When God Is Silent

But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?” – Habakkuk 1:13

There are times when it seems as though God has packed up, moved far away, and left no forwarding address. In those times, it is difficult to sense His presence. It can feel like you have been abandoned: In those moments, you are confused and alone, and frustrated. 

If you are experiencing one of those times when God is silent, do not believe the lie that you are a second-tier, second-rate Christian. It is possible, even probable, that it means quite the opposite. God is silent for a reason. We may not see the reason and that is where faith and trust come in. Will we continue to trust God in His silence?

The Bible is full of examples of people who continued to trust God in their circumstances. One example is Abraham and Sarah. In Genesis, chapters 12–18, we learn that Abraham and Sarah experienced nearly twenty-five years of God’s silence. Abraham was seventy-five years old when God asked him to leave everything he knew to follow Him. God promised Abram, “I will make of you a great nation.” (Genesis 12:2). Imagine you are in Abraham and Sarah’s shoes. Years had passed since God’s promise that your descendants would become a great nation. For many years, God had been silent regarding how and when His covenant with you would be fulfilled. Suddenly, God appears to you (see Genesis 15:1–6) and you find yourself standing outside, gazing at the night sky as the Lord compares your future and immeasurable offspring with the innumerable stars of the sky. Abram “believed the Lord” (Genesis 15:6). Here we see that even after many years of God’s silence, and having absolutely nothing to show for it, Abraham trusted in God’s faithfulness.  Fast-forward to Genesis 17, Abram is now ninety-nine years old.  After sixteen verses of God proclaiming His might and power (see Genesis 17:1–16), Abraham responds in a most human way: he laughed which was an expression of disbelief and doubt. Genesis 17:17-19 says, “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?”  So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!” But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you.”

“The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would.” (Genesis 21:1-2)

God’s silence is not always a bad thing. So here is the key application: when the silence is real in your life, you must recognize that you are not alone in the stillness. Although God may seem silent regarding a specific request or petition, remember that He is always in a constant state of communication with us. Just because God seems silent doesn’t mean you should doubt Him or stop praying. God’s silence isn’t a license for us to turn our backs on Him. Instead, it’s an invitation to press forward and seek Him even harder. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. How often is God silent in your life?
  2. What is your reaction to the silence? What should our reaction be?
  3. What should we do in the silence?
  4. What can we do differently this week as a result of this series?  

God Is Not Hard To Find

”From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.” – Acts 17:26-27

Where is God? Have you ever asked that question? Most of us have at one time or another. Maybe it was years ago, or maybe it was just a few minutes ago. Asking that question suggests that God is hiding, unavailable, unresponsive, busy, or disinterested. Is that the case, or is it simply our inability to understand, to get God?

After all, God is not easy to get. Isaiah 55:8 tells us that: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” God is not easy to get because we often don’t get what we want when we want it. We have encounters with Him where He connects into our lives with power and answers our prayers and wins our trust and praise. And then there are those times when bedlam and general craziness dominate our lives and we are left wondering “what just happened?” We cry to God in our confusion and there is silence. God seems absent. He seems hard to find. But is He?

Most Christians will find themselves on the mountain top and in the valley at one time in their life. But God is not absent, nor is He distant. And He is not hard to find. Acts 17:28 says, “ For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.” In reality, God is not absent or silent or indifferent at all, it is just how we perceive it at the moment. When we feel forsaken by God we are not forsaken. “…For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5). We are simply called to trust the promise more than the perception. If we seek God, we will find Him.

Some of the most promising and spectacular words ever spoken by God are found in the book of Jeremiah: “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord(Jeremiah 29:13–14).

We won’t be able to get that true connection with God unless we’re able to let down our walls and open our hearts. He is always there, whether we are aware of it or not, just waiting for us to find Him. As we search for God today, with all of our hearts, we will find Him, and He will help us find our way.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Can you seek God but not “see” Him?
  2. In what ways have you been disappointed by God seeming to hide when you have been seeking him?
  3. What heart adjustments do you think you need to make to “find” God?

God Is Present In Your Pain

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.” – Matthew 4:23-25.

What jumps out at you when you read the passage of scripture listed above? To me it is all about inclusion. Jesus showed compassion for all and helped them: the poor, the despised, the outcasts, anybody in pain. Jesus healed them all. He could handle any kind of pain. He could handle any kind of person. He could meet any kind of need. He was present in their pain. No wonder people heard about him from all over the region. 

If Jesus healed everybody in Matthew 4, why can’t He take away my pain, problems and troubles? This question is sometimes asked by people with a genuine desire to understand what seems impossible to understand. Other times it’s asked by people who have suffered or whose loved ones have known grief and loss. They honestly want to know: How could God let this happen to me and to mine? Why wouldn’t God stop this pain and help me? The critic of Christianity would respond that God is either not all-knowing, not all-powerful, or not all-good.

The Bible leaves many of our questions about suffering unanswered. However, what it does do is tell us the story of how God is close to us in the midst of our suffering, who actually suffered for us, who will one day destroy suffering forever. When Jesus hung on the cross, He suffered one of the worst deaths imaginable, because He took on all the sins of humanity. Despite His innocence, He died for our transgressions. At its heart, the Bible is not a book of advice or moral principles to help us deal with suffering and have a better life. Fundamentally, it is the story of what God has accomplished for us, how He is repairing a broken world; it is a message of hope in light of His suffering for us.

God cares very deeply about you, and is attentive to every detail of your life—even those things that burden your heart. 1 Peter 5:7 says “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” It may seem like your life has been shaken to the core, but His love for you is never shaken. “‘For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.” (Isaiah 54:10).

No matter how bad things may seem, God is in control. Nothing happens without His knowledge. Matthew 10:29-31 says, “What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it…So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” If God’s eye is on the sparrow, He’s most certainly watching you. In the midst of sadness and uncertainty, His hand is there to guide you; His strength is there to support you. You are never out of His reach. He is present in your pain.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why does God allow pain and suffering?
  2. Have you seen an example in your life, or in the lives of others, how hardships have led to
    maturity and transformation?
  3. Have you ever seen hardships cause a person to grow bitter, disillusioned, or self
    contained? How so?

For All Intents And Purposes

“I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.” – Psalm 57:2.

Watching the news is so discouraging. Tragedies abound. The deadly explosion during an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in England yesterday is the latest example. The tragedies seem arbitrary and unnecessary. The same thing can be said about, on a much smaller scale, our individual lives.  Even though we are serving God with all our heart and spending more time in His word than ever, circumstances can seem to be getting worse not better. 

From our perspective, tragedies look meaningless and senseless and chaotic, but God knows how to take even tragedies and bring good out of them. The Bible reminds us that everything happens for a reason. The Bible says that God, “… makes everything work out according to his plan.” (Ephesians 1:11). This means that every event that occurs does so after God’s plan. God is not arbitrary. God specializes in taking evil and bringing good out of it.

Romans 8:28 tells us that “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  But do we truly believe God has a purpose for the tragedies we didn’t expect or planned for? When tragedy or suffering strikes, we intuitively wonder how God is going to help us. And we wonder how God is possibly going to work things together for good. And sometimes we wonder if God cares. 

The truth is God really does have a purpose for your pain because I believe that God can take everything in life and use it for His glory. I realize that hindsight truly is 20/20, and just because you don’t quite see the “good” in the bad in your life doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist or won’t exist down the road. In fact, it may take years. God is trustworthy. We simply need to trust Him. 

Like so many things in this life, how we deal with heartbreak and with suffering, is often a heart issue. It is not the circumstance, but the condition of our heart that matters. God can work in our hearts through good times just as easily as bad times. It is not necessary for God to cause us tragedy in order to develop our character. Godly character can be developed through any kind of event, if we are willing to let God lead in our lives.

We all experience pain in life, whether emotional or physical pain. No pain is alike, we must all walk the journey and path that God has for our lives, yet God promises that there is a purpose in all pain, even if we have yet to realize it. He can redeem all things because He is the one who created all things. God can take our pain, our brokenness, our frustrations, our failures, and use them as the testimonies in which we help others.

Wednesday: God is Present in Your Pain.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do you see as the main purpose in your life? What can God do that you can’t concerning your purpose? (This is where the faith comes in.)
  2. How is God glorified when you are following your purpose?
  3. How will following your purpose force you to trust God more?
  4. What is God asking you to do today?

Is God Heartless?

“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” – Zephaniah 3:17

Bad news dominates the news. Every day we read or hear about some tragedy, perhaps afflicting hundreds or thousands of people, perhaps touching just one child, one family, one circle of loved ones. Each of these tragedies ripples unseen through people’s lives, and all are forever changed. If you are directly impacted, the questions are immediate and insistent: Why me? Why us? Why, God? Even if you are not personally impacted by a tragedy, you cannot help but wonder: Why would a loving, all powerful God allow such things to happen? Is God heartless?

After all, how could the mass destruction of a tsunami be good? How could the brutal murders of innocent school children be good? Of course they were not good. They were devastating and heart-breaking. As a pastor, I am expected to have answers to these hard questions. Let me say the upfront: I don’t have answers. I have the same questions you have. I wonder and my heart breaks too. I don’t understand God or the world any more than anybody else. “For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice?” (Romans 11:34) But I do know some things.

I know we can’t look at life through rose-colored glasses. The world can be a tough place. It was in Biblical times. It is today. But I also know that in the midst of all the darkness of this world there is light. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:5) 

I know that God is glorious, majestic and perfect. He is infinite, without beginning or end or any limitation at all. I know God is consistent and unchanging, and always remains dependably the same.  I know God is utterly pure and perfect and therefore utterly against evil, deceit, injustice and wrong doing. And I know God is loving, merciful and compassionate. I know God mingled His tears with ours and with those who have lost so much and suffered such great pain. In other words, God didn’t remain in heaven unmoved by the tragedy and pain of the world. He came and suffered as we must suffer. He wept at open graves as we weep at open graves.  He was lonely and afraid as we are lonely and afraid, and He died as we must die. God didn’t give us words or philosophies for our  questions. He did a whole lot better than that. He came and gave Himself. He died on the cross for our sins. That doesn’t sound heartless, does it? 

Tuesday: For All Intents and Purposes

Discussion Questions:

  1. In a sentence, how would you describe God? Did you use words such as heartless, uncaring, indifferent, etc.?
  2. Is salvation a cold, heartless transaction?
  3. What was your takeaway from the sermon this week?

Joy and Sorrow

” All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” – 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Mother’s Day is about love. But it’s not a day of joy for all women, including some mothers. For some, it’s also about loss and longing. We must recognize that joy and sorrow are part of Mother’s Day. Everywhere in the world there are women who are hurting today for any number of reasons. Some have lost children. Some grieve for the babies they could never bear. Some weep for children gone astray, or for children who face difficult and life-changing challenges. There are women who have suffered miscarriages. They endure the anguish of feeling their bodies begin to change to make room for a growing baby only to lose the child. There are women who made the brave and loving decision to place their baby for adoption, but now aches for the baby she carried and feels judged for the painful choice she made. Somewhere a woman is staring at yet another single line on a pregnancy test, while another realizes the infertility treatments were unsuccessful. Still others continue to wait out the process of adoption. Everywhere there are young women whose heart is aching, fighting back the tears wondering if they will ever have the chance to have a child. We all know women who are filled with joy on Mother’s Day and we all know women who have sorrow on Mother’s Day.  

No matter which side of motherhood you are on, Romans 12:15 is applicable for you today: “Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.”  When we see our circumstances in view of God’s mercies, we unite with others through their seasons of joy and sorrow, of rejoicing and of weeping. Because Christ experienced both rejoicing and weeping, He knows the intertwining of joy and sorrow deeper than we ever will. We can hold fast because we are being sanctified through gifts of joy, trials of sorrow, and experiences that bring us pain. And because God himself dwells in us, He also guides us, protects us, and cares for us. 

To those who endure grief on Mother’s Day: I am deeply sorry. It is hard. I’m not going to pretend it isn’t hard. The only thing I know for sure is that Christ loves you. He really does sympathize with you. You can read God’s words for you in Hebrews: “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:15-16). I think God has a lot to say to you in these verses. He is reminding you that he isn’t far-off. He wants to comfort you. He wants you to find His grace.

I hope you are touched with love this week and beyond, somehow, through the pain. I hope you feel that your sorrows are seen, and that your love and your losses are honored. Our prayer is that you will be truly blessed this and every day. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why is it that grief and healing take time? How is our faith in God strengthened through suffering and sorrow?
  2. Why is it important to remember that God is at work, even in the midst of suffering? How does this bring you comfort?
  3. What can we do to help those we know who mourn and grieve?

God Is My Co-Parent

I believe that if an angel were to wing his way from earth up to Heaven, and were to say that there was one poor, ragged boy, without father or mother, with no one to care for him and teach him the way of life; and if God were to ask who among them were willing to come down to this earth and live here for fifty years and lead that one to Jesus Christ, every angel in Heaven would volunteer to go. Even Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, would say, ‘Let me leave my high and lofty position, and let me have the luxury of leading one soul to Jesus Christ.’ There is no greater honor than to be the instrument in God’s hands of leading one person out of the kingdom of Satan into the glorious light of Heaven.” – Dwight L. Moody

Some of the greatest joys you’ll ever experience on this planet will have to do with your children and some of the greatest challenges and sorrows you’ll ever experience on this planet will have to do with your children. Being a mother, or parent for that matter is both exciting and terrifying, rewarding and draining. Sometimes things seem to fit together nicely and sometimes parenting is utterly confusing. Mothers can feel like they are on an island as they try to give their children the right ingredients, while keeping out all the potentially harmful ingredients and influences. 

Successful parenting is not that complicated, yet is is very difficult to do well. At the end of the day, it involves giving up control to God. To mother well, we need God as a co-parent. God’s plan for mothering was never meant to be one we carry out without Him.

That doesn’t mean moms don’t work at their craft. As a pastor, I cannot count the number of selfless mothers working to be the best parent in the world to their kids. Their kids success and their health and happiness is every mother’s chief concern and chief goals. But they are not on their own. God is the shepherd of the sheep.  God will guide the child. God will help them in difficult times and when facing difficult decisions. God will seek them and keep them from straying.  

I know this to be true because God has done all these things and more for each of as children and as adults. God has been with me long before I knew it or was grateful for the fact. God has brought me back to the right path when I had wandered so far that I could not have found it on my own. God has been working in my life. He gave us our children. God is at work in them to protect them, to guide them, to teach them, just as I am.

We will make mistakes in bringing up our kids. Fortunately, however, we are not asked to do everything perfectly as moms and dads. Our children usually manage to survive our mistakes and failures and turn out better than we have any right to boast about. God will be our co-parent when the children are small and their co-pilot as they begin their journey as an adult. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. What prevents you from speaking about God to your children in the course of the day? 
  2. Why is it absolutely necessary to talk about God within your family? 
  3. How will we know if we are being successful parents? 

Under The Influence

“I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.” – 2 Timothy 2:5.

A little boy forgot his lines in a Sunday school program. His mother was in the front row to prompt him. She gestured and formed the words silently with her lips, but it did not help. Her son’s memory was blank. Finally, she leaned forward and whispered the cue, “I am the light of the world.” The child beamed and with great feeling and a loud clear voice said, “My mother is the light of the world.”   

Billy Graham once said, “The influence of a mother upon the lives of her children cannot be measured. They know and absorb her example and attitudes when it comes to questions of honesty, temperance, kindness, and industry.That influence exists regardless of the the age of the parents or the age of the children.   

Throughout history, uber successful men and woman give the credit for their success to their mother. Abraham Lincoln said, “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” Lincoln also said, “I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” Maya Angelou said, “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.”  And Henry Ward Beecher said, “The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.” That is the kind of influence that mothers can have. So how can you use that influence? How can your influence make Jesus even more beautiful to your children? What are some ways that you can influence their spiritual lives even more?

To answer those questions, let me suggest that you work as hard as you can to live a godly life. Even kids know about walking the walk. They will quickly discover when you fail to practice what you preach. Nobody expects you to be perfect. But we should try to be more like Jesus. A mom’s words and actions carry more weight than anyone else’s. Use both to show your children what a godly life looks like. Read the Bible, pray, trust and obey God. Showing them that you still place your trust in the Lord will help them want to find the same strength in Him. Forgive and love God and others unconditionally. Every mom will make mistakes. But what you teach your child about God will often stay with them the rest of their lives. 

Raising godly children does not happen by accident. It requires intentionality. Begin by focusing on what matters most—your Christian example and the godly influence of other adults. Keep in mind that your children are children for a very short time. Enjoy those days and make the most of them.

Moms are an almost perfect picture of God – wanting the best for her children and trying to instruct and guide so that the child can live a full and purposeful life. At the end of the day, mom and God want one thing – their children to come home.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What do we get from a spiritual/mother relationship that we can’t get from anywhere else?
  2. What does influence as a mother mean to you?
  3. What can we do this week to use our influence to help our kids grow spiritually?

Mom Needs A Time Out

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” – 2 Corinthians 4:17-18.

Before the kids arrive, every future mother has a blueprint in their mind of the kind of mother they will be. They would keep the house spotless, serve delicious and nutritious meals, raise well adjusted, smart, respectful kids while taking three months out of every year to delouse children in Laos. They wanted to be in a word, supermom. But that blueprint usually gets scrapped when the kids arrived. Today, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and depressed at a mom’s unmet expectations. Don’t get me wrong, kids are great. And moms create a unique bond with their kids. Yet there are times when it becomes overwhelming. Elijah was not a mom, but he knew something about feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

Elijah on the surface seemed to have it going on. He was the prophet who was fed by ravens, raised a boy from the dead, called down fire from heaven, led in the destruction of 450 prophets of Baal, and ended a 3 and a half year drought. But the threat of a wicked queen sent him scurrying for the wilderness. Elijah is physically, spiritually, and emotionally exhausted. He is also running for his life and wants God to end it:”… I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.” (1 Kings 19:4). In this moment of great need, God provides refreshment beyond comparison. God first meets Elijah’s physical needs: food, water, and sleep. Then God fortifies Elijah for a forty-day journey and an encounter that meets his spiritual needs. After Elijah has been restored physically and spiritually, God gave Elijah his next assignment.

Proverbs 11:25 says, “…those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” On our journey of faith we too need refreshment. We need God to provide for us physically, spiritually, and emotionally. If you are a mom, there will be times in your life where you will need to be refreshed and restored just as Elijah did. Your plate is so full you don’t have the time to do the things that will help you deal with the feelings of being stressed out and overwhelmed. You need to find something that will refresh you. That is part of the problem. You add to your full plate by becoming the source of your own refreshment. You see yourself as the solution. You need God for refreshment. God is watching over you. No matter what is going on in your world, you have access to true life from the Life Giver. You need to be connected to Him to make it through the day. You may not see a big difference immediately, but you should be encouraged because God will refresh you when you most need it. The wonder of the walk of grace is that God does just that—again and again.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What makes being a mom challenging? Are there days you are overwhelmed and stressed?
  2. How do you think God refreshes us?
  3. What can we do to help refresh others this week? 

Rooted And Grounded

“God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” – Numbers 23:19. 

This week we have been talking about feeling God, sensing His presence. But God’s presence “feels like” different things to different people, and even different ways in different circumstances. I don’t want to describe it as a feeling, because it can be so much more than that. To me, it is the basic knowledge that something greater than us makes His presence known to us. It can be a supernatural event than only God could have accomplished, or it could be hearing His still small voice. I’ve been in hospital where God’s presence is palpable. But it is not always like that,  which makes defining the presence of God difficult. People are often burdened down by the expectations of what His presence should feel and look like.  Too often, we are looking for manifestations, rather than simply seeking Him.

In this week ending devotional,  I would like to remind everyone that the Christian faith is not grounded in subjective feelings; rather, it’s rooted in the Word of God and who Jesus Christ is. We can become too focused on what we are feeling. When we let our feelings lead the way, when we make decisions on sensing the presence of God, we tend to make some bad decisions. If our feelings and experiences don’t match up with God’s Word—the fault lies with us, not Him. “But I prayed for such-and-such, and God didn’t come through for me!” is a common response, “and now I can’t trust Him or believe His promises.” (On demand God)  Or, “I was expecting a whole lot more good times, but what I’ve experienced is only bad times.” (Killjoy God) 

God cares deeply about each one of your painful past experiences and each one of your current struggles. The answers and “reasons why” may not always be immediately clear. But if you learn to place His unchanging, eternal truth far above your own feelings and experiences, you will soon begin to experience a level of faith you never thought possible. 

So ground your life in the scriptures. Live your life upon the belief that God’s Word is the perfect revelation of fact. Once you have settled it in your heart that Scripture is Truth and that the Bible is reality, emotions will play a much smaller role. Set aside some purposeful time each day to study and meditate upon God’s Word. Learn how to explore Scripture and delve deep into God’s meaning behind every verse. Ask God’s Spirit to make His timeless Word truly come alive to you.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How does the Bible help you live out your faith everyday?
  2. The word, in that it comes from God, is utterly trustworthy because God is utterly trustworthy. Agree or disagree and why?
  3. What can we do this week to live by God’s truth rather than our emotions?