FAITH CONNECTION – FARMERSVILLE UMC
Encouragement for June 11th, 2020
The following contribution is from Jenny Michael
Scripture for Reflection – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9; 16-17
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are never destroyed.
That is why we never give up. Though are bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
Reflection – The Right Answer
I like to have the right answer. You don’t have to know me very well to know that I’m quick with a hypothesis, an opinion or an answer. Yet during the past few months, an answer always seems to be just out of reach. I’m perplexed. Every day it feels like the recommendations change. Both at work and at home (which is the same location nowadays), I find myself saying “I just don’t know” or “we’ll just have to feel our way through this for the next few weeks.” If only I had a crystal ball. If only I knew the answer.
Yet this scripture reminds me that there will always be times of trouble. There will be times when we are perplexed. There are times when we will get knocked down. But I prefer to focus on the second part of each sentence. We will not be crushed. We will not be driven to despair. We will never be destroyed. Despite all the uncertainty that exists, all the answers we don’t know, we do know who holds our future. God is our alpha and our omega—just as he knew the beginning he knows the end.
During these times when answers seem to be just out of reach, I find it comforting to turn to my daily scripture, take a moment to do some deep breathing, doodle, watch happy movies and journal about the good in my day and life on the farm. These moments of escape help take me beyond the constant search for an answer, to a place of peace where I can be reminded that I don’t have to have the answer, because God already has it figured out. I just need to be still and listen.
Prayer
God in heaven, you are the alpha and the omega. You created a marvelously complicated and complex world, yet you know the answer. Help us to remember Lord that if we seek you first and listen to that small, quiet voice in our spirit, you will show us the path. Lord we ask that you provide us with patience for the unknown, wisdom to sort through fact from fiction, and your peace that surpasses all understanding. Amen.