October 6, 2021 Text Devotion

Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal
 
Philippians 4:8-13
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

The scriptures above are words from the prophet Isaiah and words from Jesus’ disciple Paul to the Philippians. They are both words or conversations spoken to encourage us to rest in the Lord. Oh, aren’t we weary at times, and aren’t we eager for the rest that takes away the worries of the times we live in? I know I find myself that way often. Let’s find comfort in those words.
 
Now let’s bring the scripture right into this time and place. Today I am going to share with you two short conversations I was honored to be a part of with present day disciples because they showed me a way to rest in the Lord in this modern day and time. A NOW reiteration of the lessons above from people like you and me – present day disciples.
 
Conversations. I have found that we need to just keep talking to each other for our own benefit and the benefit of others. Try hard for grace and kindness with others even though we may be stressed by lots of things all at once and you will be blessed.
 
Here are my recountings of a couple conversations that I have had recently that have simply inspired me and, as a result, I have come away renewed in my faith. I was texting with Renee Worley, letting her know that I was praying for her and Dave as he deals with Covid. Renee and Dave are members of our church family.
 
And I will say first, that I enjoy our text conversations because Renee has a habit of saying something that always sets me apondering about my faith. Well, she did it again, thank goodness! In response to my opening text, she replied:
 
“Thank you! We will take all the prayers we can get. God has been awesome throughout this whole process. The strength that God has given me has been just what I needed. ❤️
 
I was struck especially by that last sentence. To me it read God has given me, not an over abundance, but simply just what I need. God can indeed be a lavish God but see the humbleness in Renee’s response? It reminds me of Isaiah above and that last verse of Philippians above, my Dad’s verse and a family favorite. Paul is given strength through Jesus Christ as he needs it to do the Holy work that has been set before him. I have been thinking about Renee’s humbleness. Maybe we need to humble ourselves as we pray so we can respond just as beautifully as Renee did. Think about it. I know I have been since we had the conversation.
 
The second conversation was with Joan Sefa Turner. Many of you will know her as a Goodrich citizen fixture in the community as well as in our schools. She was my high school librarian. After all these years we have bonded again over toffee of all things and have become faith sisters. We think it was meant to be – we need each other. For those of you who do not know her, she is a petite human dynamo, devout Catholic, and prayer warrior. She is very direct and totally funny. Her word choice is extremely hilarious at times which you might not expect from a demure classic librarian but it is extremely direct and gets her point across quickly. We laugh a lot.
 
She is recently proclaimed cancer free after a lengthy treatment for a cancer diagnosis. I stopped by to drop off a gift to celebrate with her and we had a wonderful discussion. She long ago asked to be added to the list of people who receive these devotions. We talked about the last devotion as she was particularly fond of the Ecclesiastes passage chosen. I said to her, what about that 11th verse? Can you believe that God tucked all of eternity in our hearts and yet we still can’t understand it all? To me this was a profound conundrum of faith. He gave it to us but our human minds can’t even figure it out. Oh my goodness. I’m like, “What’s it all about Joan? Tell me the wonders of God right now, this is niggling at me bad!”
 
(Niggling – a word my son Drew uses when you have given him just enough information but not enough for him to understand it all. He does not deal with this situation well and pleads with whomever, usually me, saying that it will niggle at his brain constantly until he can understand. Oh, poor poor Drew. )
 
Well, now this is niggling hard at me and I am looking down into the direct eyes of Joan asking to be relieved of my unsettledness. She looks at me and delivers a direct salvo to my heart, “I know, isn’t it wonderful?”
 
“But God does that and then we are not even allowed to understand it?” I practically whine.
 
This is the salvo, as she waves her hand dismissively, “Yeah, yeah, that’s why we walk by faith and not by sight.”
 
Boom! Drop the mic. She is done because God has given us enough and we don’t need to nor can we understand everything about God. She walks humbly as well. I am properly chastened but empowered by her answer and also highly amused because to her it is just that simple and I have been off on a faith goose chase again.
 
These two people in my life are delightful and keep me grounded and my faith strong. There are many others who dwell in this circle – how fortunate I am! I am so humbled, truly, by all the present day Saints I can reach out to for help. You know who you are and I give thanks because you give to me so freely what I don’t always know I need to keep moving forward as a disciple.
 
I hope you all have a circle of Saints around you and you have faith discussions regularly with them. If you don’t, begin reaching out, I’m sure you will find a warm reception or someone who was just waiting to be reached out to. We all can be on the growing edge of faith, that’s where I like to live these days. And I have been reminded by two wonderful people that if I am humble, I will be given just enough through Christ who strengthens me to walk my faith journey.
 
Just enough is more than enough with God.
 
 
~Shauna Weil
A devotion provided as part of the GUMC devotion ministry.
 
 
Love from God’s creation to you. This heart was spied by Dan, my husband, as we investigated Snake Island up on Bois Blanc Island.

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