Month: February 2024

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

1 Peter 1:8-9 (NIV)

Although we cannot see or touch the Lord, living a life of faith is so much about believing without seeing. Peter writes that, although we do not see Him, we receive inexpressible joy in believing in Him, and as a result, obtaining the salvation of our souls. 

Jesus made it clear that we must become like a child to enter the kingdom of heaven. Young children are totally reliant, trusting in their parents. They are shaped by their parents and can be easily convinced to believe in things they cannot see. Children also find joy in any circumstance. When I was very young, I remember the time our basement flooded, and we put on our boots and walked around as our parents frantically bailed the water out. For them it was a disaster, but for us, it was fun and exciting. 

By the time we grow to adulthood, it becomes more challenging to trust those we see, much less the One we cannot see. We struggle to maintain our joy amidst the dark, negative panic stricken world around us. It’s easy to forget that our invisible God is a loving Father, who extends His hand toward us every day. 

We become what we fill our minds with, so we must intentionally search for faith filled true stories, filling our minds and feeding our spirits with hope and faith. We can do this through reading Christian literature, watching Christian TV and listening to Christian radio. It lifts our spirit into a different realm, where we rediscover the childlike joy that comes from the Lord, who is our source of joy and strength. 

To believe in what we cannot see, as through a child’s eyes, is what Jesus encouraged us to do. To help us become like a child again in our faith, it helps to recall pleasant childhood memories, especially one that takes us back to that earliest moment that God seemed very real to us. 

I have a memory from my childhood that still inspires me, each time I think of it. It was a vivid childhood dream I had at the age of five. Since I wrote about it before, I apologize if it sounds repetitious to some. 

I dreamed I was in my school which was on fire. People were running in all directions, and before I could decide where to go, someone took hold of my right hand and walked me peacefully through the hallways, around each corner and finally out of the burning building, unharmed. When we stepped safely outside the front door together, I looked up, and it was Jesus standing beside me, holding my right hand. He wore a white robe with a blue cloak, but He never said a word to me. He just looked at me, holding my right hand, and then I woke up. 

The memory of that dream became a divine life lesson that I would later recall through good and bad times. Whatever age I am, that memory places me back into the mindset of being a child, with the image of Jesus still leading me and holding my hand. That image will stay with me to my last breath. 

Life is like a school, where we sometimes have to walk through  fiery hallways. We don’t know what’s around the next corner, but if we keep our hand in His, He will lead us safely through all the fire exits. 

The fiery trials in our lives are like our personal “school of life.” It’s a school that does not produce scholars, but saints. Jesus never promised to put out all the fires in our lives, but He is holding our hand and He knows where all the fire exits are. If we keep our eyes of faith on Him and our hand in His, He will lead us through all the doors of our lives, in peace and safety. 

By faith, we can believe and love Him whom we have never seen. A child’s heart believes without seeing, and finds joy in the strangest places. If our hand is in His hand, we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us and restores our joy. 

Lord, give us childlike hearts, to trust and rely on you in all our ways. As we keep our hand in yours, lead us through all the right doors and restore to us the true joy of our salvation. Amen

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

And when he had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.”

John 20:21-22 (NAB)

The breath of God was breathed into Adam’s nostrils and he came to life. The resurrected Jesus breathed on his disciples and they were filled with boldness and empowered with love to spread the truth of the gospel. 

Whenever the breath of God breathes upon people, He brings them new life and equips them with whatever was lacking. 

With so much to do and think about some days, it’s easy to forget that God’s Spirit is available to equip us and enliven us in all that we are lacking. What makes Christianity unique is that God comes to man. We aren’t expected to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. We call on the name of the Lord and He comes to save us, but sometimes we simply neglect to call on Him. 

Yesterday, I had one of those days. I had appointments to schedule, phone calls to make, multiple obligations to meet, and by the end of the day, I felt more breathless than breathed upon. 

I felt drained after going back and forth all day, forgetting to ask for His help before each phone call or errand. Later that day, I felt kind of down and breathless. I knew then, that I needed His Spirit to breathe on me. 

Everyone has their own way of praying when they feel like this. I ask the Holy Spirit directly, to fill me with more of Him. Paul understood that our inner being needs the breath of the Spirit, when he said, 

“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.” (Ephesians 3:16)

The Spirit works deep within us, and helps our weaknesses, when we don’t even know how to pray. We only need to ask Him to come inside. His intercession goes beyond words, and His breath revitalizes us when we ask. (Romans 8:26)

The divine breath of the Lord renews, strengthens, empowers and revitalizes our innermost being. It sounds like a song, but it’s also a prayer when we ask, Come Holy Spirit and strengthen me within. If we ask, He will show us how He is breathing on us today. 

Holy Spirit, breathe new life into every reader and their loved ones today. Fill us with your holy breath that strengthens, revitalizes and equips us to go throughout this day in perfect peace. Amen

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

We go through many different stages of our spiritual life journey, and while some people are steady and faithful, others have spiritual ups and downs. Then there are those people who totally abandon their faith during periods of their life. 

I tend to dwell on my son, Jon’s stage of rejecting his faith, the state of mind he was living in, prior to his accident. He abandoned the faith of his youth, and was living as a proclaimed atheist at the time. 

I knew I was becoming too focused on the negatives, but I started to find it difficult to see anything positive about him or his situation. It became like the Achille’s heel of my faith, the one place where my hope was the weakest.

As I was praying about this, asking God to help me believe and to see things and people through His eyes, I heard a speaker on a TV devotional program, mention that in the book of Genesis, God kept repeating that everything He created was good. He said it over and over, throughout that chapter. Everything God created was called good. That thought stayed with me, as if I heard it for the first time.

Yesterday, while I was looking for something, I accidentally came across a folder that was tucked away in my nightstand drawer. It was filled with letters, cards and poems, written by my two boys when they were younger, so I pulled it out and started reading the things they wrote. On the left side of the folder were Michael’s letters and cards to me, including the 23rd Psalm that he wrote, as a teenager, in an excellent first attempt at calligraphy. 

On the right side of the folder were Jon’s letters and many poems he wrote. He showed an early interest in writing, and at 16, he wrote letters to friends and relatives, as well as writing many poems to me. My friend gave me back one of his letters to keep, since it was so nicely written. 

Then I found a letter he wrote to his pastor about how he was surrendering his life to Jesus. The pastor also gave me back that letter to keep, since it was so special. 

I forgot about it, and as I read the two page letter, it brought back memories of Jon’s early commitment of faith to the Lord, as a teenager. Then I spent time browsing through all the poems he wrote, which were saved in that folder. I was looking at a collection of memories, of the good work God began in him, kept in a folder for the past 27 years. 

It was a needed reminder of how his heart was once open to God, and I’m sure I was meant to find those letters and poems to refresh my memory. It was the answer to my prayer, being able to see the good that God once began in his life. That journey was interrupted by choices he made, but I received a glimpse of what God can do, and I have renewed hope that He can finish the work He began in him.

It changed my perspective as I read the memories in that folder. Instead of focusing on the negative, I focus on the goodness that God began. My perspective needed to change more than I first realized. I forgot how dedicated Jon once was, but Jesus didn’t, and He wants to finish the good work He started in him.

He may be a 43 year old prodigal, but he is still Jon. Even though he lost his way, His good shepherd knows that he was once a part of his sheepfold. In reading those letters and poems, it felt as if Jesus was saying to me, “This is how I see Jon.” I know that Jesus wants to continue His good work in him, right where He left off.

Jesus is calling Jon back, and He is calling all of us back in some way, even if it’s a call back to a memory or a vision of hope and truth that we have somehow forgotten. He calls every prodigal back to repentance, but He also calls believers back to trusting in Him, and renewing our hope that He has more good to do in all of us. 

God called everything that He made, “good”, and there is a reason for it. We can be confident that He is still working His good in our lives, as well as in our family and our children’s lives.

Lord, we believe you have plans to finish every good work that you began in us. Open our hearts and minds in recalling where you left off and help us to envision how good your completed work will be. Amen

“In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”  Psalm 4:8 (NIV)

No one and nothing can give us the sense of safety or security that the Lord Himself gives us. We are not able to see the invisible world of angels or the Holy Spirit, who works on our behalf, to guide, shield and protect us from what we cannot see, minute by minute, day after day. 

Of all the security systems, burglar alarms, types of devices, weapons and tools of protection, the safest place to be is in the shadow of the Almighty God. The Lord alone, makes us dwell in safety, by sending His angels or other people, at the right time and place, to keep us safe and protected.

When I was involved in a church youth group many years ago, a young man in the group shared a true story. He offered to drive a teenage girl home one evening after youth group. He dropped her off at her apartment building in Chicago, watching as she walked into the front hallway of the building. As he started to drive away, before getting to the end of the block, he felt a very strong compulsion to go back and check on her. He went back and as he walked into that front hallway, a man had her pinned against the wall, but then he quickly fled out the door. 

Some would say the young man listened to his gut by going back, and others might say the Holy Spirit led him to go back. Maybe it’s the Holy Spirit who places those feelings within our gut. Either way, God was looking out for that young girl that day. 

A missionary, living in Brazil, once shared a true story. He was asked to speak at a school in a high crime neighborhood of Sao Paulo. It was three in the afternoon, and as he was driving home afterwords, about 8 motorcycles started following his car, with two men riding on each cycle. A Brazilian native, who was in the car with the missionary, told him that it was a gang of car thieves, and was a very common crime trend happening there. 

The missionary, seeing the motorcycles approaching closer to their car, began praying out loud, and said “Lord, you promised to protect us and we need you to honor that promise now.” He kept talking to God and praying, as the cyclists rode alongside them for about two more minutes. As they looked at them, all the cyclists suddenly slowed behind them and left. The missionary believed that they probably saw or felt something to dissuade them from continuing. 

Trusting in God’s miraculous protection may sound hard to believe, but God gives us many scriptural examples as well as verses  to inspire our trust in His protection. 

Young David prayed before he faced a 9’9” man who had been terrorizing the Israelite army, and he defeated him with one little stone. 

A den full of starving lions, suddenly lost their appetite, had no interest in eating Daniel, as he stood before them, praying and worshipping.

God loves us and we are never alone. Nothing is impossible when people pray, Whether we lie down to sleep or move around during a busy day, we will be surrounded by His helpers and led by His Spirit.

The God we serve, is the omnipotent King of the universe and it’s enough to know that His son, Jesus, told us to ask for the impossible….

“Jesus looked at them and said, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

(Matthew 19:26)

Lord, I pray you give each reader a new awareness of the invisible hedge of protection that surrounds us every day. Our safest place to dwell in, is in You alone, where nothing is impossible, because you are an ultimate source of all kinds of security. Amen

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence,
and take not thy holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of thy salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

Psalm 51: 10-12 (RSV)

Throughout scripture, there are many examples of the Spirit of God calling people to do something. He cleanses us, corrects us, and restores our joy. Then He calls us to do something and to work with Him, in some way. It’s a call deep in our heart, and if our spirit is willing, the desire to answer His call grows. Whatever He calls us to do, He will wait patiently until we respond.

There is nothing that God cannot do, since He is all powerful, and yet He chooses people to work with Him, to further His kingdom. In the last line of this scripture, we are invited to have what the inspired psalmist calls 

“a willing spirit.”

God needs no one. He invites us to participate with His plans because He loves us. He doesn’t need us but He wants us, simply because we are loved by Him. 

God asked Isaiah who He should send, as a messenger to His people, and Isaiah volunteered himself, saying, “Here I am, send me!” 

He called Samuel, but waited for him to respond, by saying “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”

If Mary hadn’t responded positively, the Holy Spirit would never have forced His entry into her womb. She is the prime example of someone with a willing spirit. She chose to cooperate with God’s plan of salvation, bringing Jesus to all of us. 

Throughout scripture, the Spirit of God politely asks, invites, and gently beckons. He never forces His way upon us, He waits for us to respond positively, and with honesty to Him. 

Just as we wouldn’t want someone to befriend us under compulsion, God is looking for a positive, but truthful response to Him.

When my mother once had a small stroke, she was admitted to the hospital where I worked. I knew the neurosurgeons in that hospital, so when the surgeon on call that day arrived to the ICU to see my mother, he was surprised to see me there.

He told me that her scan showed a  very small bleed in her brain. He didn’t recommend surgery, saying that the bleeding would eventually be reabsorbed. I remember having only one question to ask him, and I said, “If this was your mother, what would you do?”

He looked directly at me and said, 

“If it was my mother, I would not recommend surgery.” That was all I needed to hear. An honest response leading to the right treatment was enough. She did recover and was able to speak and walk again without a problem. 

There is comfort in knowing we have received an honest response. A positive response is valuable, but more so, when we believe it to be truthful. The examples in scripture show us people who had both a willing and truthful spirit. A willing spirit is also referred to throughout the Old Testament regarding free will offerings to God and His temple. 

Therefore, a willing spirit leads us to service as well as to giving. When we open our heart to give in every way to God, He will restore the joy of our salvation. 

Lord, open our hearts and uphold in us a willing spirit. Lead us to respond in any way that you have been calling us or patiently waiting for our response to your invitation. Amen

“And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.”

Galatians 6:9 (RSV)

My family is from Chicago, but after my widowed mother, retired, she relocated to Huntington Beach, California. My brother was already living there, working for Boeing, and she decided that it would be a sunny, warm place to spend her retirement years. She lived there for 29 years, made great friends, and we had many enjoyable visits over the years. 

She enjoyed a 90th birthday party, in her California home, joined by family and friends who flew in to celebrate that day with her. She continued to live independently and in good health. 

She was doing so well until one day, she tripped and fell, while walking to the nearby grocery store. She broke her wrist and then became fearful and hesitant to venture outside after that. It wasn’t long after that injury, that my brother and I noticed a change in her mental status, and  she was starting to become confused. 

For some time, she was a recipient of a daily meal from “Meals on wheels.”One day, on a minor holiday, no meal was delivered to her, since they don’t deliver meals on holidays. In her confusion of not receiving a meal, she dialed 9-1-1, urgently reporting to the dispatcher that no one brought her meal that day. 

The Huntington Beach police department sent two officers to her home. I learned afterward that those officers came to her door, and asked her what she would like to eat. Taking note of her requests, they left and returned minutes later with a cheeseburger and french fries. 

(She declined a beverage, because she had cold beer in her refrigerator.)

My mother was unaware that she received a service that was far beyond the norm of a 9-1-1 call. In her dementia, she had unrealistic expectations of her local police department, but they came through anyway. When I later heard the whole story, I was so touched by their kindness, that I wrote a letter to the Huntington Beach police department, thanking them for the thoughtfulness of those officers.

As her health worsened, we moved her back to Illinois, where she lived with my husband and me. We gave her a 92nd birthday party in my home, and four months later, she passed away peacefully in her sleep. 

That was eighteen years ago, but I will never forget the kindness of those police officers who went the extra mile that day, far beyond their job description, for a total stranger. As today’s scripture says, those who do not grow weary in doing good, will reap in due season. I trust that those officers reaped a blessing for their kindness to my mother, and to many others.

Throughout her nine decades of life,  my mother never missed a chance to serve or care for others, because she was also a person who routinely went the extra mile. I believe she reaped her blessings in due season. 

God establishes these natural laws of life, the sowing and reaping of acts of kindness, for rewards in this life as well as in Heaven. It’s beautiful to see it manifested in such a simple example, as this one. Stories like this, teach us to push on, not to lose heart, since we all have moments of growing weary in doing good. There will be a day of reaping for all, in due season.

Lord, thank you for going far beyond the extra mile for us, by offering yourself for our salvation. Reveal to each of us how we can sow seeds of kindness and not grow weary, that we may reap blessings later in life, as well as in heaven. Amen

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Matthew 13:44 (NAB)

The children of Israel went through extensive humbling while they wandered through the wilderness. They were hungry, thirsty, hot, bitten by snakes, missing all the comforts of home, like their own bed, their favorite foods as well as the lack of abundant drinking water.

Despite being freed from the oppression of slavery in Egypt, they thought the wilderness was the worst thing they ever went through. God separated them from their familiar environment, because He was setting them apart for a new purpose, but they lost sight of the promised land ahead of them. They were inwardly focused, missing the treasures hidden in that wilderness.

The wilderness was only part of their journey, not the final destination. Everyone goes through some kind of wilderness, through a trial that separates them from the comforts of their familiar lifestyle. About five years ago, I went through a stage of feeling completely isolated. I became a widow and the following year was the Covid pandemic. My church closed for months, I was furloughed from my job, and I didn’t see much of friends or family at all. 

During that time, I started asking God if I had any gifts and how to use them during this downtime. I read scripture each morning, wrote down what I learned, and then I started writing daily meditations. I never sent them to anyone, but one day I mentioned to my friend Laura what I was doing, and she asked me to send the meditations to her. I did, and it gradually spread to many more people. Until then, I never even knew I loved writing. 

The most important lesson I learned in that wilderness of isolation, was to develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit. I began to ask Him specifically for direction, wisdom, gifts and inspiration. When I asked, He answered, by using a friend, and I discovered hidden treasures as new adventures began. I constantly need to remind myself to stay in that relationship with the Holy Spirit. 

I recently entered a whole new wilderness last year, when my adult son, Jon, had a serious motorcycle accident.

He went through brain surgery, two weeks in a coma, lying in intensive care and is now living in a long term care facility. In addition to his traumatic brain injury and unknown prognosis, I often feel pushed to the edge with the ongoing frustrations of dealing with the State and my legal guardianship. I have to constantly surrender every situation to Jesus, asking Him to take care of everything.

That’s when the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and I found the treasures hidden in this new wilderness. As I looked around, I saw people in that Nursing Facility who are completely alone, they have no visitors, no hope and no attention from anyone. The treasure I found is in becoming a friend to the friendless, to give a bit of hope to the hopeless, and simply sharing small gestures of kindness with each of them.

We need to remember that we are journeying through a wilderness, but it’s a journey, not a final destination. As I ask the Holy Spirit to show me the hidden treasures, I look around and He points out people with souls, and their needs. As long as I am visiting regularly, I focus on what I can share with those souls at the Nursing facility. For some, it’s a hug, or listening to their story, having conversations, or sharing a tin full of butter cookies and just playing music for them.

I’ve learned that finding treasures,  requires looking outside of myself. 

If I only look inward, I would dwell on my own frustrations and problems, and feel only despair. Jesus gave us His Spirit to comfort us and to reveal a mission within our own personal wilderness. We were meant to surrender everything to Him and then look around us. The treasures will no longer be hidden once we look in the right direction, which is outward.

I heard a story about an older man who always remained in church looking at the altar, praying long after services were over. He was asked one day by his pastor, “What are you praying for?” He answered, “I just look at Jesus and He looks at me.” 

What a sweet spirit of adoration. Prayer doesn’t always have to be filled with frantic requests. If we look at Jesus, and let Him look at us, He shows us what to look at next, and it’s always going to be something outside of ourselves. That’s the Spirit of Jesus. He went to the cross, looking outside of Himself, and the hidden treasures of His wilderness are each one of us, who abide in Him. 

Whatever kind of wilderness we are in, by looking outward, instead of inward, His Spirit is speaking to us about what we can do for others.

Holy Spirit, as we surrender all of our stressors to Jesus, open the eyes of our heart and show us who or what you want us to see, so that we can find the treasures hidden in our own wilderness. Amen

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.”

Proverbs 4:5-6 (NASB)

My favorite word in this scripture is “acknowledge”. Amazing things can happen when we acknowledge God in every area of our life. When we acknowledge Him, He acknowledges us.  I heard someone once define devotion to God as “the vibrant personal conviction that God knows me, hears me and cares about me.” If we live with this conviction, we can go through anything. Acknowledging God, is to open the eyes of our heart and take Christ with us in every part of our everyday lives. 

There is no greater satisfaction we can have, than knowing we are in God’s will. He never promised to make our path easy or super joyful, but it’s satisfying to know that we are where He wants us to be, according to His plan, not ours. That can only come by acknowledging Him as we start each day. Devotion to God can only grow when we realize that He is lining up the people we meet and the places we go, all in His timing and according to His good purpose. 

I used to regularly attend Zumba fitness dance classes at my local Fitness center, but since my husband died five years ago, and Covid changed the scheduling, I slacked off in attending any classes. Recently I have been feeling that I should return to those Zumba classes, so I looked up the fitness class schedule, found the day and time, and saw it was led by a teacher who I never knew, but I made the effort to return anyway. It turns out I loved the class and planned to attend regularly. 

I was on my way to my second class one morning and I asked for God’s perfect timing throughout the day. After arriving, I saw a lady in my class, who I hadn’t seen since I had been to classes five years ago. During our small talk, I told her that I recently retired, but then the music started, so we stopped talking. 

In between songs, she asked me how I liked retirement, which is always a question I think long and hard about, before answering. I don’t always feel like sharing the story of Jon’s accident, with just anyone, so I usually just smile and answer “It’s fine” and leave it at that.

As we kept chatting in between songs, she asked me how I now spend my time, so I decided to tell her about Jon’s accident and brain injury, and how it happened one month before I retired. She stopped and looked intently at me and said, “I’m an expert in brain injury!” At first I thought she was identifying herself as a doctor, but then she went on to share that her own son also had a serious skull fracture and brain injury from falling off a balcony in college 25 years ago. He survived it, but had been through seizures, speech therapy, and learning to walk and talk all over again. Today, he lives with her but is fairly independent, with some physical and mental deficits. He has come a long way, and survived in more ways than the doctors had expected. 

As I listened to her, I was stunned to find all this out, wondering how I never had this conversation with her years ago. Needless to say, we had a lot in common, and our sons are even the same age. We remained talking long after the class, and exchanged phone numbers. She had every right to call herself an expert in brain injury, after caring for her own son for the past 25 years. 

Our conversation and my return to Zumba classes was no coincidence.  God was acknowledged in the start of my day, and He brought together two mothers of adult sons, the same age, with a similar injury, at the right time and place. I thought I was being led back to Zumba classes because I needed the exercise, but it was slightly more than that. 

If we ask for God’s perfect timing, He works out His divine providence so that we meet exactly who we are meant to meet. It’s just one example of how God connect us to others who are going through a similar situation.

God is all knowing, and He knew five years ago that she and I would have that conversation one day. He knows all that we are going through today, and who He has lined up for us to meet tomorrow. His thoughts are far above our thoughts and His ways are unfathomable, but one thing we can be sure, that God knows us, He loves us and cares for us in every aspect of our day.

Lord, we acknowledge you in all our ways, knowing you care for us and want to be involved in every aspect of our lives. Whatever we are going through, we devote ourselves to you as you lead us in your perfect will and in the straightest paths. Amen 

“Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Acts 4: 29-30 (NIV)

I think a lot about our hands and how  we use them in simple gestures or in acts of kindness. We are all God’s servants, and as we speak His words of comfort to others, He touches others through our hands. It’s what being the body of Christ is all about. 

It means so much to some people to receive affirmation through a touch. We acknowledge people through a simple wave or a handshake, especially in laying a hand on someone as we pray for them. These are ways that our human hands can briefly become the hands of Jesus.

Last week Jon’s uncle visited him. He pastors a church in the Grayslake area, and has visited Jon every month since his accident. He came last week, while I was there and we prayed for him together. As he prayed, he placed his hands on Jon’s shoulders, but Jon tried to remove his uncle’s hand from his shoulder. We just looked at each other but he finished praying anyway. I’m not sure if that was Jon expressing resistance to prayer, or just an expression of his current state of confusion. It really doesn’t matter because we will pray for him anyway, and then leave him in God’s hands.

Whenever I visit, I usually sit with Jon for a while, but routinely mingle with the other residents in the day room, since most of them never have any visitors. I’ve learned everyone’s name and they know mine as well. 

One day, I arrived to see Amber sitting all alone at a table on the other side of the room. Tawana wasn’t there that day and since no one else was sitting with her, I went over to greet her but she was quiet and withdrawn that day. 

I put the music on for her and she briefly smiled at me, but still said nothing. I felt the urge to stay beside her for a while and listened to music with her. Suddenly, there was a loud outburst of anger, and an altercation across the room from where we were. Two male residents were shouting at each other, about to get physical, as several staff persons rushed over to to try and de-escalate the tension. 

As we watched the tense encounter from across the room, I wondered how Amber was perceiving the whole scene. I put my hand on her shoulder and quietly whispered to her, “It’s okay, Amber.” I kept my hand on her, and she didn’t resist my touch. I was relieved since I wasn’t sure how she would react to touch, with her complicated history. I kept my hand on her shoulder telling her everything is okay and then there was peace in the room again.

While I was alone with Amber on that side of the room, I took the next step, and said a silent prayer for her, with my hand still on her shoulder. I think God was separating us from all the others that day, giving me a chance to privately pray for her. The timing was perfect, and I’m glad I felt compelled to stay with her and pray. 

Most people want to be touched, to be acknowledged and to be prayed for. Some people, like Jon, might resist a hand on their shoulder for whatever reason, but there are countless others who actually hunger for it. We can only do what God leads us to do, with those who are open and receptive to it. We offer our hands to God, and He does the rest of the work, within a person’s heart.

Peter and John did what God led them to do, and as they touched people, God healed many of them miraculously.  After Jesus ascended to heaven, all believers are now His hands and His voice, speaking to and touching  anyone who hungers for Him. We simply make our hands available, and Jesus does the rest.

I’m already thinking of a few others at the Nursing Facility, and wonder what God has in store for them. He stretches out His hands through us, if we make ourselves available. Our hands are the only hands He has to use in this world. He uses us to touch and heal others, and He also sends other people to touch us at the perfect time in our need as well. 

Lord, consecrate our hands and use them to extend your healing touch to others. Let your Spirit speak through us, and help others to know how much you love them. Amen

“Manoah then prayed to the Lord, “Please, my Lord,” he said, “may the man of God whom you sent return to us to teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.” 

Judges 13:8 (NAB)

When God sent an angel to the mother of Samson, to announce that she would soon have a son, who was to be consecrated to God and live under a special Nazarite vow, she quickly told her husband, Manoah. Only two people in the old testament lived according to that Nazarite vow, Samson and Samuel. In the New Testament it was only John the Baptist.

Manoah apparently was a person of details, so when a heavenly being appeared to his wife, explaining the consecrated life of a Nazarite, he wanted more information. Manoah prayed and asked God to send the angel back to better prepare them in all their ways, to raise their child according to the Nazarite vow.  

God is in all the details, evidenced by pages of instruction to Solomon of how to build His temple. Everything that God plans, involves many specifics, although He doesn’t always choose to share all those specific details with everyone. In this case, Manoah prayed and requested more of those details and God granted his request, by sending the same angel back a second time. 

It’s probably the only biblical example of a person requesting a repeat informative visit by an angel, and receiving it. The couple had been childless for so long that they were nervous parents to be, but God was patient with them.

It was as if Samson needed to be born with a special instruction manual, and these were some of the instructions given by that angel:

“No razor shall touch his head, for the boy is to be a Nazirite for God, from the womb. It is he who will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines. Your wife must be careful about all the things of which I spoke to her. She must not eat anything that comes from the vine, she must not drink wine or beer, and she must not eat anything unclean.” 

(Judges 13:5,13,14)

Any of us can relate to Manoah’s request for extra instruction. Anytime we are going through a situation that feels like an unfamiliar frontier, we could benefit with an instruction manual from God.

It kind of reminds me of my own current situation in becoming a permanent legal guardian for my disabled adult son. I’m living in a different world these days, learning my responsibilities and all the legalities that come with being his guardian. The State of Illinois even requires that all permanent legal guardians take a course on line within a year from the date that their guardianship began.

It’s not something that I crave learning about, and I can think of much more enjoyable ways to spend my retirement, but God is constantly leading us into new frontiers, where we have no choice but to learn many new things.

All this learning can be overwhelming and I can certainly relate to Manoah, requesting that the angel return. The angel did return and re-explained everything to both Manoah and his wife, and then he disappeared. The couple bowed to the ground, knowing that they received what they needed from God. 

In my own experience, even with the expertise of an attorney, and a document signed by a judge, some things do not go as smooth as they should. Not every problem is solved by a professional, and I still have to rely on God, saying, “I surrender all of this to you, Lord, please take care of everything.”

We all need endurance, patience  and wisdom, but more than anything, we need to surrender every problem to God. I am reminded of the scripture in Proverbs 3:6, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”

God’s prescription for every difficult situation is a continuous surrender to Him. 

When I start overthinking something, worrying, or feeling overwhelmed, I stop and say to Him, “In all my ways, I acknowledge and surrender this to you, Lord.”

Sometimes I just shorten the prayer, look up and say, “In all my ways …Lord,” 

and He knows exactly what I mean.

God loves us, and He knew from the day of our birth, everything that we would be facing today, and He wants us to cling to Him, as His Spirit is our instruction manual. He is the one who keeps us from becoming emotionally derailed by every new demand placed upon us, as we acknowledge His presence is with us. We can only submit ourselves to an all powerful God, who dwells with us and in us, and helps us one day at a time.

Lord, while we are walking through unfamiliar territory, seeking your path in the new and challenging frontiers of our life, we surrender everything to you, trusting that you will guide us through each and every day. Amen