The Pace of Grace Blog
The Fallacy of a High Friends Count
By Renée Gotcher
Transforming Truth: “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” —Proverbs 18:24 When did “friend” become a verb? Not “befriend,” which means “to act as a friend of,” but just “friend,” as in, “I friended so-and-so, and…” As you probably guessed, most of…
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How Joy Gives Us Strength in Our Struggles
By Renée Gotcher
Transforming Truth: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” – Proverbs 17:22 (ESV) In typical Colorado fashion, spring had been a mixed bag of alluring warmups with a few snowstorms sprinkled in. Though a little inconsistent, temperatures began to reach early summer heights, cueing the reappearance of our…
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The Fruit of Patience in a Winter Season
By Renée Gotcher
Transforming Truth: “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” — James…
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Faith to Face an Empty Nest
By Renée Gotcher
Transforming Truth: “And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and…
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Can Flowers Fuel Your Faith?
By Renée Gotcher
Transforming Truth: “And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and…
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When Christmas Isn’t Picture Perfect
By Renée Gotcher
Transforming Truth: “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” —Matthew 1:22-23 (NKJV) It’s Christmas Eve, and because we…
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Can God Work Even This for Good?
By Renée Gotcher
I couldn’t tell you how many times I have prayed Paul’s words from the perspective-shifting promise found in Romans 8:28 while struggling to stay afloat in overwhelming storms. Believing that our sovereign God works all things (not just some) together (not separately) for His purposes provides the soul-steadying peace we need to sustain us until…
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How to Be Thankful for the Thorn of Anxiety
By Renée Gotcher
Have you been pleading with the Lord to remove a “thorn” from your life? Are you wrestling with unanswered prayers, struggling to understand why God won’t remove the thorn when you could be so much more productive and effective without this affliction holding you back? In my post “How to Be Thankful for the Thorn…
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Book Review: Jesus, Calm My Heart
By Renée Gotcher
I have enjoyed the inspiring prayers and personal application of Ruth Schwenk’s prayer prompts journal, “Jesus, Calm My Heart: 365 Prayers to Give You Peace at the Close of Every Day.” Having followed Ruth on social media, I’m familiar with her prayer prompts, and on many occasions, I’ve been one of the women she talks…
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When God Says His Grace is Enough
By Renée Gotcher
In 2 Corinthians 12:8, the persevering apostle Paul made a very reasonable request to the Lord: “Concerning this thing [a thorn in the flesh], I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.” It seemed like the obvious solution. Yet the Lord had a different answer for Paul—removing the “thorn” was…
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Why Meditating on God’s Word Matters
By Renée Gotcher
A few weeks ago, I shared about the “key verses” note I started on my phone last fall, during a resurfacing struggle with physical anxiety symptoms. At that time, I couldn’t control how my body felt from day to day, sometimes minute to minute, but I knew I could control where I put my mind’s…
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Are You Worried You’re Not Strong Enough?
By Renée Gotcher
Are you struggling to believe God isn’t disappointed with you because you aren’t “strong enough” to face the ongoing crisis you woke up to today? Do you feel like a failure because you’re caught up in the same battering storm, and no matter how hard you try to swim to safety, you’re far from peaceful…
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