by Shannon Tillman | Apr 16, 2026 | Blog, Theology, Thoughts
As soon as I saw the name of the road, I knew I could never live in a house on that street. The street’s name was the same one from a painful relationship in the past. As soon as I saw the name, floods of negative memories filled my mind. Just the name was enough to ruin my day. While that name conjured up bad emotions, there are other names I hear that bring a smile. The name is attached to a person, to a relationship, to a trust that never wavered. A name can remind us of faithful friendships or unfaithful choices. There is power in the memories associated with a name.
Psalm 9:10
Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
The words convicted me as I read them, for I realized that I fail to believe these words. There are areas in my life where I do not fully trust the Lord, but there are other areas where my confidence seems complete. Where my trust breaks down is the evidence of a lack of knowing a certain name or aspect of the Lord.
The names of God reveal His attributes. The Lord is too massive to be described in only one way. Thus, the many names revealed in the Word of God show us His character. Some of the names are more familiar than others: Lord, Provider, Comforter, Shepherd, Creator, and so much more. He is the perfection of every good attribute, mighty and tender, holy and merciful, set apart and near. He is truly wonderful.
And yet, I doubt. There are times I struggle. The lack of faith points to what I do not know about God. For example, I wrestle with His timing in answering prayer. Why not today? Why the delay? My questions point to the part of God I do not trust: El Elyon, the Most High God. He is above time, above the situations, above my opinions. He is orchestrating events around the world, surely He can see and handle my problems. But I hurt. And I do not know if He will ever answer, if He cares, if He sees me. I do not know, really know by experience, El Elyon.
I do know Him, however, as Jehovah Jireh, the Providing God. I have seen Him work financial miracles in my life. I trust Him, I know His name, I stand firm in what has been revealed, what I have experienced. I have sought Him, as the Psalmist wrote, and the Lord did not forsake me.
Today, I recommend a heart evaluation. Where do you trust God, where have you experienced Him, where do you know His Name? Celebrate that relationship you have with the divine. Consider as well the areas of struggle and doubt. What name of God have you not yet experienced? Press in there, just as I did this week. I know we will learn His Name in that area as well. He will not forsake us. We can trust Him. We can know His Name. When we hear His Name, we will smile as one who knows.
by Shannon Tillman | Apr 9, 2026 | Bible Study, Blog, Thoughts
I remember the teacher handed me back my high school science report. My grade was low. I saw that he wrote something on the top page about “referencing a project that I did not have.” I was thoroughly confused. My project had been turned in as well. I approached my teacher after class. I took him to my project that was placed under the table with some of the other students’ experiments. He apologized; he had completely missed it. The next day I received a corrected paper with my grade, the highest of all the students. That meant I could go to the county science fair (which seemed thrilling at the time). But my hopes were dashed because the teacher said, “I know the highest grade goes. However, Jana had the highest grade before I realized that I had missed your project under the table. She is so excited. I don’t want to take that from her. I’m sorry.” Sorry? What about me? I worked hard and now I cannot advance to the next level of science because the teacher was more sensitive to Jana’s feelings than mine?
I was devastated. However, I never told anyone in order to protect Jana and her journey. I remember I prayed and I felt that God let me know that Jana needed this and I did not. It was something for her. Maybe she ended up pursuing a science degree. I do not know; all I know is that something that was bad for me was good for her. God alone knows the reason why.
The same concept is true in a story about a captured slave girl who ministered out of her difficult situation to the very man who enslaved her.
2 Kings 5:1
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
Aram was an enemy nation of Israel. Naaman was the commander of this nation. His military success against Israel led to not only some people being killed but others being forced into slavery, never seeing their homeland again. One of these captured slaves was a young girl.
2 Kings 5:2
Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife.
This girl could have chosen to resent her new masters. She could have mocked Naaman’s disease and thought it was a sign of judgment from God. She could have kept silent and not shared what she knew would help him. Instead, she chose to be kind, even to her enemy, and shared a source of healing for him.
2 Kings 5:3
She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
This young girl had faith. She believed for a healing of leprosy! She wanted her enemy to be delivered from his suffering. This girl would not have known about Naaman’s leprosy except for the fact that she had been taken captive and brought to serve his wife in their home. Her bad situation was setting up for his good. Upon hearing the news of a potential healing, Naaman chose to go see the prophet, Elisha. Naaman eventually obeyed the command of Elisha to dip in the Jordan river.
2 Kings 5:14
So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
Naaman was healed, his skin fully restored. More importantly, his physical healing led to a greater spiritually awakening.
2 Kings 5:15a, 17b
Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. ..please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord.
Naaman, a pagan worshipper, became a follower of the one true God. The misfortune, the pain of a young servant girl was being orchestrated into a story to bring an Aram commander to salvation. Her bad situation would lead to Naaman’s good.
Sometimes, the difficulties we face are what brings others to the Lord. I used a silly example about the science project, but there have been other more painful circumstances that have been used for the transformation of others. Often in teaching, I give first hand accounts of difficulties I experienced in order to encourage others in their journey. That is working our pain for the good of others. The young girl’s temporary bondage led to Naaman’s eternal deliverance. Whatever hardship we are in, God will take it and bring eternal good out of it. We can trust Him even when it does not make sense. Sometimes we may not know the outcome, but we can trust that God will work it for good.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Only God knows how many people’s lives have been touched by Naaman’s story over the past 3000 years. His story only became eternal when one young girl’s misery became a ministry, even to her enemies. Our bad will be turned to good and the lives of others will be changed.
by Kevin Tillman | Apr 2, 2026 | Blog, Thoughts
It felt like it was over. Not loud. Not dramatic. Just that quiet kind of weight where you already know how the story ends. They had seen the crowds… They had heard the shouting… They had watched Him ride into the city like something big was finally happening…. They had been waiting on this moment for what seemed like forever.
And then it just… started slipping. What they thought would happen, wasn’t happening. Their expectations were crushed. By Friday, whatever hope they were holding onto was hanging on a cross. By Saturday… it was gone.
We skip that part pretty fast, because we know what’s coming. They didn’t. To them, this wasn’t leading anywhere. It wasn’t building toward anything. It was over.
What’s interesting is how quickly it turned.
Just a few days earlier, people were all in. They were lining the streets, celebrating, convinced that this was it. This was everything they’d been waiting for. Finally, the long awaited King was going to make everything right. They had expectations, but they were seeing it through their own lens. They had a version of how this was supposed to go. What kind of King He would be and what He would fix first.
But Jesus didn’t move that way. Not because He couldn’t… but because He wasn’t doing what they thought He should be doing. And once that started to become clear, things felt off. Expectations weren’t being met, and frustrations were rising.
You ever had that moment? Where something you were sure about… starts to not look the way you thought it would? That’s exactly where they were.
As the week progressed, it became more and more obvious that the way Jesus was dealing with things, was not the way they had hoped. More tension. More resistance. Conversations that didn’t settle anything, just stirred more and more questions. You can almost feel it building underneath everything. This isn’t going how they thought it would go.
And then Friday shows up and removes any doubt. This is done. All of the years of hoping that this Jesus was the answer were now dead and buried. There’s nothing hopeful about a cross. Nothing that suggests things are about to turn around. It looks final… because it is final. At least from where they were standing.
And then Saturday. Honestly, Saturday might be the hardest part. Because absolutely nothing happens. No explanation. No movement. Just time to sit in it.
That kind of silence can mess with you. You start replaying everything, trying to figure out where it went wrong. What you missed. You start thinking, “Maybe I misunderstood, or maybe this wasn’t what I thought. I thought I knew, but I guess I was wrong.”
We know that space so well. When nothing’s changing and you’re just… there with it…. stuck!
But then Sunday came…
There was no announcement. There was no warning. There was no dramatic music playing in the background.
Just an ordinary day. Just a couple of women walking toward a tomb, dealing with a loss and living in grief. But, as they approached… Something was off. Things didn’t seem right. The stone’s not where it should be. The tomb… empty. Then a few short words, “He is not here.” That’s it.
A short and simple message. But it changed everything, because what they thought was the end… wasn’t. It just looked like it.
And that’s where this stops being their story and starts hitting a little closer to home for us. We still do the same thing today. We have those moments that feel final and we call them finished. Things fall apart. Plans don’t work. Doors close. Prayers don’t get answered the way we thought they would. And, without even saying it out loud, we start to settle into it. We just accept things the way they are.
Our mantra becomes, “I guess this is just how it is.” But the resurrection doesn’t let you stay there. It doesn’t always explain everything. It doesn’t always fix things the way you’d want. But it does remind you of this… Just because it looks like the end… doesn’t mean God is done.
They thought it was over. They weren’t even close. Maybe there’s something in your life right now that feels just as settled. Like there’s no coming back from it. But God has a way of working in places that feel sealed off to us. The tomb looked final too.
It looked like the end… until it wasn’t!
