I recently returned from the Sonoran Desert, the only place in the world where you can find the iconic saguaro cactus (pronounced suh-waa-row). If you are picturing the kind of tall cactus with arms you see in a Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon, you are on the right track.

The landscape of this desert is breathtaking, and these cacti are a large part of that beauty. 

Do you know the frustration of an unmet goal? What about the frustration of thwarted plans?

My seventeen-year-old son and I have been a wonderful road trip out west recently. We drove from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Tucson, Arizona, over several days. Not for the first time, I was driving with family around this part of the world during a government shut down

When was the last time you unplugged from your regular life and took refuge in the rhythms and rest of God? I highly recommend it.

It isn't always easy to find ways to do this, but the effort is absolutely worth it.

I’ve shared previously about how God drew me to Isaiah 30 in 2014. I have returned to this passage again and again over the years. Studying this chapter has transformed me in many ways. Today I want to share three of the most meaningful.

We must learn to recognize the things that rob us of rest.

As God began teaching me more about returning and resting in Him, He began to reveal to me more about the rest-robbers in my life and how to release them. He started shining a light on the Ps in my heart—things stealing my rest and trust in Him.

An old saying that dates to the Middle Ages identifies three significant obstacles to our resting in relationship with Christ: “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” The Bible affirms all three. It teaches we live in a fallen, broken world. We are born with a sin nature longing to put us instead of God on the throne of our lives. We also have an enemy who seeks to destroy our relationship with God.