Today’s Readings: Psalm 75; Leviticus 23:1-22; Luke 21:5-19; Philippians 4:1-7; Psalm 82
I remember taking a trip with my family to a local lake one summer afternoon when I was about 12. When we got to the lake, I was bummed to see that most of the beach had already been taken over by those who had arrived earlier than we had so I ventured off to find some undisturbed portion of the beach I could claim for myself. It didn’t take long for me to find what I thought was a patch. I waded in right away. I didn’t stop long enough to notice that the patch of beach I had found was outside the roped area. That meant the area wasn’t cleaned or maintained by the staff at the resort. And wouldn’t you know within a few minutes I had stepped on a broken bottle that someone had thrown into the lake and severely cut the bottom of my left foot. My folks rushed me to the emergency room at our local hospital to get stitches. I remember being beside myself on the way to the hospital because I had never had stitches before. Looking back on the experience I don’t know what was worse: the actual pain of my cut or the worry about what getting stitches would be like. After my parents had filled out the necessary forms, I was finally taken to a room where a nurse started to tend to my gaping wound. Luckily, the nurse sensed that my anxiety level was really high so she stopped what she was doing and spent a minute talking with me. I got so into our conversation that I barely noticed when she picked up the disinfectant and needle and proceeded to clean out and then stitch my wound. Our conversation helped take my mind off the matter at hand and put things into perspective for me. Before I knew it, the worst of the experience was over and she was handing my folks a prescription for the antibiotics I was supposed to take. I was reminded of that experience as I read today’s words from Philippians that said: “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down” (Philippians 4:6-7 from The Message). Over the years, I’ve realized that my communication with God at those difficult times in my life helps do what my conversation with the nurse did that day nearly 30 years ago: it slows me down and helps refocus my anxious energies. Perhaps you are facing an issue today that is causing your anxiety level to shoot through the roof. If so, I would encourage you to try to dislodge your worry with something else – prayer. If you try that, you just might get a most unexpected sensation – “a sense of God’s wholeness” that “will come and settle you down” too. Til next time…
I remember taking a trip with my family to a local lake one summer afternoon when I was about 12. When we got to the lake, I was bummed to see that most of the beach had already been taken over by those who had arrived earlier than we had so I ventured off to find some undisturbed portion of the beach I could claim for myself. It didn’t take long for me to find what I thought was a patch. I waded in right away. I didn’t stop long enough to notice that the patch of beach I had found was outside the roped area. That meant the area wasn’t cleaned or maintained by the staff at the resort. And wouldn’t you know within a few minutes I had stepped on a broken bottle that someone had thrown into the lake and severely cut the bottom of my left foot. My folks rushed me to the emergency room at our local hospital to get stitches. I remember being beside myself on the way to the hospital because I had never had stitches before. Looking back on the experience I don’t know what was worse: the actual pain of my cut or the worry about what getting stitches would be like. After my parents had filled out the necessary forms, I was finally taken to a room where a nurse started to tend to my gaping wound. Luckily, the nurse sensed that my anxiety level was really high so she stopped what she was doing and spent a minute talking with me. I got so into our conversation that I barely noticed when she picked up the disinfectant and needle and proceeded to clean out and then stitch my wound. Our conversation helped take my mind off the matter at hand and put things into perspective for me. Before I knew it, the worst of the experience was over and she was handing my folks a prescription for the antibiotics I was supposed to take. I was reminded of that experience as I read today’s words from Philippians that said: “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down” (Philippians 4:6-7 from The Message). Over the years, I’ve realized that my communication with God at those difficult times in my life helps do what my conversation with the nurse did that day nearly 30 years ago: it slows me down and helps refocus my anxious energies. Perhaps you are facing an issue today that is causing your anxiety level to shoot through the roof. If so, I would encourage you to try to dislodge your worry with something else – prayer. If you try that, you just might get a most unexpected sensation – “a sense of God’s wholeness” that “will come and settle you down” too. Til next time…
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