [3]

I want to point out that the Shepherd doesn’t lead His sheep to just any kind of water, but to still waters. This, too, reminds me of how important it is to be still with the Lord. Savoring our time with the Lord is life-giving. When we turn down the noise of the world, we are more capable of hearing His gentle whisper (see 1 Kings 19). I dare say we’ve all had moments of clarity when we allowed our minds to rest. Perhaps we prayed about something. Then later when we went out for a walk, we received our answer. God wants to speak to us, but are we listening?

I just want to make a note that I am not saying any of this with judgment because I am preaching to myself too. Some of these things we might know in our minds, but it can be difficult to follow through with our actions. I pray we can remove any obstacles that are preventing us from seeking the Lord, and we can learn to truly rest in Him.

Bonus Reading – My friend Alicia recently reflected on similar topics, from her first-hand perspective as a goat keeper, in her inspiring post The Well Beaten Path.

Thank you for reading. I will be back next week to discuss verse 3. God bless!

https://youtu.be/WW0VJxPqeRc?si=wWyNaEvltrk4en5b

Psalm 23 – Verse 1

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Bridget

19 Comments

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. – Psalm 23:1 NKJV

Do you want to live a Psalm 23 life? Do you want to live a life of true contentment? Do you want to live in peace knowing that, no matter what, the Lord is there for your every need?

To begin this journey of living a Psalm 23 life, today we are looking at the first verse of this well-known Psalm. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” I’m sure you’re familiar with these famous words. Even so, let’s take a closer look at the different aspects of this verse.

The Lord

Who is the Lord? It’s important to know who the Lord is if we want to truly live this Psalm. God is so magnificent and vast that we could spend a lifetime studying who He is.

In the story where Moses encountered the burning bush in Exodus, it helps bring some perspective. God planned to rescue the Israelites from Egypt and He wanted Moses to help. Moses wasn’t too eager about this plan because he could only see his own shortcomings. He was focused on himself, rather than God. It makes me cringe when I read how he argued with God on this. But each time Moses spoke, God came back with a solid answer.

I particularly want to point out verses 13-15 (NKJV):

13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ ”

(A brief lesson that might be helpful: the words “I AM” and “I AM WHO I AM” are linked to the Hebrew letters YHWH. In the past, theologians translated this to the name Jehovah. However, it was later determined that Yahweh was the best pronunciation. This is why sometimes God is referred to as Jehovah and sometimes He is referred to as Yahweh.)

When we read the verses above, they might be a bit confusing and leave us wondering exactly what God meant by “I AM WHO I AM.” However, in this statement God is helping us to understand how completely unchanging and trustworthy He is.

“This explains his name Jehovah, and signifies, 1. That he is self-existent: he has his being of himself. 2. That he is eternal and unchangeable, and always the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever. 3. That he is incomprehensible; we cannot by searching find him out: this name checks all bold and curious inquiries concerning God. 4. That he is faithful and true to all his promises, unchangeable in his word as well as in his nature; let Israel know this, I AM hath sent me unto you. I am, and there is none else besides me. All else have their being from God, and are wholly dependent upon him.” [1]

Thinking about God from this angle, we get a bigger picture of who He is. He is above everything we know. He is eternal and unchangeable. He is faithful. He is the most dependable being there ever was or ever will be. And to think we can call Him our Shepherd is a weighty thought.

The Shepherd

If we truly want to live Psalm 23 it also helps to understand the life of a shepherd. The best kind of shepherd in particular. If the shepherd is a good shepherd, then his life will revolve around his sheep. Every season and every day. The sheep’s best interest is on the shepherd’s mind. The shepherd wants his sheep to be healthy, to be protected, and to be provided for. Whatever the sheep needs in any given moment is where the shepherd’s mind and energy are. And the shepherd has to plan ahead too, anticipating what may come. The shepherd is always alert, watching for anything that might bring harm to the sheep.

This is our Savior! This is our Good Shepherd. To think how His mind is always on us and our every need – this is stunning. 😭 Just think about that for a moment. What a gift we have in Jesus! 🙌

The Lord is my Shepherd

Now we have a better outlook on just how incredible it is to say “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

But I really appreciate something Robert J. Morgan pointed out, “You can’t say, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ unless you also say, ‘The Shepherd is my Lord.’” [2]

Is Jesus your Lord and Savior? Are you willing to follow Him and surrender to His will? Do you trust Him, because you know He will always have your back? Are you willing to make Him your life, knowing that He gave His life for you?

(If you have not accepted Jesus, but you are ready to do so, please go here.)

Now we have to ask ourselves – who is our Shepherd? Is the Lord our Shepherd? Are we our own shepherd? Is someone else our shepherd? Is something we continually seek our shepherd?

“All of us are shepherded—whether we realize it or not—because we’re all led by something.” [3]

We all need a shepherd. And I pray we will allow the Lord to be our Shepherd. He is the very best Shepherd. And He will never let us down. What a gift it is that we can claim the Good Shepherd as our Shepherd.

I shall not want

When the Bible was originally translated into English, scholars agree that this one line was inadequate. The original Hebrew would have been better translated as “I lack nothing.” In this life there is nothing we will ever lack or need, when we choose to follow Jesus.

In the words of Jesus, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33 NLT).

This is where we find true contentment – when we allow the Lord to be our Shepherd and we realize we are in need of nothing. He will supply all of our needs (see Philippians 4:19).

“There is absolutely nothing that God lacks. We must understand this, because the overflowing sufficiency that we will experience when Yahweh is our Shepherd lies in the all-sufficiency of the Shepherd himself. If we do not understand the all-sufficiency of the Shepherd, we will never experience that sufficiency in relationship to him. What we need, God has—in infinite supply.” [4]

When the apostle Paul was imprisoned, he wrote about true contentment. He told the recipients of his letter that through Christ Jesus he was never in need. He learned to be content with whatever he had. (See Philippians 4:10-13.) Can we too live this kind of life? Yes, we can!

It takes effort on our part. The enemy will try to feed us lies. But we have to remind ourselves of truth. The Lord loves us beyond measure and He is always looking out for us. He is always there, protecting us and providing for us. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corin 5:7). We keep our focus on our Shepherd and His love, allowing Him to guide our steps.

Every day we have a choice. Will we live in our own strength? Or will we rely on our Good Shepherd? If we choose the latter, we will find that when the Lord is our Shepherd, we lack nothing.

In the coming weeks, as we study each verse of this Psalm, we will get a better understanding of how our Shepherd truly does meet all of our needs.

Bonus Reading – Check out Don White’s heartwarming reflection titled My Shepherd.

Thank you for reading. I will be back next week to look at verse 2. I hope you have a wonderful week. God bless you!

https://youtu.be/6gFFvqM1-kY?si=JtTFD2krK0xFrOai

Psalm 23 – Introduction

Posted on October 21, 2025 by Bridget

19 Comments

Image by Illiya Vjestica on unsplash.com

Hi, Friends! Over the next several weeks I am going to share some thoughts on the six verses of Psalm 23.

The Lord put it on my heart to write a series of posts based on this Psalm. I wonder what He was thinking. 😅 There are two reasons why this is daunting. First, many of us know some or all of the verses by heart, even without trying to memorize them. We have heard them so much, they stuck with us. And because these sentences are so familiar to us all, it makes it difficult to approach this subject with fresh insight. On the other hand, there is so much that could be said about these six verses. 118 words in the King James Version; yet countless books and commentaries have reflected on this chapter of the Bible.

Nonetheless, here we are. I am looking forward to all the Lord reveals to us over the coming weeks.

In the U.S. around the time of the American Civil War (1861-1865) this Psalm became a common staple recited at funerals. For those of you who don’t live in the U.S. let me know in the comments if this Psalm is often shared at funerals in your country as well. I’m curious!

Even though this Psalm is often read at funerals, it’s not about death. Once you begin to study it, you will find it is about life with the Good Shepherd, and how He is everything we need. For whatever we might face on this earth, He is enough.

“Years ago, Saturday newspapers routinely carried the sermon topics for the next day in the leading pulpits in town. In Norfolk, Virginia, Reverend R. I. Williams of Fairmont Park Methodist Church picked up the phone and called the local paper to give them his sermon topic. ‘The Lord is my Shepherd,’ he said. The person on the other end said, ‘Is that all?’ Reverend Williams replied, ‘That’s enough.’ The next day the church page carried his sermon topic as ‘The Lord Is My Shepherd—That’s Enough!’ When the Lord is our Shepherd, that is enough. He is enough.” 1

When we remember that the Lord is our Shepherd, this takes a lot of weight off of our shoulders. If a sheep has a Good Shepherd, he doesn’t have to worry about anything. He feels safe because he keeps his focus on his Good Shepherd who will provide all of his needs.

Psalm 23 is a very personal Psalm. Not just for the author, King David. But it is personal to each of us that are God’s children. Take a moment to read through the lines below and put your name in the blank spaces. 2

The Lord is _______ shepherd; _______ shall not want.
He makes _______ to lie down in green pastures;
He leads _______ beside the still waters.
He restores _______ soul;
He leads _______ in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though _______ walks through the valley of the shadow of death,
_______ will fear no evil;
For _______ Shepherd is with _______;
His rod and His staff, they comfort _______.
The shepherd prepares a table before _______ in the presence of _______ enemies;
He anoints _______ head with oil; _______ cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow _______ all the days of _______ life;
And _______ will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

There are so many blessings found in these powerful words. And when we read this Psalm, remembering that the Lord is our personal Shepherd, it changes our outlook on life and the challenges we face.

Before I go, I wanted to say thank you for continuing to be here, even while my writing has been sporadic. And if we have been friends for a bit, then you know that there have been times when I have changed what day of the week I schedule my posts. I have recently decided to try Tuesdays and see how this works out with my schedule. I extend my sincere thanks for reading. I know everyone is busy and it means a lot that you took a moment to stop by.

I will be back next week to look at verse 1. Have a good week and God bless you!

(My plan is to share a song with each post. I have the video embedded below. But if that doesn’t work, the link is also in the caption.)

https://youtu.be/q25xEFyTHFY?si=HHWpmR7i97nA6nA7

1 The Lord is My Shepherd: Resting in the Peace and Power of Psalm 23 by Richard J. Morgan (New York, NY: Howard Books, 2013)

2 In her Psalm 23 – Bible Study, I like how Jennifer Rothschild encourages the reader to insert their name into the various lines.

What We Feed

Posted on October 9, 2025 by Bridget

27 Comments

Trust [rely on and have confidence] in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and feed [securely] on His faithfulness. – Psalm 37:3 AMP

It’s difficult to get back into the groove of blogging on a regular basis. I always thought that my friends who published posts daily (or close to it) were superheroes. Now I see how smart they are, because consistency in any area will strengthen the muscles in that area. The more we nurture our creativity, the more inspiration we find to continue.

My friend, Tina, and I are in the same boat. Due to life circumstances, we both have been unable to blog much this year. And we are both hoping to get back into a routine. But something Tina wrote reminded me that –

What We Feed Grows

However, this truth isn’t limited to our creativity. This is also true for every area of our lives.

We can feed on faith or we can feed on doubt.

We can feed on gratitude or we can feed on complaining.

We can feed on healthy choices for our bodies or we can feed on whatever tastes/feels good in the moment.

We can feed our minds with Christian sermons, music, and books. Or we can feed our minds worldly things.

We can feed the meaningful relationships in our lives, or we can drain them.

The list goes on.

Something my friend, Summer, wrote about recently also reminded me that we have to make good choices in life, rather than compromising.

We have to choose what we say “yes” and “no” to. Sometimes we have to say “no” to things that will steal us away from the best things.

Let’s take some time to look at what we are feeding in our lives. Are we feeding on areas that are worthy of growth? Or are we feeding on areas that deplete us?

May we choose to be intentional with what we focus on. May we choose the paths that most honor God. May we choose to plant seeds in our lives that will grow the good fruit.

Thank you for stopping by and reading! God bless!

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” – John 6:35 NIV

Focusing on the Lord With Gratitude

Posted on September 20, 2025 by Bridget

22 Comments

Hello, Friends! I hope you’re all doing well. I’ve missed the community here, as I have only posted six times this year! 😱 So with tomorrow being World Gratitude Day, I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to post.

Many of you know I’m a big fan of gratitude. But I also know that life can be hard. And some days it’s difficult to think about or care about gratitude. And with the evil we see in our world, it’s so easy to feel down.

However … I have seen firsthand how gratitude truly does make a difference in our daily lives. When we keep gratitude in our hearts, it helps us to face each day with courage, instead of defeat. It helps us to find contentment, rather than complaints. Gratitude trains our eyes to see all the blessings God has given us. Gratitude (and praise) are powerful weapons that defeat the attacks of the enemy.

So with tomorrow being World Gratitude Day, let’s take some time for thanksgiving. Look around at your life and find the gifts, big or small. From a hot cup of coffee (or tea) ☕️ to roofs over our heads – there are countless things we can be thankful for.

In a recent blog post, my friend Judy reminded me that even when things aren’t going well or when things aren’t going the way we would like, we can be thankful for our Heavenly Father and His plans.

Gratitude isn’t just for one day a year, though. I encourage us all to continue our gratitude each day. Let’s try to make this a part of our daily lives.

On Tuesday we will begin the countdown for the final 100 days in 2025. Last year I wrote about ways we can finish the year strong. Therefore, perhaps we will want to focus on gratitude for the next fourteen weeks?

As many of you would likely agree, I have numerous Bible verses that I can call favorites. At the top of my list, though, is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

These words really speak to my heart. Praise, prayer, and thankfulness keep us close to the Lord. They help us to keep our focus on Him, which helps us to feel His presence. They help us to trust Him. And they help us to have the peace that surpasses understanding.

In her recent blog post, Nancy over at “From the Inside Out” reminds us of the importance of holding onto God’s promises and holding onto praise. Even in the midst of the tragedies we see on the news.

And a recent post by Rainer at The Devotional Guy™ emphasizes the importance of staying grounded in God’s Word.

With all that being said, this is the direction I want to lead my heart as we wrap up the year. I want to keep gratitude, prayer, praise, and God’s promises in the forefront of my mind.

I hope you have a weekend full of blessings to be thankful for. And thank you for stopping by and reading. God bless!

Keep Praying, Believing, Praising, and Thanking

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Bridget

29 Comments

No matter what we are up against, we have to keep our faith going. Each day we have to make the decision to keep praying, believing, praising, and thanking.

Keep Praying

Daily we should take our cares to the Lord in prayer. Of course God already knows what’s going on in our lives. He already sees what we are up against. And He knows better than we do what we actually need. But there is power in the asking. There are several instances in the Gospels where Jesus instructs us to ask and pray.

And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. – Luke 11:9-10

Prayer isn’t just something to check off our to-do list. It is a privilege to come before the Most High God with our needs. And He loves to hear from us.

Keep Believing

When we seek God’s help through prayer, we are to believe that He really heard us and He really is working on our behalf.

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.’” – Mark 11:22-24

It’s important to let our faith have dominance over our fears and worries. There will always be doubts vying for our attention. Be we can choose faith over fear.

Things might not change right away, but we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

I’m reminded of verses 12-13 found in Daniel 10 when a messenger came to Daniel several weeks after Daniel began to pray about a troubling vision. “Then he [the messenger] said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.’”

This is a good reminder that even when we don’t see God moving yet, He is still working on our behalf. In the words of Dr. Charles Stanley, “We get a small glimpse here of the spiritual realities of unseen warfare that takes place around the prayers of God’s people. Although our prayers are heard at once in heaven (Da 10:12), God’s answer may delay in coming for reasons that are unknown and imperceptible to us—yet they are still coming (2Co 4:18; Heb 11:1). Therefore, as Jesus said, we ‘should always pray and not give up’ (Lk 18:1).”

Keep Praising

When we keep praising God, we are acknowledging that He is holy and greater than the battles we face in life. Our hearts are revived as we see that The One and Only Almighty God is on our side.

My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help. This I know: God is on my side! – Psalm 56:9

When we focus on the Lord and praise Him – He will become greater as our problems become smaller. What we are facing might not be easy, but we can face it with confidence that Jesus is there with us. Praise also has the power to transform our circumstances, because we are showing God that we completely trust Him.

Keep Thanking

Gratitude and praise go hand-in-hand. When we thank God for His goodness, we are reminded of all the times He has shown up in our lives. When we remember those past times, it brings renewed confidence to the battles we are facing. God has helped us before, and He will do it again. In fact, He is happy to be there for His children.

It’s a good idea to keep a prayer journal, as it helps us to see all the prayers God has answered. I don’t write down all my prayers, but I have recorded some that I wanted to revisit, or some that were especially pressing. Recently when I looked back over those prayers, I was amazed how God had answered many of them.

We don’t just have the ability to thank God for prior answered prayers. We can also thank God for the prayers He will answer in the future. In our prayers, I find it powerful to incorporate gratitude for how He is working, even if our breakthrough hasn’t arrived yet. “Father, thank you for working on my behalf. Thank you for this healing. Thank you for making a way where there is no way. Thank you for giving me wisdom in this situation. Thank you for your provision.”

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. – Psalm 121

We have an enemy who will try to steer our thoughts towards defeat and discouragement. But when we keep praying, believing, praising, and thanking, we win the battle. We are reminded that God is greater than the enemy and greater than anything we face. He will never leave us, nor forsake us!

Gratitude Leads to Trust

Posted on June 23, 2025 by Bridget

33 Comments

I often spend an unhealthy amount of time thinking about the future. It’s not that I am planning for goals or future events. Rather, I fret about how life will unfold, or I wish for certain hurdles to be behind me, or I worry about what may come. I can easily obsess over the “if only” and “what if” scenarios.

The Bible tells us to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). I have found this can pertain to so many different thought patterns we have, such as worry, negativity, fear, and criticism.

This verse can also pertain to thoughts about obsessing over the future or the past. We should take those thoughts captive. When we constantly wish for better days in the future, or continually hold onto bitterness and regret over the past, we are stealing precious time and energy from the present moment.

When I have found my mind going in this direction, I try to remind myself of the words found in Philippians 4:8. The Amplified Bible says:

“Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].”

Take a moment to pause and consider – What is something unhealthy that you tend to fret about? Are there certain worries that are often on your mind? Or do your thoughts drift to negativity and complaining?

Next ask yourself:

Are these thoughts true?
Are these thoughts honorable?
Are these thoughts worthy of respect?
Are these thoughts right?
Are these thoughts confirmed by God’s word?
Are these thoughts pure?
Are these thoughts wholesome?
Are these thoughts lovely?
Do these thoughts bring peace?
Are these thoughts admirable?
Are these thoughts of good repute?
Do these thoughts have a quality of excellence?
Do these thoughts bring praise?

Wow. That is quite the litmus test.

When I am wasting my thoughts on worries about the future, I can’t even get past the first question on this list. Are these thoughts true? Nope. The things I worry about didn’t actually happen, and I have no way of knowing if they will happen. Only God knows the future.

My one word for this year is trust. The goal is to learn to trust God more. And I know that worrying about the future is the opposite of trust.

It recently dawned on me how gratitude plays a key role in all of this. Gratitude is one way we can take every thought captive. We can answer “Yes” to all the questions above when we focus on gratitude. Gratitude helps us to live in the present moment. Gratitude helps us to focus on truth. Gratitude helps us to stop the spiraling thought patterns. Gratitude highlights the ways God shows up in our lives.

And gratitude leads us to trust. We trust because we remember the ways God has been there for us in the past. We trust because we are living in the present, acknowledging the blessings that come our way, rather than focusing on the problems.

I know choosing gratitude isn’t always easy. Especially when facing difficulties and worries. Yet we still have a choice. We can choose negative energy, as we fret and worry over things we can’t control. Or we can choose to cast our cares on Jesus (1 Peter 5:7) with gratitude that He is working on our behalf. I hope we will choose the latter.

Sunrise on May 7, 2025. Sharing for my dad, because he always enjoyed the skyline photos on my posts. 🤍

Faith as Small as a Mustard Seed

Posted on April 27, 2025 by Bridget

33 Comments

The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!”

Luke 17:5-6

According to Oxford, faith is defined as:

complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

As Christians, it might be assumed that we have “complete trust or confidence in” God. And we might say we have trust and confidence in Him. However, are our actions always a good reflection of that trust and confidence?

As Christians, I would agree that we have “strong belief in God… based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.” However, I do believe the lack of proof can trip us up at times.

When things are going well in life, it’s easy to proclaim our faith in God and how blessed we are. But when we face trials, especially one piled on top of another, doubts will creep in. We want to see God working on our behalf. But often times, the Lord seems to move much slower than we would like. Or not at all.

At least that’s how it might appear on the outside. But we don’t always see or know what God is doing behind the scenes. That’s when our faith needs to kick in.

Faith in times of trouble is a choice we have to make. Will we choose to believe that God is working in our favor? It takes willpower to keep making that choice, day after day.

But the good news is that we don’t need faith the size of a mountain. Jesus said we only need faith as small as a mustard seed.

Charles Stanley put it this way: “We do not need more faith to comply with the Lord’s instructions, but genuine faith. It’s not the amount that matters—even a mustard seed of faith will do. However, it must be based completely on the Lord’s ability, not our own. The almighty power of God can work in an amazing way through a willing vessel.”

My family and I recently saw small mustard seed faith in action, when a family member was in the hospital. Things did not look good and the doctors’ words didn’t bring hope. Suddenly we received good news that things took a positive turn.

I was shocked, as were my family members. I hated to admit that I was shocked because I felt that was a terrible reflection of my faith. But I love how this story brings to life Jesus’ words about having faith the size of a mustard seed.

Even when our faith is small, Jesus hears our prayers and makes up for our lack.

You might be familiar with the words found in Luke 18:1 where Jesus reminds the disciples to keep praying and never give up. I recently stumbled across the Amplified Bible version of this verse and I really loved the extra words at the end. In this version we are reminded to keep praying, don’t give up, and don’t lose heart!

“Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart.” – Luke 18:1 AMP

Wow. I have to say that this really hit home. Over the past year as my family has faced (and continues to face) many battles, it has been so easy to lose heart.

But Jesus reminds us to hold onto faith. He knows some days our faith will be the size of a mustard seed. And that’s okay, because it’s not about us. It’s about Him and what He can do. He is the one that can move mountains. When we remember that, it takes the weight off of our shoulders.

Thank you for reading. God bless!

This is a real mustard seed in my hand. My husband loves growing a vegetable garden and he had some of these available. You can see just how small a mustard seed is!

Winter Storm Enzo Brings a Lesson of Trust

Posted on February 16, 2025 by Bridget

39 Comments

Admin Note – I don’t know when or how often I will be posting in the coming weeks. Grief has brought me down and I haven’t had the motivation for much of anything. But I will try to pop in when God puts a topic to write about on my heart. Thanks for understanding. Now for today’s post. This is something that happened a few weeks ago, but I am a bit delayed in writing about it…

My tip for the day – Don’t schedule a flight to land twelve hours before a funeral. When I scheduled my flight, I didn’t know Winter Storm Enzo was on the way. Although I should have known that the weather often keeps us on our toes, even if we have insight to what’s coming.

I had two flights to my destination, with a short layover between them. I received a text that my first flight was delayed when I was en route to the airport. Worries instantly began running through my mind. What if I missed my connecting flight? Since my flights were in the evening and I was dealing with small airports, there was little chance that there would be an alternate flight which I could catch. If I was stuck in the city of my layover, could I rent a vehicle to get to my destination? Or were there any buses I could take to get there?

I knew I needed to pray and I asked God to help work everything out. I then got a text with a better flight time that made me feel I should be able to run to my connecting flight without issue. I thought God had answered my prayer…

However, after I got to the airport and through security, I continued to get different times on when my first flight would leave. One thing that brought me hope, though, was when I learned my second flight was also delayed. If both flights were delayed, that meant I should be able to make my connection.

I sat at the gate as we received different updates from the airline. The lady on the microphone was funny and tried to keep us all lighthearted in the midst of this stressful situation.

With the delay, I sat there longer than expected. But as I sat there, I felt at peace. I still wasn’t sure that everything would work out, but I put it in God’s hands.

When I made it to my layover airport, there was a bit of a traffic jam on the tarmac. Perhaps because of flights coming and going when it wasn’t their originally scheduled time? Another delay waiting to get off the plane made me anxious. But the plane finally got to the gate and we were allowed to disembark. And thankfully I made it to my next gate in time.

As I waited in line to board the next flight, I sent this text message to my friend Lorraine, “God is good! This was definitely a test in trust. I don’t mind the delay. But I was worried about missing my connection. I really felt at ease knowing He would work it out 🙌🏻”

I got on my next flight and I made it to my destination that night, just a little later than expected.

Trusting God often means we can’t see the ending. We don’t know how things will turn out. Yet we choose to turn to Him, the One who does know how things will play out.

I recently saw a post on social media that said, “I trust the next chapter because I know the Author.” That really struck me. And it was a much-needed reminder. With all that my family has been battling, trust hasn’t come easy. There are still so many unknowns ahead to the human eye. However, God knows how things will work out, and He is the only One worthy of our complete trust.

Trust might not be easy. And things might not turn out how we planned. But we can still place our trust in the Lord, because He always knows what’s best. When we trust Him, He will fill us with peace.

Our trust highlights our faith in God. And this pleases God because as it says in the Bible, it’s impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6).

Learning to trust the Lord might be something we have to work on each day. But I’m so thankful He doesn’t give up on us. He will help us get there. But we have to make that choice to trust Him.

I Miss You, Dad

Posted on January 12, 2025 by Bridget

48 Comments

Caution before reading – if losing a loved one is a sensitive topic, you might want to skip this post, or grab some tissues…

When you left this earth
You took a piece of my heart
I miss you so much
It hurts to be apart

There are many things I’d like to ask you
Many things I’d like to say
Hear one of your funny stories
Or just hear about your day

Time slips by so quickly
I wish we had more days
Special moments together
Memories to tuck away

I will choose to remember the good days
The special memories we shared
Times when you made me laugh
Times that showed how much you cared

I know I will see you again
And for that I’m so glad
But until that day comes
I miss you, Dad

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Daddy. I hope you are having a big party today.

In honor of George Frank Maklos, Jr. January 12, 1943 ~ January 6, 2025

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