Light in the Margins

About Light in the Margins

Read-aloud companion to Light in the Margins, a Substack of devotional reflections for women. lightinthemargins.substack.com (https://lightinthemargins.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Natalie Bradley

Category

religion & spirituality · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 Mar 2025

Latest episode

20 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

46 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   20 Aug 2026

   Yesterday

   Do you remember what you made for dinner ten years ago, on… September 3? Do you know what you ate for dinner last night? This week I want to encourage you with a thought about one simple Bible word—yesterday. I trust you are familiar with the story in 1 Kings 21 about a man named Naboth who owned a vineyard next to King Ahab’s palace. Ahab decided he wanted the vineyard and offered to buy it or trade it for a better one, but Naboth refused. And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. — 1 Kings 21:3 Ahab went home pouting that he couldn’t get what he wanted. And Jezebel, ever so loving and crafty, came up with a plan to gather false witnesses against Naboth and have him stoned to death. With Naboth dead, Ahab took possession of the vineyard. There aren’t a lot of details about Naboth’s family outside of this story, but I wonder about them. He had sons, so, did he have a wife living at this time? What did she think when Ahab wanted to buy the vineyard? Did she understand why her husband refused or did she ever wish he would simply sell it and avoid upsetting the king? Did she support his decision or was she like Job’s wife and speak foolishly? And what was she thinking as Naboth was set on high as we read in verses 9-13? Did she understand how men were hired to speak lies against her hsuabnd? What did she do after he was killed? I realize I’m imagining more to the story than the Bible gives us, but Naboth was a real man, so surely there were people who were affected by his death. What about them? Were they angry? Devastated? Grieving? Before 1 Kings 21 ends, God sends Elijah to Ahab with a message of judgment. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. — 1 Kings 21:19 The Lord knew what had happened. He knew of all the wicked scheming behind the scenes and how the false witnesses came about. Jezebel may have appeared to succeed and Ahab might have taken possession of the vineyard, but God was not ignoring any of what happened. But, because Ahab humbled himself, God tells Elijah that He will delay judgment until the days of Ahab’s sons. Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house. — 1 Kings 21:29 And so time moves forward. Slowly. As time always seems to move when you are hurting and waiting on things to make sense. It can be easy for us to overlook the length of time because all we have to do is turn a few pages. Naboth is dead in 1 Kings 21, and in short order we come to 2 Kings 9, where Jehu is carrying out God’s judgment. But for Naboth’s wife or loved ones, they had to live every day in between those pages. They had to go past the vineyard and remember how that used to belong to their family. They had to live with the hurt and pain. I wonder if Naboth’s family was even aware of God’s promise to avenge his blood? And then we come to the verse that caught my attention. As Jehu is telling the story after his arrow strikes King Ahab in his chariot, he says: Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him; Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD. — 2 Kings 9: 25, 26 “Surely I have seen yesterday...” Yesterday. Except it wasn’t yesterday. More than a decade has passed since Naboth’s death. Years full of ordinary days have passed between Jezebel’s wicked actions and the judgment that God had promised. When people talk about God’s concept of time, they often run to 2 Peter 3:8 which says “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” I believe that, but it’s also a bit hard to comprehend. A thousand years is outside my experience. I don’t know what a thousand years feels like. But I can understand yesterday. I can usually remember what I did yesterday. Yesterday is the dishes left in the sink. Yesterday doesn’t feel forgotten or buried in history. I can also comprehend the passing of 14 or 15 years. And in some ways, those days really do feel like “yesterday”. But when I’m waiting on an answer from God, even a week feels like an eternity. And in meditating on this passage, I can understand just a little better how God sees time differently than I do. There are some things in my life that I have been waiting on for so long. Prayers that once felt so urgent, but now I have prayed so often that I almost don’t know what else to say. There are situations and circumstances that I thought surely God would have moved in by now, purposes that I thought surely I would understand by now. But I am still living inside the story. In between those pages. And God is eternal. For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. — Isaiah 57:15 What feels like a long time to me is a wisp of vapor to God. The passing of time doesn’t mean that God has forgotten what happened, or forgotten what I prayed. The promises of His Word are still sure even though they were given thousands of years ago. When we read this story of Naboth again and again, we already know the ending. We know judgment is coming. We know that in just a few pages Ahab will be killed and Jezebel will be thrown down and righteousness will prevail. The passage of time and waiting seems so easy in most Bible stories that it can be overlooked. Abraham didn’t know when Isaac would be born. Joseph didn’t know if the prison door would ever open. Job didn’t know if his health would ever be restored. And whoever mourned Naboth didn’t know when or how God would fulfill what He had said. Likewise, we can’t flip ahead in our own lives. I don’t know what God is going to do next year. I don’t know which prayers will be answered, how circumstances might change, or what I may understand better someday. I don’t know how many pages lie between where I am now and whatever God is doing. And that becomes a trying of faith. When I am waiting on God, two passages that come to mind often are Romans 5:3-5 and James 1:3 and 4. “...we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope:” And in James: “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” I don’t really like the word patience when I’m the one who has to practice it. I would rather have wisdom and understanding. I would rather see the plan, know the timetable, be able to point to the ending and say “see, there it is. That’s what God has been doing all along.” But apparently the trying of my faith can accomplish something in me that God deems necessary. Peter describes the trial of faith as something “more precious than gold” (1 Peter 1:7). Waiting is not wasted. Patience is doing a work, even though sometimes I can’t see God at work anywhere else. I look at the circumstances today and wonder what God is doing. I see the passage of weeks and months and wonder why I don’t have an answer yet. So much time has passed that details begin to get fuzzy in my memory. But God hasn’t lost track of the story. And after all the months and years of waiting, He can still say “surely I have seen yesterday.” Maybe I don’t need to try to understand God’s timetable so much as I need to trust that He is working. Years that feel so long to me have not made Him forgetful or inattentive. And while I wait for Him to fulfill His purpose, I can trust that He is doing a work within me, allowing patience to have her perfect work and refine my faith. If it feels like yesterday to the Lord, perhaps I can wait on Him, one more day. Recall the words of the hymn: Day by day, and with each passing moment,Strength I find to meet my trials here;Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,I’ve no cause for worry or for fear...Help me then, in every tribulation,So to trust The promises, O Lord,That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,Offered me within Thy holy Word. I hope you can take this thought with you into the weekend and the days ahead and know that whatever trial you face, whatever circumstances just don’t make sense right now—the Lord is working and we can allow Him to use this trial to strength our faith. He promises to give us His grace sufficient for one more day. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lightinthemargins.substack.com (https://lightinthemargins.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   12 Jun 2026

   Contentment 101

   Do you recall learning Grammar? Maybe in third grade you learned that a complete sentence has a subject and verb. But by high school, you learned about those participles, subordinate clauses, sentence diagrams that stretched halfway across the page—and you thought you’d never graduate. Over the last several weeks, I have been contemplating contentment in a similar way. Just when I think I have learned contentment, a new level comes my way and I realize I still have so much more to learn. (Welcome back, dear reader — I took the month of May off from writing to focus my time on completing our Christian school’s yearbook. I had every intention of jumping right back in, but I have been struggling a bit with writer’s block. I’d like to thank a friend, Sarah Ortiz (http://inwhatsoeverstate), for beginning her own Substack, and for her first post on contentment. She had no idea that topic has been the focus of my personal quiet time recently, and her post spurred me on. Iron sharpeneth iron, and I am thankful to finally have clarity on just what to share with you.) Some lessons that we learned in elementary school have stuck with us. Knowing that a sentence needs a subject and verb; learning that two plus two equals four; perhaps even most of the multiplication tables became so repetitive and familiar to us that we can recall them instantly. But ask me a harder question...say, who was president after James Garfield...and I will have a more difficult time answering. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. —Philippians 4:11 I have often read that verse thinking that contentment was something that could be learned in the sense of mastery. At some point, won’t contentment become second nature to me, like two plus two? But as I have discovered, contentment has advanced courses. Discontentment began not in poverty, but in paradise. Eve was surrounded by good, abundant blessings. Every tree was good for fruit. She and Adam walked with God every day. So how then was the serpent able to pull her away? Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? — Genesis 3:1 I think it is instructive for us ladies to notice that the serpent, Satan, came to Eve first. The Bible says the serpent was subtil. By definition, he was elusive, hard to understand, clever, cunning, and crafty. And with one question, the first question in the Bible, he was able to focus Eve’s attention on the one thing that God had withheld. “Yea, hath God said...?” Did God really say that? And then, in verse 4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. — Genesis 3:4-5 Therein lies the trap that we are still susceptible to unto this day: God is holding back something good. With one question, one statement, the Devil was able to shift Eve’s attention away from her lush surroundings and on to one tree. How? Do you ever read this passage and want to yell at Eve through the pages? Don’t do it! It’s not worth it! Stop and look at where you are! Go eat off of the hundreds of other delicious fruit trees! The Psalmist says: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: — Psalm 103:2 In the Garden of Eden, Eve was certainly loaded with benefits. How could she forget or ignore her blessings? As children, we learned those multiplication facts by reviewing and rehearsing them. Students review multiples of 3, 7, 8...they sing songs and chants and rehearse them constantly. Those facts are recalled over and over again throughout grade school and high school, and even into college. In time, daily review is not as necessary. That list of presidents, however, was one that I crammed in before the test and swiftly forgot. Beyond fourth grade, nobody asked me who the 19th president was and it fell out of my memory bank. We have to remember and rehearse God’s goodness. The lesson isn’t ingrained in us yet, like our multiplication facts. Consider it Contentment 101. What we rehearse becomes our focus. What if, in Numbers 11, the children of Israel had recalled their cruel taskmasters and praised the Lord that they were free from the bondage of slavery? Instead, they longed for the leeks and the garlic of Egypt. They regarded the miraculous manna as “nothing.” (Numbers 11:6) They allowed their attention to rest on what was not there, just as Satan pulled Eve’s attention toward what she could not have. Do we sometimes act like we have ‘nothing’? That God has not blessed us at all? Instead of recognizing our present blessings, our focus can land on what we don’t have. We can become convinced that peace and happiness lie just around the corner, just out of reach. If only my life looked like this...if I could just get through this season...if I could just live there...have that job...I keep praying and God never answers...why is He keeping me from being happy? How quickly we can slide into accusing God, much like the serpent did! Some truths aren’t as simple as two plus two. They don’t remain at the forefront of our minds. We have to refocus and remember. Contentment isn’t a test that we only need to pass once, but a lesson to learn our whole lives long. Daily thankfulness keeps our hearts tender to seeing God’s blessings and less likely to having our focus pulled away to only see what we do not have. What blessings do we need to remember? What spiritual truths do we need to be reminded of this week? But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. — John 14:26 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lightinthemargins.substack.com (https://lightinthemargins.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   23 Apr 2026

   Come Unto Me

   On Easter Sunday my husband injured his foot. He was stepping off a curb and rolled his ankle at just the right angle and broke his fifth metatarsal. A classic basketball injury, but without the cool story or any accompanying heroics. In a walking boot, he’s been given instructions to stay off his feet as much as possible. And that… has been a challenge. He has always been the kind of person who jumps in whenever there’s work to do. Now when my daughters and I clear away the dinner dishes, we often have to shoo him to the couch to rest. He knows that resting will help him heal, but everything in him wants to keep moving. And watching him, I realized...spiritually, I’m not much different. My husband may need rest to heal his foot, but at times I need rest for my soul. And why do I resist? Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. —Psalm 116:7 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. —Matthew 11:28-30 The Invitation Matthew 11:28 is not a demand but an invitation. “Come unto me…” There is a sweet gentleness in that word, ‘come.’ As a mom, I’ve said it a hundred times. At the playground, when one of my children tumbles or gets hurt, I’ll call out, “Come here, let me see.” Sometimes they will run right into my arms for snuggles and a kiss. But other times they brush themselves off and yell, “I’m okay!” and keep playing. The invitation is there, but the comfort isn’t forced. Similarly, Christ invites the weary to come to Him, but He does not compel. He is waiting, watching, willing to comfort if we merely...come. Perhaps one of the reasons we remain weary is not because we don’t hear the Savior’s invitation, but because we continue to insist that “we’re fine.” Not for the Lazy The invitation further says, “come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden...” This isn’t a call to those who are idle or unwilling to work. Christ is extending the invitation to all those who are laboring, working, and carrying what God has called them to. The work is not the problem. All the daily tasks of life: caring for a home, serving others, and faithfully meeting our responsibilities are good. We are, as Paul says, “laborers together with God.” (1 Corinthians 3:9) If work is a good thing, then why does life feel so burdened at times? Who are the heavy laden? The Invisible Weight I would argue that the burden comes from what we add to the work. It comes when we put pressure on ourselves to do everything perfectly. When we strive not to fall behind. When we try to quietly prove ourselves capable by doing it all, feeling like we can’t afford to say no or disappoint anyone. The burden comes in the subtle belief that if I don’t keep it all together, everything will fall apart. Those loads don’t show up on a to-do list, but they are often the heaviest ones we carry. Sometimes we can go through busy seasons where we have many obligations. We might say that if anyone asks us to do one more thing, we’re going to break! Our hearts can be weighed down that way, as well. At times we are carrying so much grief, disappointment, anxiety and expectations that we think if we are asked to carry one more weight, we’ll fall apart. To a weary heart, even verses that are meant to comfort can become burdensome. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. —Isaiah 26:3 It’s a beautiful verse and one I have memorized. But how often have I quoted that verse at times and wondered, if I don’t feel peace, am I failing? Am I not trusting God enough? If my thoughts are scattered, maybe I’m not disciplined enough. And suddenly, what is a simple promise of peace becomes another expectation. Another opportunity where I fear disappointing the Lord. Another burden to carry. When Jesus bids us come in Matthew 11, there are no conditions. When he invites us further, “take my yoke upon you and learn of me,” that verse can feel like more weight to an already heavy heart. The Exchange But Jesus is not asking us to shoulder an additional burden. He is inviting us to an exchange. The Pharisees put burdens on the people. Satan has a burden and a yoke as the Antichrist is described in Isaiah 10. The Old Testament view of a yoke was one of bondage. The pressure to be perfect. The fear of failing. The striving and straining to prove ourselves to others. Those burdens are not from God. The invitation is simply, “come...” Jesus doesn’t say come once you’ve figure it all out. He doesn’t tell us to come only when we are calm or have gotten everything under control. As the hymn writer said, If you tarry til you’re better —You will never come at all We don’t have to prove that we can carry our burdens of life before we are deserving of rest. Christ’s yoke is an invitation to walk alongside Him and learn of Him. He doesn’t remove the responsibilities of our lives, but He can change the way we carry them. As we learn what it means to be meek and humble, what we have to do in our weakened state is replaced with His strength. We learn that we don’t have to shoulder every burden alone, striving to prove our worth. There is no yoke like Christ’s. We don’t find rest by finally figuring it all out or by doing everything flawlessly. We find rest when we lay down those weights and walk alongside Christ. When we take up His yoke in spite of our failures. When we abide in Him. While my husband’s foot is healing, rest is not something that he can do just one time and be done with. He has to remember to rest, daily. Likewise, we can’t come to Jesus for rest one time and be completely satisfied. We must come back, intentionally, time and time again. O what peace we often forfeit,O what needless pain we bear,All because we do not carryEverything to God in prayer. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lightinthemargins.substack.com (https://lightinthemargins.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

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