Inside "The Bible in One Year" reading for Sunday the 21st of June 2026 - the first passage to read from the Old Testament came from the first two chapters of Job. To be honest with you - for a moment I flinched a little knowing that over the coming days I'd be going through this particular book. Not the easiest one to read through. But I had a flash-of-a-thought race across my mind, to look for the gold in the story. That's EXACTLY what happened. I found gold right away in the words, and I thought of you. The message that stood out to me was the value God places on maintaining our integrity DESPITE the circumstances that have happened, or are happening around us. Grieving for what was lost. Grieving for what no longer existed. Grieving for what seemingly would never be as it once was. I remember going through that when my husband became just a shell of himself. I felt guilty for grieving. "I shouldn't be grieving - he's not dead!" And yet - grief was there. Perhaps you've been wrestling with feeling grief, but at the same time confused too. Let the grief move through you rather than push it down. Then - just as Job did - worship God in the face of it. That is one way that Job maintained his integrity. He refused to blame God for all that had happened. The second thing Job did to maintain his integrity can be found in Chapter 2:10. "Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" Job's response to everything wasn't denial or numbness. He grieves fully. This isn't a man with no feelings. It's a man whose identity was never built on his circumstances in the first place. If your marriage is in a season where nothing is resolving the way you prayed it would; or If your marriage ended - without the things you prayed for being resolved; know that your integrity isn't to be measured by whether he/she changes (or changed). It's measured by whether you stay true to you. Becoming unshakeable doesn't mean nothing shakes you. It means you know exactly who you are and WHOSE you are when it does. I had to learn that the hard way in the middle of the shaking.

...conscious that each of us in this community are navigating all KINDS of challenges. Here it is: "Trust only in God every moment! Tell him all your troubles and pour your heart-longings to him. Believe me when I tell you - he will help you!" The Passion Translation: Psalm 62:8

How can I pray for you this week? Comment below or send me a chat message.

..."God must be punishing me because that can be the only explanation for this..." THIS post is ESPECIALLY for you! 👇💖 This message from the book of Ruth in the Bible REALLY hit me when I read it this week. Here is Naomi's situation. Her husband had died. Both her sons had died. She said to her two daughters-in-law, "Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD himself has raised his fist against me." She also said THIS to the women of Bethlehem when they saw Naomi returning, "Don't call me Naomi, instead call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the LORD has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?" She created a belief based on her circumstances that God's fist was raised against her. 😭😨 Sound familiar? We are SO QUICK to assume that when life gets very hard - "oh it's God's punishment". Yet she only had SOME of the information. She couldn't see the full picture. YOU & I only have some of the information. YOU & I can't yet see the full picture. What was that bigger picture for Naomi? Even though she told the women of Bethlehem to call her Mara, the same women later said this to her: 🎶 "Praise the LORD, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel....for he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons! Her story is FULL of instances of "as it turned out"...and "it just so happened that..." In other words, God never stopped working! He was orchestrating moments and choices and decisions at just the right time...for His plans to be fulfilled. He is doing the same for YOU right now. He will never stop working on your behalf. Your story is still unfolding.

In the hardest moments in my marriage I have always found that God's perspective on things is always completely different to mine. So - how do we tap in to that? I share briefly on it in this video. Hope this encourages you!