God Is the Author

On December 24, 2025December 22, 2025 By vickleaIn ScriptureLeave a comment

Trusting God’s Story (Daily Refresh, 12-22-25)

Imagine Mary and Joseph getting ready to become parents. They probably asked a lot of the same questions expectant parents do today: Is the baby healthy? Are we prepared to care for this child? Do we have what we need? Where will we have the baby? Are we ready for the birth?

Near the end of Mary’s pregnancy, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that everyone within the Roman world return to their hometown for a census (Luke 2:1-4). This meant that Mary and Joseph had to leave their home in Nazareth to take the four-day journey to Bethlehem, the city of David, who was Joseph’s ancestor.

It could’ve been because of the census that Bethlehem’s inns were full of people making the journey home. It also could’ve been because of a misunderstood “scandal” surrounding Mary and Joseph. Regardless, when the time came, Mary gave birth to Jesus in the only place available to them: a stable. She placed him in a manger—a feeding trough—because that’s all there was. Surely this was not the birth that Mary would have planned for her firstborn child.

And yet, it was exactly what God had ordained. God showed us a lot about His Kingdom through the circumstances around the birth of His Son.

He showed us that Jesus is humble. Jesus was born in a stable and placed in a manger. The King of all Creation, yet such a humble beginning.

He showed us that the Kingdom of God is accessible. This King wasn’t tucked away in a castle or a mansion, separated from His people and surrounded by luxuries—shepherds and wise men alike were able to come visit Him.

He showed us that we can trust the story. Mary had to trust God’s story. Joseph had to trust God’s story. Imagine how the story would have been different if Mary and Joseph had demanded that room be made for them in an inn, shouting, “This is the Messiah, people! We need a room with amenities!” But they didn’t do that. They accepted the situation in front of them, trusting God’s story regardless of how strange or undesirable the setting seemed.

And from that surrendered posture and strange set of circumstances, God brought forth His Son, exactly as He had planned.

We can trust the story because God is the Author. Jesus’ humble birth was not an accident—it was a message, a picture to all of us of what God’s Kingdom is truly like. It’s also an invitation for us to surrender our plans, our ideas of how the story should be, and trust the trustworthy hand of God in our lives. We can trust God.

My Thoughts

We can trust our story to God, also. He planned and executed His plan perfectly, with the perfect timing, the perfect setting and the perfect place. God is the Author of each of our stories, so on this wonderful Christmas Eve, let’s lay down our plans before His throne and trust that His plans are better.

If you are reading this and enjoy it, please leave a comment. I am having some difficulty with Word Press. Some cannot see my posts. Others cannot comment. So, if you can see and comment, I would appreciate knowing that. Thank you and have a blessed Christmas Eve. May we always work towards fulfilling God’s plan for us!

Just Be Willing

On May 8, 2025May 1, 2025 By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

Immeasurably More (YouVersion Daily Refresh 5-01)

What’s the boldest prayer you can think to pray? Or the most incredible thing you can dare to imagine?

Did you know that God can top it?

Paul said it like this:

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

You know those quiet dreams in your heart? God put them there. You know that ache for something better than this broken world? God gave you that desire. You know the deepest longings of your soul? God knows how to fulfill them.

Like Paul said, God can do more than we ask or imagine, but we also must remember the second part of his words: according to his power at work within us.

It’s all God’s power and His plan. But He has invited us into it.

So what’s our part in this process?

We can give glory to Him—knowing that it’s Him who gives us the desire and power to do what pleases Him (Philippians 2:13). He created us, loves us, and has entrusted us with sharing His message with the world.

We can submit ourselves to His plan—knowing that it’s all God, but He chooses to work in and through His people to accomplish His purposes. He doesn’t need us to be perfect, He just wants us to be willing.

We can trust Him with the process—knowing that He is good, righteous, worthy, strong, and eternal. We don’t have to know all the answers because we already have Him, and He can do more than we can ask or imagine.

My Thoughts

I put in bold what I think is the most important part of this devotional. We have to be willing to follow God’s plan. I know that one of my strengths is organization. But it is also a great weakness for me because after I get everything all organized, I don’t like it when something changes my plans. That is actually a gross understatement. I have a tendency to get really stressed if my plans are not carried out exactly the way I planned them. God has been working on me about this, showing me that His plan is the one that counts and if He wants to stop or adjust my plan, then I have to go with that. It will be better for me in the long run. God is always working to do more than I ask, more than I think of, even with my copious lists with everything all planned out. God’s plan is the best one! I am still learning to pause, listen and trust because even though I may fret about changes, God is in control of the changes and the final results. And that makes everything okay with me.

Grasshopper Fears

On February 12, 2024 By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

www.bible.com/reading-plans/13696/day/1

It is easy to look around us and see all that is wrong. Then we have a natural human tendency to withdraw from what is evil instead of facing it head on and calling it what it is. Instead of having “grasshopper hearts” that see the evil and hide from it, we should have hearts filled with faith, knowing that if God has given us a word to speak, He will give us the courage to speak it to the right people. I have been discouraged lately about the path the world is taking, but instead of taking a stand, I have chosen just to watch and see what happens next. I think that God is calling me to some kind of action. Whether it is writing my legislators, attending meetings, or speaking out online, I plan to be bold for God. No more of allowing the rampant evil and immorality of this current world to reign! I will speak boldly for the Lord, telling others the way life should be lived. Actions have consequences and the world is reaping the consequences of an entire generation that does not know or want to know God. We cannot change the world by burying our heads in the sand and saying, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.” Do we really want Him to come quickly when it means so many will be lost in eternity without Him? Let’s do all we can to influence as many as we can to turn their hearts and eyes toward Jesus before it is too late. Grasshopper hearts won’t hack it in a world filled with giants of greed, deceit, and gross immorality that even wants to capture the hearts of our children. No more alphabet soup! One man, one woman for life is God’s plan. Loving others as God loved is God’s plan. Telling the truth even if it offends someone is God’s plan. Stalwart and moving forward is God’s plan. I hope that you will join me. My efforts may be small, but together we can make a difference and can roll back the tide of evil, replacing it with the Word of God and His standards.

Where Do You Get Your Encouragement?

On September 5, 2023 By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

All of us have days in which we just feel like we cannot do one more thing for one more person, not even ourselves. We are plodding along in life and then something happens to force us to take stock of where we have been and where we are going. That pause, that quiet moment, even when I feel as though I am asking God for answers, is the time when I get the greatest encouragement.

Most of us don’t have a team of cheerleaders shouting for us to keep going, that we can make it, But the Bible tells us that we do have a “cloud of witnesses,” the great patriarchs who have gone before us and perhaps loved ones who have already passed away. They are our cheering section. But God is our great encourager.

Sometimes, I feel as though I had plans and then life happens and the plans fall through. But God’s plans never fail. He is faithfully loving and will never abandon me, leaving me to wander alone aimlessly searching for purpose. He has given me a purpose and He has a plan. Even at my advanced age, I am still useful to God’s big blueprint plan for mankind. I was reminded of that when I visited my son and his family and was asked repeatedly to tell stories from the Bible by the children. They are hungry for God’s word and I had the knowledge to share with them. I think that is part of God’s plan, for me and for them.

I must confess that as my body ages, I tire more easily, and some days I just want to stop doing. But God in His mercy gives me the grace and strength to keep going, reminding me that He is still working on me as I work for Him. Because God is my great encourager, He will not sit idly by while I throw a “pity party.” He invites Himself to attend and reminds me of all that He has done for me so that the party meant to take place in the Land of the Mollygrubs ends up being held in the Land of Thankfulness and Gratitude. God will always be there, continuing His work in me, until He calls me home. And I pray that I will be willing and able to continue my work for Him all the way to the blessed end of my life here on earth.

The Paths We Take

On April 30, 2022 By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

Throughout life, we each take a path that we think will lead to future happiness and success. For me, it was to go to college and become a teacher. I never expected to get married and have children, but that was part of God’s plan for my life. Each of us has choices and our choices make a difference in our own life as well as in the lives of others.

This has really been brought home to me recently because I have been at my sister’s house this week helping her pack up to move to a different state. She is a year older than I am, and she is not in particularly good health. Because she has macular degeneration and is slowly losing her vision, she cannot really live alone for many more years. For that reason, when my niece and her family decided to move, they also chose to move her mom with them. That is a very kind gesture that shows the love she has for her mom. However, my sister has had little choice in the matter. A house was purchased next door to them for my sister to live in. The fact that she is leaving all that she has ever known is not a factor in this decision at all. There have been spontaneous outbursts of tears and more than a few arguments (all caused by stress, I’m sure) between my sister and her daughter since I have been here. My heart goes out to my sister and I long to comfort her, but the best I can say is that she knows she can’t take care of herself and that in the long run, this was an unselfish and caring thing for her daughter to do for her. Nevertheless, it is not a path that she would have chosen, but it is done now and she leaves the state she has lived in for almost all of her life and moves to a new one.

I would like to share this Scripture with my sister but she refuses to listen to anything I have to say about God. Her current reason (she has had many excuses over the years) is that a friend of hers was recently diagnosed with cancer and how can a good God give people who are good such an awful disease? She expanded on that philosophy ad nauseum the other night when we were resting from a long day of packing. She says she knows that I believe in God but she just can’t believe in a God who does such horrible things to people. I tried to tell her that God didn’t do it, sin and evil in the world did. But she tuned me out and said she doesn’t believe in sin and evil. Are you kidding me?!? How can anyone not believe in the evil that is rampant in the world, threatening to overtake us at any time? And if it were not for God’s love, mercy and grace, we would all be destroyed. I spoke for a few minutes before I was interrupted, but she just would not hear me. My heart is broken for her because of her move, her leaving all behind here but mostly because she doesn’t have the hope that lives in my heart. Yes, bad things happen to good people. But God is still on His throne and still in control. I sincerely believe that He has everyone’s best interests at heart and that God’s heart is hurting when people suffer, from cancer or from heartbreak, but especially from unbelief and turning away from Him.

God literally showed me the truth of this Scripture back in the 1980’s. My husband was a fairly new officer in the USAF (having left his enlisted position in the USN) and we had been stationed in a very small town in Arkansas for four years. Preparing to move overseas, we were all excited about going to Japan. Alas! The military carefully scrutinizes medical records of all family members before they send you overseas and they decided that my health was too bad to go to a military base without an appropriate military medical facility. So, our things were all packed in crates and awaiting our final orders to Japan, but those orders had been canceled. My husband talked to the scheduler about where he could go and they came up with Iceland. Again, I could not be approved to go there, but I could be on base as the caregiver of our children and they would take care of me medically if needed. Harry asked me where I wanted to be while we waited for base housing to be available and I told him South Carolina since I had lived there for eight years at various times during our military moves. He went to Iceland, the children and I found a small apartment in South Carolina near our church and settled in to wait for our stay in Iceland. It never happened! Once my husband arrived, he was told that the wait for base housing was at least two years, a remote tour was one, so he opted to stay there for one year alone while the children and I lived in South Carolina. I was beside myself with anxiety and grief, but I did what I do whenever I’m caught in a situation that I can’t control. I prayed. I knew that God had me there for a reason, so I asked him to reveal the reason to me and let me be calm and nurturing for the children. Not long after my prayer, the Christian school in which I had taught each time we were in SC called and asked if I would be willing to step in for the teacher for grades 6-7 since Harriet had been diagnosed with cancer and was dying. The students knew me and needed a familiar face at this time of grief for them. My youngest son was only two, so I prayed about it and asked the principal if I could come in for only half a day and if they could accommodate Steven in their daycare. Both worked out, and I was there in SC for a classroom filled with students whom I had known since they were in my third grade class. They were disoriented and confused about why God would take away their beloved teacher, so I spent a lot of time comforting them and reading Scriptures like those above. God had me there for a reason even if I did not understand it when I got there, and even if I had other plans that just didn’t come together.

God always has a plan and it’s always better than the one that I have. That’s what my experience with faith has taught me. I wish I could impart that knowledge to my sister. Instead, I’m packing boxes for the last day and going home this afternoon to prepare to teach Children’s Church tomorrow. God has a plan and I will continue to intercede for my sister as she goes on this totally unexpected and new path. I hope that some of you will join me in prayer for her.

Thank you for your prayers and have a blessed day, yielding your will to God’s and thus being on the path that He has prepared for you.

Sunday Morning Musings

On October 24, 2021 By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

I start each day with devotionals and Bible reading, and Sunday, of course, is no exception. Today, I want to share with you the verses that spoke to my heart and pray that they will also speak to you.

In a world in which everything seems to be shaking, we are told to stand firm. Don’t pay so much attention to what is happening around you as to what the Lord has told you to keep busy doing, i.e. His work. Whatever we do for God has eternal rewards, but all of the time we spend worrying about the things going on in this world amount to nothing in the long run. I personally have just about stopped watching news shows. After all, my husband fills me in on the important things and then I don’t get so overwhelmed with all of the bad news that seems to be on 24/7. That leaves me more time to worship, praise, read God’s Word and do whatever tasks He has called me to do each day. Win, win!

We all get tired of doing nice things for others and then never getting any appreciation. But I have learned that it is not the thanks that I get from others that really means something to me. It is the good feeling that I get way down deep inside me, the feeling that God is pleased. So, while I am working for God (see verse above), I can devote myself to looking for good things to do for others.

Most of us wake up each day and have a plan for what we hope to accomplish. After decades of frustration, I have learned to give whatever plans I may have over to God and let Him bless them or change them. His way is always, always, always better than mine!

This final verse spoke directly to me as a comfort for my mental state these days. After years of belonging to the gym and going for water aerobics classes twice a week, my nutritionist told me last week that I should not begin exercising again until I can maintain a diet of at least 1400 calories a day. Well, with all kinds of dietary restrictions and a rebellious gastro system, I seldom make it over 1000 calories. Thus, my husband and I decided to drop our gym membership until some future date, yet to be determined. We have not been going due to Covid restrictions anyway, so it seemed to be an expenditure of funds that we could not afford. It was like we were donating to the gym but getting no benefits. Once I can exercise again, I will start with my home exercises first and see how that goes. God knows exactly what is going on with my physical body and encouraged me today with His Word that my training in godliness is eternally beneficial.

Well, that is all from me for today. It is almost time to awaken my husband and for us to head to church. I covet your prayers this week as I am setting off on a new adventure soon. My husband calls it my “deployment.” Our son contacted us that his regular childcare worker is not available and he needs help for the next couple of months. So, I am headed to Maryland while my husband stays here in Virginia, taking care of his commitments. I know that I will definitely enjoy being with the grandchildren (ages 6, 3 and 4 months), but I will also miss the loving care of my spouse and just the comfort of being in my own home. However, I choose to see this as a ministry of love and pray that God will strengthen me each day for the work He has set before me. If I’m not online much, now you know why.

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Tag: God’s plans