Daily devotion

And Yet God’s Grace

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness…” 2 Corinthians 12:9a

There is nothing I like about weakness, and I loathe the inabilities that have come with age. My fingers sometimes ache when I play my guitar and my voice takes time out for lunch while I am trying to finish a song. There is so much that needs to be done which requires, more strength, endurance and intelligence than I possess – and Yet God inexplicably delights in those moments. When I am no longer capable of once very ordinary things, God’s grace that lay dormant in my younger more capable days, becomes active.

I hate sitting and only listening when I feel I should speak. It is frustrating to spend nights tossing and turning over struggles which should be old hat by now and-Yet God- has promised that even when I can no longer trust myself, I can trust that He will give me grace. His grace is enough in every need. His grace is enough when I cannot understand. His grace is enough when my plans tangle like threads which His fingers alone can unknot and weave into a beautiful tapestry. His grace is enough when I cannot sing a note to give me song in the night. Oh yes – I do not love my weakness – and Yet God- has promised that in my weakness His power and strength will be made perfect, His grace will carry us through, and He will get all the glory and praise!

2 Corinthians 12:9b
Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, 
so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.   

Getting Ready

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2 NIV

Eighty-one years ago, no one was ready for change, least of all, eleven-year-old Diane. That Sunday morning, she was just slowly waking up. She snuggled down under the blankets quietly thinking of how wonderful it was that her father’s job with the Navy had moved them all the way from Connecticut to Hawaii. The temperature the day before had been in the upper 70’s, and compared to snowy New England, that felt like heaven! Just then she heard the sound of a plane flying strangely low over their house, and she sat up and looking out the window caught a glimpse of a plane as it turned towards the harbor and noticed a bright red circle painted on its wings. Next the phone began ringing, and she heard the door to her parent’s room creak open and her dad’s footsteps padding into the kitchen to answer. Diane slipped out of bed and tip-toed to her doorway, just in time to see daddy running back into the bedroom and hear her mom yelling for her and her older brother Don to wake up. Then from the direction of the harbor, came the sound of explosions, such as she had never heard before. Suddenly everything she knew was turned upside down. My grandfather, who was the captain of one of the destroyers which were not damaged, went out to sea and my grandmother with mom and her two brothers moved back to Connecticut and the world was changed forever!

Photo by John Wolf on Pexels.com

On this first week of 2023 we are no more ready for what lies ahead than Diane (who was my mom) and her family were on December 7th, 1941. Not even the United States Navy knew that 360 Japanese planes were coming to attack our fleet as it sat at anchor that morning. We can never know what challenges, disasters, or difficulties await us this year. What we can do is pray. Prayer means more than simply sitting up in bed to look out the window. Prayer man’s the anti-aircraft guns at the entrance to the harbor of our souls. Prayer means, watching God’s spiritual radar for enemy infiltrations of our airspace and helping our loved ones to a place of safety when we are under attack. Prayer means staying spiritually awake, but not fearfully huddled in a corner, flinching at every sound. We must devote ourselves to prayer in the same way the U. S. Navy did when it repaired its ships, recruited and trained thousands of seamen and went on to win the war. With God in charge at our spiritual Naval headquarters, we can trust that He knows the plans He has for us, and we can be thankful that He will be with us through the dangers and lead us to victory no matter what lies ahead!