Morning Devotional 082523 Moving Forward

Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room

August 25, 2023

Lamentation 3:19-23

19 The memory of my suffering and homelessness is bitterness and poison. 20 I can’t help but remember and am depressed. 21 I call all this to mind—therefore, I will wait. 22 Certainly, the faithful love of the LORD hasn’t ended; certainly, God’s compassion isn’t through! 23 They are renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

Good Morning. Accept God’s mystery with awe!

Sometimes, God’s mysterious ways metaphorically smack me in the face. I have had multiple occasions this week where one conversation was unexpectedly connected to another one later in the day or the week. Multiple contexts but the same theme.

These past 30 days have included many challenges in my life. Nothing life-shattering, but those annoyances, when lumped together in a specific span of time, make me want to throw up my hands in despair. My river of life has been churning in a little rut, a boiling eddy in river terminology.

Yesterday, I felt the winds shift, and I knew I was moving forward again. When I pulled up today’s reading and saw a passage from Lamentations, I just laughed out loud. I said God, this is perfectly ironic as a reminder that Your faithful love hasn’t ended, and Your compassion is renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

I’m renewed and ready to make a run (moving forward) and take on a new set of challenges. I know that my challenges help me grow, and the calm waters that follow allow me to process and apply what I’ve learned. In all things, I give thanks, but sometimes I need a nudge or a reminder to do so. Thank you for being so patient with me. May others see Christ in me, in spite of me.

Loving God, We thank you! You accept us where we are with all our flaws and imperfections. You laugh with us, and you cry with us, but you are always with us. We love you! Thank you! In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen

Thought for the day: Every chance, even the tough ones, to serve God is a special opportunity.

Grab your oar and move forward! Pastor Liz