What If Things Don’t Change?

As we sit on the cusp of a New Year, most, if not all, of us are longing for positive change. Whether we long for a change in stressful circumstances, our health, finances, or social status, we pin our hopes on the possibility that things will improve as we say goodbye to the woes of days gone by and step into what we hope will be a bright new future.  

To be real, what if things don’t change?  What if the inauguration of a new president doesn’t bring about economic prosperity or social justice?  What if wars don’t cease and gun violence and natural disasters continue to plague our society?  What if life gets more difficult and we find our circumstances even harder to handle?  

The only real hope we have is if we allow Jesus to change us by receiving his salvation for our sins and surrender every aspect of our lives to his control.   Jesus knows, far better than we do, what is best for us, so don’t be afraid to surrender your heart and your life to him.  He is faithful and true, loving and kind, and has promised to work all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).  

A personal relationship with Jesus opens the way to intimate fellowship with God—our loving Heavenly Father—and the grace, power, and wisdom of the Holy Spirit which we so desperately need in order to face the challenges and difficulties of living in a fallen world.  God’s Word, the Bible, provides the truth and instruction we need to understand how to live in relationship with God and others.

Jesus loves you so much that he suffered a brutal death on the cross to save and redeem you (John 3:16).  You don’t have to do anything to earn his salvation except to ask that he forgive your sins and live in your heart, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬-‭10‬, ‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬).

Jesus is faithful and his mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).  I don’t know about you, but I need God’s mercy every single day!

Jesus himself is our peace (Ephesians 2:14) and he promises to keep in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed on him because we trust in him (Isaiah 26:3).

If you have never received Jesus as your Savior, or if you have fallen out of fellowship with him because of sin and circumstances, I pray you will start the New Year with REAL HOPE by placing your faith in him and surrendering every area of your life to him.  Trust me, you need him.  I need him.  Life is hard.  In fact, Jesus himself said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Luke 16:33, ESV).

Copyright ©2024  by Dee Dee Wike. All rights reserved. www.deedeewike.com

Ordinary or Extraordinary? It's Your Choice!

The last time I wrote a blog post I was enjoying a period of early retirement.  I was between jobs,  praying that God would show me what to do in that season.  I hoped that writing another book might be part of his plan but I couldn't quite seem to find the inspiration or motivation to write anything more than my daily journal entry.  My life of leisure was short-lived and I returned to the best job I've ever had, doing work that God has uniquely equipped me to do.  

Will I ever write another book?  Probably not, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Despite the fun of  book fairs and book signings, meeting fellow authors, and having a sense of accomplishment, I have found that embracing the ordinary in this season has probably been the most extraordinary journey of my life.  More than ever I believe that God's words are true:

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. -- Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) 

If you feel your life is an ordinary mess, you're in good company!  Embrace your ordinary and look for God's little touches along the way.  They're there.  For me, they're in the hearty laughter of a son at the end of a stressful work day, the quiet beauty of a daughter who inspires others with her creativity, and in the heartfelt song of a spouse whose love of singing cannot be contained.  You might find God's touches in the hands of an aging parent, the shoulders of a compassionate friend, and in the stranger that bought you a cup of Starbucks on a morning when you really needed a second cup to give you courage to face another day.  

It has been said that life is what we make it.  I confess I fail miserably at making a good life most days.  I prefer to leave that job to the One who knows me best, loves me most, and has promised me a life of purpose and peace as I keep my eyes fixed on him. 

Copyright © 2022 by Dee Dee Wike. All rights reserved. www.deedeewike.com

The Challenge to Change

The coronavirus pandemic has given many of us the opportunity to reassess our lives and make changes, whether we want to or not.  Some of us have viewed this uncertain time as a curse while others have taken advantage of this season to sit back, take stock, and reassess our lives in hopes of finding a better way to live going forward.

For many families the pandemic has resulted in financial difficulties they never saw coming.  With little warning, jobs have been lost, businesses have closed, and income has stopped. Bills have continued to arrive and savings accounts have been quickly depleted.  Difficult decisions are being made.  Do I pay the utility bill or feed my family?  If I don't pay the car note and my car is repossessed how will I look for a job or get to work after all this is over?  If this ever happens again, how can I do things differently so that the consequences won't be so devastating? 

Our family went through a financial reversal during the last recession after my husband lost his job.  We were sitting on a mountain of debt with absolutely nothing in savings.  Yet God met all our needs.  Some of his provision came in the form of food stamps and unemployment benefits, but much of it came from caring friends and our church family.  I believe that our obedience in the area of tithing to our church while we were both employed resulted in God's generous provision in our time of need.  We learned a lot of hard lessons about financial management during that time and determined to do everything in our power to more prudently handle money once the crisis had passed.  We changed habits, slowed our spending, paid off our debt, shared the lessons we learned, and positioned ourselves to not only be able to face the next crisis with greater financial stability but to also be able to help those in crisis.  As we reassessed our lives during that time of financial hardship, we changed our reality with God's guidance and the help of others.

I love the story of Job.  He was a righteous man who loved God wholeheartedly, yet suffered great loss in a very short period of time.  While God didn't cause Job's suffering, he allowed it.  He allowed Satan to have his way in Job's life -- to strip away everything of value, including Job's family, possessions, and health -- yet God forbade Satan from taking Job's life.  Job did not blame God (Job 1:22).  In fact, when his wife urged Job to curse God and die he said to her, "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil" (2:10)?  Job experienced his own season of doubting, complaining, and questioning God.  After all, he was human.  His well-meaning friends fanned the flames of Job's disappointment and despair.  But in the course of time, as he continued to seek answers to the hard questions brought on by his calamity, God revealed himself to Job, perhaps in ways Job could never have experienced otherwise, and Job repented his sins of self-pity and doubt. Scripture tells us the LORD restored Job's fortunes and "blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12).  Don't you just love a happy ending?

As you take the time to reassess your life during this season of uncertainty, what are the lessons God would have you learn?  Are there changes you need to make in order to more fully live out the purposes God has for you? 

In chapter 23, verse 10, Job declares of God -- "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold."  May we all allow God to use the challenges we face to fit us for his purposes and change us to be more like him.





Copyright © 2020 by Dee Dee Wike. All rights reserved. www.deedeewike.com

New Normal -- Same God

I'm not one to cry easily, except at happy endings or when I am angry about something. However, I have had a couple of moments recently when tears just came out of nowhere -- no particular stress trigger or depression, just intense momentary sadness. As I prayed this morning for God to reveal why, I realized that like so many of you, I am GRIEVING. As blessed as I am -- as we all are -- we are each grieving, on some level, the loss of our lives and the reality that our "normal" is forever changed.

Some of us have lost jobs, loved ones, and the sense of identity that comes from being employed or in the company of those whose presence we can no longer enjoy due to social distancing and stay-at-home orders. ALL of us have lost the freedom to come and go and do as we please without fear of becoming infected or infecting others.

We have seen the best and worst of humanity during this crisis and learned hard, hard lessons. Many of us have risen to serve, some making the ultimate sacrifice to care for those who have been sickened by the virus. Some of us have sunk into despair because of loss and loneliness. All of us have been changed in some way.

Despite all the changes we have seen and the reality that life will never again look like it did on January 1, 2020, we can still enjoy LIFE and walk in FREEDOM because of what happened on Easter -- not this Easter, but on that first Easter when Christ, who IS our FREEDOM and our LIFE, forever conquered death through His Resurrection.

For those who know Christ:
He is our Life. -- John 1:4
He gives us Freedom. -- Galatians 5:1
He himself is our peace. -- Ephesians 2:14
He is our hope. -- Colossians 1:27

If you don't know Christ -- if you have not asked Him to save you from your sins and entered into a personal relationship with Him -- I pray this will be the day you ask Him to be your Savior and Lord and begin walking in the freedom, hope, and peace that can be yours as a child of God. The Bible tells us:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:16-17, ESV).

Life will never be the same again, but "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

This world -- this broken, sickened, saddened, decaying world -- is not our home. Jesus himself says, "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also" (John 14:1-3, ESV).

"Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear away from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new" (Revelation 21:3-5, ESV).

Praying for you,
Dee Dee

Copyright © 2020 by Dee Dee Wike. All rights reserved. www.deedeewike.com