From the Home Place

March 19, 2026

Today’s weather is starting at 35 degrees, reaching 77 for a high with 40 mph winds. Very little chance of rain. “Lord, we sure do need some measurable rains, soon!”

At 3 a.m. this morning, the Holy Spirit poked me in the ribs to get up and pray. He laid the names of several people on my mind whom I was to pray for. He then directed me to praying for pastors serving conflicted churches. Then He moved me to pray for the war in Iran; understanding that He has a purpose with all of this.

God has a special use for wars, conflict within churches and families, and pain. Though we prefer to not be involved in any of the above, for centuries our Heavenly Father has used war, personal conflict and pain to make needed adjustments in the lives of His children.

I would wager that each of us become more involved, and more intentional with our prayer lives during seasons of war, personal conflict and pain. If I am honest, I don’t care to be involved in any of these three conditions, however each one has a special way of drawing me closer to God. And drawing closer to God is always a good thing.

You see, that is how God works: He allows certain circumstances to come into our lives so that our spirit will better connect with His Spirit. It seems to me that God is more concerned with the results of those circumstances than He is with the process of dealing with them. When life becomes increasingly difficult, we tend to pray more often and for longer periods, with a greater degree of importance. All of which bring great joy to our Heavenly Father.

When a little child experiences pain, they run to a parent to help bring assurance and relief. We adults should respond the same way when pain comes into our lives, we should run to our Heavenly Father for assurance and relief. Much like feeling the strength in the arms of an earthly father when he comforts his child, Christians can experience an even greater strength when we run into the arms of our Heavenly Father.

The previous analogy often breaks down in that we adults usually attempt to fix the unfixable. We will often work ourselves into a frenzy with worry, attempting to bring relief into our lives through our own efforts. Now think about it, if God has allowed painful circumstances to come into a person’s life, doesn’t it make the best sense to ask God to bring a positive resolution to those painful circumstances? A God-sized problem needs a God-sized resolution!

When I was a short-legged feller, my dad told me of a neighbor’s response to the overwhelming amount of snow received during the ’49 blizzard. When dad ask the ‘ol feller if he wanted help moving the snow, the response was, “Nope, let the Feller move it that put it there.” I never thought of it until early this morning, but that mindset would help many of us deal with God-engineered difficulties in a much better way. If God has allowed it, let Him fix it.

Yep, here we are back to a familiar statement, “Trust and obey, for there is no other way.” Yes, God does expect us to do what we can to fix minor problems on a daily basis, but for the rest of the difficulties we each face, could it be that He just wants us to run to Him in prayer, asking our Heavenly Father to hold us in His gentle arms. Remember, His ways are much better than our ways! So, if your world or your church or your life has a big problem, perhaps, “let the Feller move it that put it there and grow from it.”

Praying and trusting with you, Neal