I am a writer and presenter. My passion is to inspire individuals to overcome the barriers holding them back in life. Find my blog at https://chrismilleronline.wordpress.com.
“Well, finding this out really wasn’t on my bingo card.”
I’m sure you have a life event fitting that description. Sometimes life doesn’t go according to plan. An unexpected diagnosis, a lost opportunity, financial struggles, or a difficult season can leave us wondering if our purpose has somehow been delayed. The good news is that God’s plans are not dependent on perfect circumstances.
We read in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
These words were first spoken to exiles who may have been lacking in hope. Perhaps they felt as if God’s plans had been erased, but God ensured that was not the case. His purpose wasn’t on hold.
The exiles shared this experience with others in Scripture. Joseph spent years in prison before stepping into leadership. Moses spent decades in the wilderness before leading Israel. David was anointed king long before he wore the crown. What looked like delays were actually preparation.
Can you relate? Your current circumstances were never in your plans, and you’ve never imagined you’d be experiencing today. It seems as if all of God’s plans for your life have been erased, and there is no hope.
Friend, if that describes you, take courage. The words of Jeremiah 29:11 are as true for you as they were for the exiles. God’s promise is as true for you as it was for Joseph, Moses, and David. If you feel stuck today, remember that God is still at work. Your current situation may not look like part of the plan, but God is using every experience to shape your character, strengthen your faith, and prepare you for what lies ahead.
Pip: Get Encouraged arrives this week with a cluster of posts that all seem to circle the same restless question: what do you do when life feels like it is moving faster than your faith can keep up?
Mara: Chris Miller is the writer behind all of it — covering worry, silence, gratitude, neighbor love, and what it looks like to stay rooted when the wind picks up. Let's start with the territory a lot of us know too well: trusting God through silence and worry.
Trusting God When Worry Knocks
Pip: The question running through this segment is one most people won't admit out loud — what do you do when worry fills the calendar the same way meetings do, or when you pray and hear nothing back?
Mara: The post "Today's Tasks: Why Worry About Tomorrow?" sets it up directly. Jesus says, "Don't worry about tomorrow for today has enough worries of its own."
Pip: Which is either deeply comforting or the most efficient out-of-office reply ever written. But the real point stands — today's agenda is already full; worry about tomorrow is an uninvited guest.
Mara: "Understanding God's Silence: Trusting in His Timing" takes the harder case — when prayer feels like it's bouncing off the ceiling. It points to Job, Joseph, and the silence before Jesus' birth as examples where God was working invisibly. Psalm 46:10 is the anchor: "Be still, and know that I am God."
Pip: That's the practical upshot — silence isn't absence. The post is essentially saying God's timing has a track record, even when you can't see the work in progress.
Mara: "Overcoming Worry: Biblical Insights for Peace" extends that into daily life, pointing to birds and flowers as creation's sermon on provision. And there's a Spotify episode, "Are You Worried? A Practical Way to Help Overcome Worry," that offers a more hands-on angle for listeners who want to take the next step.
Pip: From worry about tomorrow, it's a short walk to how we see the people standing right in front of us today.
Gratitude, Neighbors, and What We Choose to See
Pip: The frame here is perspective — specifically whether gratitude and neighbor love are feelings that happen to us or choices we make about what we're looking at.
Mara: "Finding Gratitude in Every Situation" quotes Paul from Colossians 2:7, saying that when our lives are rooted in Christ, we will "overflow with thankfulness." Not occasionally find something — overflow.
Pip: The post illustrates it with a neighbor's fallen tree that took out an old, ugly bush they'd been wanting removed anyway. Circumstances unchanged; perspective shifted.
Mara: "Seeing Our Neighbor as God Does" carries that outward — asking whether we extend the same generous view to the people who frustrate us that we extend to ourselves, because God's love covers them too.
Roots Deep Enough to Hold
Pip: When the wind actually arrives — not as a metaphor but as a literal fallen tree — the question becomes whether your roots were deep enough before the storm started.
Mara: "Strengthening Your Faith Roots in Tough Times" opens with exactly that: a neighbor's evergreen going down on a sunny, windy day. The diagnosis is the root system, not the wind. Paul's words from Colossians 2:6-7 follow: "Let your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him, then your faith will grow strong."
Pip: So the upshot is practical — you can't control the wind, but you can decide how deeply you're rooted before it arrives.
Mara: The post offers four concrete suggestions: daily time in Scripture, prayer, recalling God's faithfulness, and cultivating thankfulness. "Why Labor Day Reminds Us to Work Hard and Rest Well" adds a companion idea — that rest itself is part of God's design, not a failure of productivity. Jesus' invitation in Matthew 11:28 is the anchor there: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Pip: Deep roots, honest rest, and a perspective that can find the blessing in a fallen tree. Not a bad place to land.
Mara: Worry, silence, gratitude, neighbors, roots — it's all circling the same question of where we're anchored when life gets loud.
Pip: Next time, we'll see what else is growing over at Get Encouraged. Stay rooted.
Have you ever felt like life isn’t moving fast enough? We live in a world of instant information and on-demand everything, so when it comes to our goals and plans, we desire the same. We want instant solutions, quick growth, and fast answers to long-standing problems. But life doesn’t seem to move at that speed. Change usually occurs at a slower pace, which is why Proverbs 16:9 is so encouraging.
“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”
The writer of Proverbs reminds us God frequently works through small steps rather than giant leaps. A person recovering from illness makes progress one day at a time. A student masters a subject one lesson at a time. A believer grows spiritually through daily choices to trust and obey God. Change can occur one step at a time.
Those steps may seem insignificant in the moment, but they add up. Today’s step takes you closer to recovery. Today’s lesson moves you closer to the end of the course. Following the Lord today helps you exercise your faith. Each step takes you closer to the finish line.
We can easily be overwhelmed by looking at the whole plan and seeing the remaining distance, so we forget to celebrate how far we’ve come. Each day’s step may seem small, but it has a big impact.
So don’t underestimate today’s small act of faith. A simple prayer, a kind word, a few minutes in Scripture, or one courageous step forward may be exactly what God uses to move you closer to his purpose. Keep moving forward. Progress may be slow, but with God, every faithful step matters.
Have you ever prayed and wondered if anyone was listening? Have you ever felt as if your prayers were just bouncing off the ceiling? Most of us experience seasons when God seems silent. We pray for direction, healing, wisdom, or answers, yet heaven appears quiet. During those times, it’s tempting to think God has forgotten us, but the Bible reminds us he hasn’t.
We read in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God!”
Just because God isn’t answering doesn’t mean he isn’t there. Just because prayers haven’t been answered doesn’t mean he isn’t working. Throughout Scripture, we see times when it seemed God wasn’t working, yet he was.
Job experienced a long season of struggle.
Joseph experienced many ups and downs.
God was completely silent just before Jesus’ birth.
It may have seemed as if God wasn’t hearing prayers, but he was continually there and continually working.
Job was restored.
The Lord used Joseph to help save his family and the nation of Israel.
The Lord was working hard to get everything ready for Jesus’ birth.
In each of these situations, the Lord’s timing was perfect. The same will be true for us. The Lord’s timing will be perfect.
If God seems silent today, hang in there. Remember that he has not abandoned you. He is still…
Working behind the scenes.
Guiding your steps.
Fulfilling his purposes in your life.
Friend, you can rest today in the promise of Psalm 46. Be still. Trust God. He knows the way forward.
How full is your calendar today? If you are like me, it is pretty full. Between work, getting the kids to school, and running errands, there is just not a lot of time for anything else. Especially worry about tomorrow. That’s why it is encouraging to find this nugget of wisdom tucked away in Matthew 6.
Jesus says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow for today has enough worries of its own” (Matthew 6:34)
As we think of all that is coming and all that may happen tomorrow, it is easy to let worry creep into our lives. However, Jesus encourages us not to worry about those events and days in the future. We are reminded the Lord has our back. He is going to take care of tomorrow. After all, today’s agenda is full. there’s no room for worry about tomorrow.
Are you worried? While we may not want to acknowledge it, most of us spend time throughout the day worrying. Our calendars are full, and we need more time. Our bank accounts are low, and there are bills to pay. Life is hectic. Worry seems to invade our thoughts, so the Bible has encouragement for these times.
Jesus says, “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:31-33).
“Don’t worry,” Jesus encourages. As he says this, he points to the birds and flowers. Neither worry, yet the Lord meets their needs. If nature’s needs are met, how much more will the Lord take care of us?
Friend, Jesus’ words are true. Worry will always try to invade our thoughts, but faith can be our defense. God invites you to trade your worry for his peace.
So when anxiety rises, pause and look outside. See the birds. Notice the flowers. Let creation preach to you: “If God cares for them, he cares for me too.”
Labor Day has a way of sneaking up on us. One minute, we’re enjoying the long days of summer, and the next, the calendar says September. The first Monday of the month is here, pools are getting ready to close, kids are back in school, and we’re beginning to settle into the rhythm of fall.
For many of us, Labor Day means a cookout, a family gathering, or maybe one last trip to the lake before summer slips away, but the day is about more than a long weekend. It’s a day set aside to recognize the value of work, and the Bible has quite a bit to say about work.
From the very beginning, God gave Adam work to do. He placed him in the garden “to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). Work was part of God’s design, which means the work you do matters. Maybe you spend your days in an office. Maybe you work in a classroom, a kitchen, a field, or a workshop. Maybe your work happens mostly at home. Maybe you care for someone else, do things nobody notices, or carry responsibilities that never seem to end. Whatever your work looks like, God sees it, and when we do our work faithfully, we have an opportunity to serve others and reflect the character of God.
But there’s another lesson tucked into Labor Day that is often overlooked.
We were made to rest, too.
God worked during creation, and then He rested on the seventh day. Not because He was tired, but because He was showing us something we desperately need to remember.
Rest matters.
Rest isn’t laziness.
Rest isn’t wasted time.
Rest is a gift from God.
Sometimes we get so caught up in what we’re doing that we begin to believe our value is tied to our productivity. We think we have to accomplish more, work harder, or keep going just a little longer to prove our worth.
But God never said that.
Your worth doesn’t come from what you accomplish.
Your worth comes from him.
Perhaps you need that reminder today. Maybe you’ve been carrying a heavy load. Maybe you’re tired from the demands of work, family, or life. Maybe you’ve been running at full speed for so long that you’ve forgotten what it feels like to slow down. If so, Jesus offers an invitation.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” Jesus says in Matthew 11:28.
What a beautiful promise.
So today, enjoy the holiday. Grill something. Spend time with family. Take a walk. Sit outside. Enjoy one of the last long days of summer, and take a moment to thank God for the work he has given you. Thank him for the opportunity to make a difference, even when your work feels ordinary or unnoticed.
But don’t forget to rest.
Because sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is stop, take a breath, and remember that God is still in control.
Work with all your heart, as if you’re working for the Lord. And rest with the same confidence, knowing that your worth has never depended on how much you accomplish.
Your work matters.
And your rest matters, too.
Happy Labor Day! May your day be filled with gratitude, peace, and the joy of knowing that God sees your work, values your faithfulness, and invites you to rest in him.
Is our neighbor really valued by God? It can be easy to accept our own value to the Lord, but what about our neighbor’s value? It’s a little harder when the person standing in front of us is the person who frustrates us.
The person who gets under our skin.
The person who looks different from us.
The person whose opinions make us angry.
The person who has made a mess of their life.
The person we would rather avoid than understand.
However, if we truly believe that we are God’s children, that truth should change more than the way we see ourselves. It should change the way we see other people.
1 John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”
Dwell there for a moment.
The same God who calls you His child also loves the person who frustrates you.
The same God who sees your worth sees theirs.
The same God who offers you grace offers them grace.
The same God who looks beyond your mistakes and failures is willing to look beyond theirs.
That doesn’t mean we have to agree with everyone. It doesn’t mean we excuse harmful behavior or ignore injustice. But it does mean we should be careful about reducing people to their worst moment, their appearance, their mistakes, their politics, their circumstances, or the ways they are different from us.
Before they are anything else, they are someone God created and loves.
And perhaps that is one of the greatest challenges of knowing we are God’s children: learning to look at others as if they are priceless.
What if the person who annoys you today is someone God is inviting you to see differently?
What if the person you’ve written off needs the same grace you have received?
What if, instead of asking, “Why are they like that?” we started asking, “How can I love them?”
Being a child of God isn’t just about knowing where we belong.
It’s about learning to treat the people around us like they matter to our Father, too.
Pip: Some days arrive with more questions than answers — which, honestly, describes most Tuesdays. Chris Miller's recent writing at Get Encouraged leans straight into that feeling.
Mara: It does. We're covering two stretches of territory today: what it looks like to trust God when life gets hard, and what the Bible actually says about who you are — grace, identity, and forgiveness.
Pip: Let's start with the trust question, because that's where the ground gets unsteady.
Holding On When the Road Gets Hard
Mara: The animating question here is simple but serious: when life keeps throwing difficulty at you, what do you actually hold onto?
Pip: The anchor post goes straight to Romans 8, and the claim is sweeping. Here's the line: "nothing — not death, life, angels, demons, our fears today, our worries about tomorrow, or anything else in all creation — can separate us from the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus."
Mara: That's the spine of the piece. The argument is that God's love isn't conditional on circumstances improving — the diagnosis, the lost job, the relationship that fell apart, none of it moves the needle on that love.
Pip: Which is a remarkable thing to say to someone in the middle of a hard season, rather than after it.
Mara: Exactly. And the post on Joseph's story in Genesis fills that out with a long example. Joseph gets sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused, thrown in prison — and the piece quotes Genesis 50:20 directly: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
Pip: So the prison wasn't a detour. It was the road.
Mara: That's precisely how the post frames it. The piece on Jeremiah 33:3 makes a related move — God's invitation in hard times isn't "figure it out," it's "call to me and I will answer you." The recipe is simple, even when the situation isn't.
Pip: And then there's the root metaphor — a neighbor's evergreen toppled by wind because the root system was too shallow. Strengthening Your Faith Roots in Tough Times uses Colossians 2 to argue that deep roots in Scripture and prayer are what hold when the storms arrive.
Mara: Trusting God's Promises When Life Gets Hard and Embracing Change both reinforce that. One anchors on Psalm 12:6 — God's promises are pure, refined like silver. The other lands on Hebrews 13:8: Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The stability is in the person, not the circumstances.
Pip: So the through-line is: you can't control the wind, but you can decide how deep the roots go.
Mara: That's it. And that question of who you are underneath the hard seasons connects directly to the next territory — identity and grace.
Who You Are Has Already Been Decided
Pip: This segment is really asking one question: where does your worth actually come from, and does it move when your circumstances do?
Mara: Your Worth: More Than Achievements goes at that directly. The setup is that we live in a world constantly measuring by accomplishment, but the Bible asks something different. Here's the line from 1 John 3:1: "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!"
Pip: So the status isn't earned — it's given. John doesn't say you might become a child of God if you work hard enough.
Mara: Right. The post makes that explicit: your worth isn't your résumé, your reputation, or the number of people who approve of you. Identity is rooted in belonging, not in performance. Children don't earn their place in a family — they belong because they're family.
Pip: That's a genuinely different accounting system than most people are running.
Mara: It is. And You're Priceless: Understanding God's Grace pushes that further — the title itself is the thesis. Grace means the value was assigned before you did anything to deserve it.
Pip: Which makes the self-forgiveness question almost inevitable. If the value doesn't depend on your record, then carrying guilt for a record God has already addressed is — well, it's working from the wrong ledger.
Mara: Have You Forgiven Yourself? sits right there. The logic that runs through all three posts is consistent: your identity in God doesn't fluctuate with your failures, so the invitation is to actually receive what's already been given.
Pip: The priceless tag isn't aspirational. It's already true.
Mara: And that's worth sitting with — because the hard seasons covered earlier look different when you're not also carrying the weight of feeling like you have to earn your way back.
Pip: Deep roots, unshakeable love, an identity that doesn't depend on the scoreboard — that's the territory.
Mara: Next time, we'll see what else is growing at Get Encouraged. Stay with it.
Get Encouraged 