Tagged: Audrey Frank

[caption id="attachment_4106" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!  Psalm 84:3-4[/caption] Be quiet, O heart, O stubborn heart! Cease your troubled thunder.   Hush now, heart, Compose yourself,   Discern the song of silence.   Can you hear the tinkling melody of swallows? The birds are not worried.   Among the olive trees They dance; Upon branches sparkling with diamond raindrops They drink  Water from heaven.   To and fro,  They journey; With songs of gratitude They delight  In the food that is given.   The doves… Read More

And He will be the security and stability of your times, A treasure of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the Lord is your treasure. Isaiah 33:6 Stable instability: the state of security experienced by those who trust in God when life is unstable. If we trust God, we will find the strength to persevere even during times of instability.  Strength comes through training.  When I was a beginning runner, I ran on pavement. Solid, thick asphalt. Every slam of my foot on its firm surface was met with stubborn force. Immovable, the ground did not absorb my footprint. I ran on stable ground. Then, I discovered trail running. What delight! Combining two of my greatest joys, running and nature, trail running became my… Read More

God seeks what has been driven away. Ecclesiastes 3:15 Hagar was driven away from her home (see Genesis 16). Her name, Hagar, carries the root in both Hebrew and Arabic that means to flee. For Christians, Muslims, and Jews, she has become a symbol of fleeing. Some might call her the mother of refugees. The God Who Seeks Those Driven Away pursued Hagar in the desert. Alone with her child, destitute, she believed death was imminent. How astonished she must have been to hear the voice of the Seeker, seeking her out, speaking wonderful words of hope and a future. Hagar, a bondwoman to God’s chosen family, was given the high privilege of naming God. She was the first person to give Him a new… Read More

God never gives us more than we can handle. Nowhere 1:1 How enriched are they who find their strength in the Lord; within their hearts are the highways of holiness! Even when their paths wind through the dark valley of tears, they dig deep to find a pleasant pool where others find only pain. He gives to them a brook of blessing filled from the rain of an outpouring. They grow stronger and stronger with every step forward, and the God of all gods will appear before them in Zion. Psalm 84:57 She was no more than two feet tall. Wrapped in a bright orange, purple, and yellow cloth folded twice to fit her tiny frame, the little girl balanced a plastic jug on her… Read More

Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted. Be still, and know that I am God. Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established. -Isaiah 7:4, Psalm 46:10, John 11:40, Psalm 112:7-8 “He will be fine,” said the innkeeper, “Mothers always worry the most.” You don’t know our story, I thought wearily as I set my luggage down. Five hours and three hundred miles earlier I’d been sitting in a parking lot, immobilized. Unable to leave my youngest son behind until I’d made a decision. Would I trust the Lord? After a… Read More

A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again in a little while, and you will see me. -John 16:16 In even this, He understands. My Jesus, my Savior. The One who had to go where the Father called Him and in doing so, had to leave loved ones behind. [bctt tweet="Jesus understands the #grief of goodbye." username="audreycfrank"] This obedience is hard, Lord. We are moving across the world again. This time, I am older. I have tarried long with friends and family, soaking in the joy of their presence. I have taken time to think deep and give thanks for the gift of friendship, love, and community. Goodbye hurts more now than it used to. When I was young and zealous,… Read More

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God." Revelation 12:10 What’s happening in Afghanistan right now has everything to do with the church. [bctt tweet="As the second-fastest-growing church in the world, Afghan followers of Jesus are precisely in the cross-hairs not only of Taliban guns but, perhaps more gravely, the adversary of the church, the accuser, also called Satan. #persecution #afghanistan " username="audreycfrank"] Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those… Read More

Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. 2 Chronicles 20:12 Jesus sends us out to help people we feel helpless to help. I had this text exchange with a dear friend from Afghanistan a few days ago. How is your family in Kabul? We are praying for you and are very concerned. We are worrying a lot. Our families got a warning letter from the Taliban to surrender my husband to them otherwise they will face death. My friend’s husband is a hero. He was awarded a purple heart for saving American lives in the fight against the… Read More

Helping others heal is a tender task. How many could be healed of heart wounds if we took the time to learn how to respond? Jesus invites us to be First Responders. Read Part One of this series by clicking here.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool… Read More

This post originally appeared on audreyfrank.com July 21, 2019. The author has not learned much since she first wrote it. Maybe this time around. And Solomon assigned 70,000 men to bear burdens… 2 Chronicles 2:2 Some of us are assigned to bear burdens. [bctt tweet="There are projects in God’s kingdom that cannot be completed without burden-bearers. #perseverance #honor" username="audreycfrank"] The stones hewn from the mountain would not carry nor assemble themselves into towering walls to form Solomon’s glorious temple. They needed strong arms to bear them to their purpose. God’s assigned burden-bearer must be careful how she carries her load. I have a beautiful bowl handcrafted from the wood of an orange tree native to North Africa. Golden brown, it is inlaid with floral patterns of… Read More