Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
May 26, 2024
James 1:2-8
2 My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. 3 After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing. 5 But anyone who needs wisdom should ask God, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score. Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask. 6 Whoever asks shouldn’t hesitate. They should ask in faith, without doubting. Whoever doubts is like the surf of the sea, tossed and turned by the wind. 7 People like that should never imagine that they will receive anything from the Lord. 8 They are double-minded and unstable in all their ways.
Good Morning! Happy Lord’s Day
During my years as a teacher, I encountered many types of parents. Some came anytime they were invited, such as for a presentation, concert, or lunch. Others came as their schedule allowed, and some never came.
If I look deeper into the parents who came, I find two groups: those who came to support their child by their presence and those who worked to make sure their child never struggled. We will call that second group the hover parents. They sound like a noble group, but they hinder their child’s development because they never let their child struggle to find the solution.
As educators, we study and practice the need for productive struggle. A youngster would never learn to tie their own shoe if someone always stepped in and finished the job for them when they struggled. If that’s true for such a basic act, then imagine how this affects those things that challenge us.
To learn perseverance requires struggle. Those who live a life without struggles are ill-equipped to learn to navigate their life and often give up at their first challenge. Like the child who waits for their parent to step in and finish tying their shoe, they just wait for someone to fix it for them.
God, our heavenly parent, is always with us as that supportive parent. God watches and grimaces as we make mistakes, but patiently waits for us to work through the problem so that we can learn from the situation. When the task becomes more than we can manage, God steps in and comforts us as we work through our failures.
Encouraging God, Thank you for this beautiful gift of life. Despite our frustration, we know that our struggles strengthen us. Thank you for being by our side, urging us to take the next step, no matter how badly we are doing. We thank you! In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: God is our refuge, and we can rest in God’s love.
God is by our side! Pastor Liz
Comments