Misti Coker

Find Joy No Matter the Circumstance

Blog

You Never Know

• Leave a Comment

We shouldn’t be surprised when things like the word disability appears. God showing up isn’t something we plan, it doesn’t have a timeline, it isn’t expected, it can be sudden because God is on active duty 24/7.
The presence of God in the unexpected gives us hope for God in the future in the life eternal. We need these little glimpses of Him to lead us through the times that are difficult.

Think about Moses and the burning bush. (Exodus 3) It wasn’t unusual for a bush to be on fire in the dessert climate so Moses could have just walked on and ignored it. But as he stopped and looked Moses realized the bush wasn’t being consumed. God spoke to Moses when he stopped and took the time to look. How many times do we miss how God shows up because we just don’t take the time to look?

Bitter and Sweet

• Leave a Comment

Our church just concluded season 4 of the Chosen. Season 1-3 taught about Jesus, His many lessons, and you got to know the disciples. Jesus taught many valuable lessons, but then in season 4 you venture into the darkness, into the bitter, into the difficult.

Mary Magdalene discussed in episode 8 how in Jesus’s life the bitter and the sweet were intermingled together.

When I was thinking of bitter and sweet I thought of chocolate chip cookies. Think about the recipe- butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips. The result is sweet and delicious, but have you ever tasted baking soda or baking powder? Gross, bitter yucky!!! But you must have both to make a great recipe.

You must have the bitter and the sweet, the dark and the light, the good and the bad.

In the Bible, “bitter” can symbolize suffering, sin, or despair, while “sweet” represents divine blessing, joy, or salvation. The contrast is used to show how God can turn hardship into blessing.

JUST BREATHE IN

• Leave a Comment

I have an anxiety problem, not all the time, but sometimes life can overwhelm me. When I had a procedure done several weeks ago, my blood pressure was out of the roof, so high that the nurse said, “Oh my… Read More

BE THE DIFFERENCE

• Leave a Comment

Today is my birthday, my 60th birthday. I am so excited to step into this new decade. As I think back, there are so many things that I question, things I regret, things I cherish, things that bring me joy, and things that put me into deep darkness. However, I now realize how God was with me every step of the way. At times, he would say, “Please, no, child.” At times, he would say, “Thank you.” At times, he would say, “I am proud of you.” At times, he was embarrassed. At times, he cried, but in every situation and circumstance, he still loved me. It has taken me years of soul searching to find myself and to realize that being who I was and who I am is OK.

Brother Bryan’s sermons always strike a chord with me. Yesterday, he discussed what can sustain us during tough times. He gave us 3 points.

Read to find out the 3 points and how they will move forward.

BE A TURTLE

• Leave a Comment

Yesterday Brother Bryan was telling us about the turtle principal. When a turtle gets startled it draws its head back into its shell. It is nervous and anxious. I started thinking about turtles. How many of you have seen turtles crossing the highway and you say to yourself that poor turtle is going to get smushed by a big truck? I know you have. How many of you have stopped and picked up a turtle and helped it across the road? Many of us.

Brother Bryan questioned us and said, “Are you going to have courage or are you going to pull back in your shell when sharing about Jesus?”

We live in a society where Jesus is placed on the back burner. There are many things that come before Jesus because that is what society tells us to do. We don’t want to not fit in or not have friends. We want to go with the flow of society. I get it I was once there.

It is time that we stick our necks out for Jesus.

DOESN’T MAKE SENSE

• Leave a Comment

We are continuing Season 4 Episode 3 of The Chosen in our church. This episode was tough. There were situations and circumstances that we couldn’t understand. David and Bathsheba’s son has passed away, the blind man is healed by Jesus spitting in his hand and mixing it with dirt and placing it on his eyes, and then Rama, who is a fictional character in the Chosen, is engaged to Thomas, is killed by a Roman—lots to take in.

For many of us, we have dealt with or will deal with situations that don’t make sense. These circumstances leave us mad, complexed, puzzled, and questioning God. We question God, and sometimes he won’t answer. Or he will respond in the way that isn’t the way we wanted Him to. We see some healed and others not. We see good people suffer, and those not so good go on with their lives.
But is it for us to question or think God should do what we want Him to do?