For forty days, Goliath towered over the army of Israel and issued the same challenge: Send someone to fight me. If he defeats me, we will serve you. If I defeat him, you will serve us. And for forty days, Israel’s soldiers backed away. These were trained warriors. They had weapons. They knew how to fight. But the threat before them had begun to overshadow what they knew, not only about themselves, but about God. Then David arrived. He heard the same threats. He saw the same

In September of 1944, Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie arrived at Ravensbruck, a Nazi concentration camp for women. They entered a world of atrocities, starvation, disease, and death, a place intended not only to imprison the body, but to crush the spirit. But, even there, God was at work. When the prisoners were searched, Corrie miraculously passed through inspection with a small Bible hidden beneath her dress. In Barracks 28, that Bible became the center of secret wors

You’re folding the laundry, but in your mind, you’re having the conversation you never got to have. They’ve said things about you that just aren’t true. The stories have spread, and people who once trusted you now don’t know what to believe. You never had the chance to defend yourself. But, as you play it out in your mind, you finally get to explain what really happened. They listen. They understand. The truth comes out. By the time you’ve folded the last t-shirt, nothing has

Sand has a way of coming home from the beach with us. It cakes onto wet feet, hides in bathing suits, settles into the car, and somehow turns up on the sofa days later. Maybe that’s why David’s imagery in Psalm 139 is so striking. He writes, “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!...” (Psalm 139:17–18 NLT). I’ve never imagined counting the grains of sand on a beach. I can’t fathom co

Many of the people who had been following Jesus were leaving. His teaching had become difficult. The crowd that had eagerly followed Him and witnessed His miracles began to turn away. Then Jesus looked at the Twelve and asked, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” (John 6:67 NIV) Peter responded to Jesus’ question with a question of his own: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68 NIV) I love his response. I hear a kind of bewilderment in

In Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem Ulysses, the aging Ulysses looks back over a life of travel, struggle, discovery, and encounters with many different people. Reflecting on those experiences, he says, “I am a part of all that I have met.” It is a striking and telling line. Ulysses recognizes that he has not passed through the world untouched. The people he has known, the places he has traveled, and the experiences he has lived have all shaped who he has become. The same is true

Have you ever been caught in the battle between knowing the right thing to do and having everything you feel say, “Don’t do it”? We all face those moments, and they can be so hard. Our minds may know what needs to happen while our emotions resist with everything they have. Consider an elderly woman facing the sale of her childhood home. She co-owns the house with her siblings, but no one lives there anymore. It has been empty for some time, the roof leaks, and its condition c

Have you ever watched someone overinflate a balloon? Each breath adds a little more air. For a while, the balloon stretches and makes room. Then one final breath causes it to burst. The final breath may appear to be the cause, but it is only the last part of the story. The balloon was already full. Sometimes our psychological capacity is exceeded in much the same way. Stress often accumulates gradually. We hold the weight of work responsibilities, financial concerns, caregivi

Some of us have spent much of our lives trying to be good. We try to make the right choices, meet every expectation, care for the people who need us, and avoid disappointing God. When we fail, we promise ourselves that we will do better next time. Without realizing it, we can begin to treat grace like a ladder, believing that if we try hard enough and climb high enough, maybe we will finally earn the title "Good". Matthew West’s song “Good” begins with that struggle. He descr

Josiah was only eight years old when he became king of Judah. He inherited more than a throne. He inherited a recent family history marked by idolatry, violence, and rebellion against God. His father, Amon, “did what was evil in the Lord’s sight” (2 Kings 21:20). His grandfather, Manasseh, had led the nation far away from God before finally humbling himself late in life. Josiah could easily have followed the same path. It was the pattern modeled by his father and during most

Caleb saw the giants too. When Moses sent twelve men to explore the land God had promised Israel, they returned with the same basic report. The land was good. The cities were fortified. And the people living there were powerful. Ten of the spies looked at what stood before them and concluded, “We can’t attack the people because they are stronger than we are” (Numbers 13:31). Caleb saw the same obstacles and reached a very different conclusion: “Let’s go up now and take posses

If you've been feeling weary lately, your first thought might be, "I'm doing too much." And maybe you are. But perhaps the better question isn't, "Am I doing too much?" Perhaps it's, "Am I carrying too much?" Some burdens are easy to see. A demanding job. Caring for a loved one with a disability or aging parents. Walking through illness, grief, or an adult child's addiction. But some of the heaviest burdens are invisible. The pressure to keep everyone happy. The need to contr

"I don't know who I am anymore." Maybe you've never said those exact words. But perhaps you've felt them. "I've lost myself." "If this relationship ends, who am I?" "If I can't do this job anymore, what am I?" "I don't know where I fit." As counselors, we hear these kinds of statements often. They come from teenagers trying to figure out where they belong, parents whose children have grown up and left home, professionals whose careers have unexpectedly changed, and people who

Some days it feels like the ground beneath our feet shifts by the hour. One conversation unsettles you. One headline raises your anxiety. One unexpected phone call changes the emotional temperature of your entire day. The world moves quickly. Circumstances change. Relationships change. Even our emotions can feel unpredictable, steady one moment and overwhelmed the next. It is no wonder so many people feel emotionally exhausted, mentally overloaded, and spiritually weary from

Artificial intelligence has quickly become part of daily life. People use it to answer questions, organize tasks, learn new skills, and even process emotions. Used wisely, AI can be remarkably helpful. Yet mental health professionals are noticing a new trend. Some individuals are beginning to rely on AI not simply as a tool, but as a primary source of emotional support. In some cases, people report that AI is their closest support. Sometimes it is their only support. That shi

Dear Ask Still Waters, Lately I’ve noticed that after I spend a lot of time scrolling social media or reading bad news online, I feel anxious, exhausted, and like everyone else has their life together except me. Why does that happen? Can doomscrolling and social media really affect mental health and self-esteem that much?” - Tired of Comparing Dear Tired of Comparing, Doomscrolling and excessive social media don't just affect your mood. They affect your mind, your body, and o

There’s a phrase I came across recently that made me pause for a second: Embrace the suck. A little harsh, right? The phrase comes from a TED Talk by former Navy SEAL Brent Gleeson, who knows a thing or two about hardship. In military culture, “embracing the suck” does not mean pretending pain is enjoyable. It means facing hard reality honestly instead of wasting energy resisting what already is. It means staying present in the discomfort and continuing forward with purpose.

For four hundred years, heaven seemed quiet. No new prophets spoke, no new Scriptures were written. Generations of people longed to hear from God again, holding to promises that must have felt distant and fragile. And then, in one breathtaking moment, the silence was broken—not by thunder or proclamation, but by the cry of a newborn. The birth of Jesus changed everything. The long silence gave way to song, to angelic praise, to hope that finally had a name. In that moment, th

Gratitude has long been recognized as a spiritual practice, but science now confirms what faith has always known—it’s also deeply healing. Giving thanks not only honors God; it brings our minds and bodies into alignment with the way He designed us to live. When we practice gratitude, we aren’t manufacturing something new. We’re responding to what already exists—stepping into a rhythm God built into creation as medicine for the soul. “The brain heals where the heart kneels—gra

Dear Still Waters, Everyone always says, “Don’t struggle alone.” But let’s be real—most people don’t actually want to hear your...

This one is dedicated to my beloved husband, Bruce—who, though non-ambulatory with advanced MS, is scaling the highest places with Jesus,...

As I reflect on my high school years, the majority of my memories are colored by the effects of a hidden eating disorder, as well as the...

Dear Still Waters, I read your recent posts about pornography—and while they were powerful, they also left me feeling overwhelmed. I’m a...

Dear Still Waters, I saw your last post—the one from the woman whose husband watches porn. It hit a nerve. I’ve never written into...