Yvette's Whispers of Faith

It is Monday afternoon, and the rain falls with a steady, insistent grace, turning the world outside a shade darker, cooler, almost contemplative. As I begin to wrap up my day, a day full of busyness, meetings, and the relentless pursuit of information. I am reminded that even the most carefully laid plans may be interrupted. The water purifier, that humble servant of modern comfort, has chosen to fail me today. And still, no water. Yet, in these inconveniences, there is a certain poetry. This morning commenced with a delightful meeting with my daughter, a conversation full of plans and hope. Later, tasks awaited me, each one demanding attention, and yet the electricity, that most ordinary of blessings, refused to grace our home until well after 9:30. One cannot help but wonder what tomorrow shall bring, given the relentless rain. But it is when one turns from the petty frustrations of water and electricity that the mind may wander to loftier matters, the Word of God, ever the lamp to...

“Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.” — Proverbs 21:23 It is a most intriguing experience, is it not, to stand in the presence of someone who has wounded you and feel a thousand unsaid words rise to the tip of your tongue? Ah, the human tongue. So small, so delicate, so deceptively dangerous. There are moments more than I dare admit, when the sharpness of my thoughts threatens to spill out. At times like these, I find myself pressing my lips together with the elegance of a lady refusing to entertain scandal at a grand ball. But oh, how my thoughts rebel inwardly! I wish I could confess that biting my tongue is a graceful art I have mastered. Truthfully, it is a daily battle. A tug-of-war between the woman I used to be, the woman I long to be, and the woman God is shaping me into, slowly, patiently, faithfully. People observe the stillness of my face and imagine serenity. But inside? A storm often gathers. There are days when the injustice of ...

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” — Micah 6:8 It was on an afternoon much like any other, the kind that drifts with deceptive calm; when I found my heart once again caught in that delicate tension between justice and mercy. There she stood the one whose choices had fashioned wounds in my life. A familiar heat rose in my chest, that subtle tightening that whispers of things unresolved. Justice, like a stern but noble general, lifted its head within me and declared, “This is not right. Someone must pay.” But then, as gently as a lace handkerchief falling from a lady’s hand, another voice spoke, softer, almost imperceptible. “Mercy,” it whispered, “belongs to those who trust the Lord.” For years, perhaps a lifetime, I have been a seeker of fairness. A defender of what should have been, what ought to be, and what must never happen again. I have argued cases in the chambers o...

A Reflection Inspired by Zechariah 7:8–10 It was upon this particular morning, as the sun cast its first golden ribbons across the sky, that I found myself once again confronted by the quiet whisper of the Lord; a whisper that tugged gently at the frayed edges of my heart. “Tell them to be honest and fair… to be merciful and kind… to stop plotting evil against each other.” So the prophet Zechariah declared, and so the Lord speaks still. How peculiar, that such a simple command should weigh so heavily upon a soul. And yet, here I stand; a woman who has lived long enough to know that forgiveness is far less a single act, and far more a continual yielding. I forgive… until I see the person. Then my throat tightens, my thoughts bristle, and resentment that unwelcome guest, returns to its familiar seat. Indeed, dear reader, I often find myself biting my tongue with the determination of a duchess maintaining her dignity at a most disagreeable ball. For within me there is a fierce desire for...

Colossians 3:4 (TLB) "And when Christ who is our real life comes back again, you will shine with him and share in all his glory." There are seasons when we feel like we're failing at everything. When the weight of our circumstances presses so heavily that we can barely remember who we are in Christ. When wisdom seems to have abandoned us, and we realize with a sinking feeling that we've allowed the chaos around us to drown out the voice of the One who matters most. I'm in that place right now. The glory of God feels distant, almost like a memory from someone else's life. My own attempts to fix things, to be enough, to get it right, they all seem to crumble in my hands. And in the fog of this struggle, I've lost sight of my center, the core of my being: the Lord Jesus Christ. But here's what I'm learning to hold onto, even when I can't feel it: Christ is still my real life. Not my circumstances. Not my successes or failures. Not the wisdom I la...

John 16:13 TLB "When the Holy Spirit, who is the truth, comes, he shall guide you into all truth, for he will not be presenting his own ideas, but will be passing on to you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future." I don't always feel qualified to hear God's voice. Some days I wonder if I'm listening well enough, if I'm too distracted, too broken to receive what He wants to say. But this promise in John reminds me that the Holy Spirit doesn't wait for me to be worthy. He comes to guide me into truth. Not because I've earned it, but because the Father is kind to those who honor Him, even in our weakness (Psalm 103:13). The Holy Spirit doesn't present His own ideas or agendas. He simply passes on what He has heard from the Father. He reveals what's true about God, about me, about the path ahead even when I can't see it clearly myself. Today, I'm asking Him to come. Not because I have it all together, but because without Him,...