Devotionals
2021
The Scammer Told Me He Was Sorry
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford You get those calls, too, don’t you?—robocalls with the same dreary recorded messages. It isn’t especially comforting to complain to a recording that you are on the government “Do not call” list, so the call is...
Words a Grandfather Must Never Ever Say
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford King Hezekiah ruled the nation of Israel at a critical time in their history, in 700 B.C. Though God had rescued the Israelites again and again from invaders, they ignored Him and worshiped the heathen, impotent...
Thinking About God’s Mercy on the Longest Day of the Year
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford This year the summer solstice began on June 21 at 4:24 am in our time zone in the Northern hemisphere. I have always hoped that I might feel that mysterious, subtle moment when the earth actually tilts back on its...
I’ve Grown Old, But God Has Not Abandoned Me
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford The Scriptures warn us (as we noted in our last conversation) to remember God in our youth, “before the evil days come” (Ecclesiastes 12:10). I confessed to you that my old age has its severe handicaps. I recently...
What Decisions Will I Regret When I’ve Grown Old?
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford “Many people in their 40's and 50's regret decisions they made in their 20's and 30's,” my pastor Charlie Boyd recently said in a sermon. If that’s true for middle-aged people, and it certainly is, what must it be...
Are We There Yet?
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford It was a long, exhausting 3-day trip of 2,200 miles—that drive Walt and I made every year from Chicago to Seattle to visit his parents. In the 1950's there were no interstates, and the roads were cluttered with...
I Was Afraid God Was Mad At Me
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford “What if I don’t have enough faith and God gets mad at me?” That was the terrible fear that haunted me as I walked to high school on a bright winter morning. I was 14 years old. I’d grown up in a godly home. My...
Nothing Makes Sense Without the Cross
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford In 1961, the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to travel in space. After the flight, he bragged, “I didn’t see God up there.” Of course he didn’t. He didn’t want to see God. In April...
Love is Not Love If It’s Not Unconditional
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Handford Love isn’t really love unless it’s unconditional love. Unconditional? Yes, unconditional: there is nothing you can do that will make me love you less. You could call it affection, but not love, if certain things have...
Four Words I Wish I Could Take Back
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford You’d have thought the woman’s face was carved in granite, it was such a frozen mask of pain. Her friend had suggested she come to see me, and the first words she said to me when we met were, “Oh, I wish you could...
