Devotionals for the Heart: Seasons

Loving Well in Changing Seasons
A devotional by Jessica Brodie

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end.”

—Lamentations 3:22 (NRSV)

Have you ever experienced a love that changes?

When I was a kid, I remember being struck by how my grandmother would take care of my mom sometimes, even though my mom was a grown woman and had kids of her own.

Now, this wasn’t the same kind of caregiving my mom did for me. After all, I was a child and couldn’t cook for myself or keep house, but it was visible in the little things—the way my Gram made sure my mom had gotten herself something to drink when she came over for dinner, or the way she made her sit down because she could tell my mom was stressed out.

Gram was a natural caregiver—she took in her own mom, my great-grandma, whom we called Bubba (honest truth!), until Bubba passed away. She took in my great-aunt Ethel until Aunt Ethel passed. She took in my cousin and her young son for a while, and she faithfully cared for my grandpa until he, too, passed on.

Then Gram was suddenly alone.

Somehow, my mom convinced Gram to sell the house she’d lived in since 1952 and move three states away to live in a mother-in-law suite at my mom’s house. That’s when things really began to change. Slowly Gram, always one of the smartest women I’ve ever known, began to slip mentally. She’d forget things, and eventually the decline quickened. Eventually my grandma was the one in the hospital bed, family gathered all around her, showing her love and saying their goodbyes.

Gram went from caregiver to being cared for herself.

I’m not there yet with my mom, who is active and vibrant and still very youthful, but I know things will one day change. Just like my mom once washed me and dressed me as a little girl, one day I’ll be doing the same thing for her. And my daughter will do the same for me.

One of the most profound things about love and the expression of love is the way that it changes. It is not stagnant but fluid, evolving to serve and grow in new and sometimes unexpected ways. The love itself does not change, but it appears to change, and the way it is expressed can change.

It reminds me a bit of the love God has for us, his people. God’s love is timeless.

We cannot box it in or even begin to define it, let alone comprehend its fullness. But we sometimes see it reflected in different ways depending on the stage of life we are in. Sometimes it feels like a close, personal love, a love that walks with you in every step. Other times it’s a tougher love. The kind of love that tests us to help us understand the big picture. God did not love Abraham any less when he asked him to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Genesis 22:1-18).

It likely broke Abraham’s heart to have to do what he did, take his son and lead him off to a presumed sacrifice. And God did not love Isaac any less either. God did what was hard to help Abraham understand a necessary fact—no matter how much love we have for our self or our children, nothing must be stronger than the love we have for our Heavenly Father. Nothing can stand in the way. That’s a hard lesson to learn, but God taught it in love and for a higher purpose. (And thankfully, Abraham passed the “test” and didn’t have to sacrifice Isaac after all.)

Throughout the Bible God is known by many names. He’s the same God—God Almighty, the Great I Am—but he has other special names that don’t detract or diminish his greatness or other names. These other names often express the type of love a person might be experiencing at that moment.

For example, God is known also as:

· Yahweh (Lord)

· Adonai (Master)

· Elohim (Creator)

· Abba (Father/Daddy)

· El Roi (The God who sees me)

· Jehovah Jireh (The Lord will provide)

· Jehovah Rapha (The God who heals)

· Jehovah Nissi (God as banner or protector)

· Jehovah Shalom (God of peace)

Right now, the name that is most appealing to me for God is El Roi, the God who sees me. It’s been a really hard season in my life, and while things are getting back on track, I’m often exhausted mentally and physically. But I know that God sees me right now, in the space I’m in. He understands, and he walks with me.

I love Lamentations 3:22, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end” (NRSV). The way we experience God’s love might change over the years and even over the course of a month, a week (or in my roller-coaster life, a day!). But God’s love is always the same perfect, inexplicable, steadfast gift.

As God’s people, our experience might be different, but it’s the same love.

And it’s up to us, God’s people, to model that beautiful love in the relationships we have with others. In 1 John 4:19, we’re reminded that we love because God first loved us.

Today, I hope you will think about the way you love others. Sometimes roles change, life changes, and our feelings change, whether that’s in a parent-child relationship, a husband-wife relationship, or a friendship. But that agape love remains.

Hold onto that truth, my friends. Just love.

Let’s Pray: Lord, Abba, El Roi, please help me to love people in my life well, whether I’m in a “good” period in life or not. Help my love to expand along with changing life situations and accept those changes with grace, peace, and compassion. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

*Note from Alexis: Jessica's devotional message today reminds me of the song "Seasons Change" by Crystal Lewis. Listen to it here.

~*~
Author Bio:

Jessica Brodie is an award-winning Christian novelist, journalist, editor, blogger, and writing coach and the recipient of the 2018 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award for her novel, The Memory Garden. 

 

She is also the editor of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest newspaper in Methodism.

Learn more about her fiction and read her faith blog at http://jessicabrodie.com.

She has a weekly YouTube devotional and podcast. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and more. She’s also produced a free eBook, A God-Centered Life: 10 Faith-Based Practices When You’re Feeling Anxious, Grumpy, or Stressed.

Devotionals for the Heart: Finding God’s Love in the Little Things

Little Things
A devotional by Dana McNeely

It was a little thing. A walk through a Southern California neighborhood while visiting my daughter. A beautiful sunny day when I learned of a dark injustice.

“See that house?” My daughter indicated a cute craftsman bungalow with a blue door and empty flower beds, recently tilled. “The HOA made my neighbor remove her bushes. But they hadn’t really died, they were milkweed.”

“Milkweed? She grew weeds … on purpose?”

“Not really weeds. Butterfly bushes. She raises monarch butterflies. The baby caterpillars ate all the leaves on the bushes. She told the HOA they’d soon grow back, but they forced her to remove the bushes. She was really upset.”

So was I. Even though I’d never met the woman, her story inspired me to learn more about monarchs and other endangered butterflies. My husband and I live near Phoenix with no HOA to curtail our activities. We’ve planted several varieties of milkweed where monarchs and other butterflies lay their eggs. We then raised many other flowering plants to provide nectar for the butterflies and a treat for our eyes. Existing trees and shrubs provide shade and shelter.

Butterfly Wonderland

If the sun is out (and it usually is) butterflies will flutter around the milkweed, land on the zinnias, or swoop over the pool for a brief drink. If I bend down and hunt through the milkweed, I can spot a few caterpillars in various stages of growth. A fat one might be climbing up a wall, searching out a place to form its chrysalis, which will look like a piece of carved jade. If I’m lucky, a young butterfly may have emerged, hanging upside down to dry its wings before attempting its first shaky flight.

Finding God’s Love in the Little Things

The more I learn about butterflies, the more I’m in awe of our Creator. What beauty he created! How intricate, how amazing! God shows his love in the instincts he programmed in the butterfly’s infinitesimal brain.

For example, the butterfly lays its eggs on the underside of milkweed leaves, which is the only plant the juveniles will eat. The underside of the leaf provides shade and camouflage for the eggs. The plant itself contains a poison, which is non-toxic to the hungry baby caterpillars, but tastes nasty to birds and other predators who learn quickly to leave them be. In cold winters, the butterflies from northern climes migrate hundreds of miles to Mexico. Our Arizona butterflies winter over!

The life cycle of the butterfly parallels Christian rebirth and transformation. After emerging from the egg, it lives as a caterpillar. Instinct, or the voice of its creator, calls it to retreat into a chrysalis for a time of transformation. Finally, it emerges as a butterfly, free to soar above the earth.

Each time I see a new butterfly emerge, I reflect on what the Bible teaches about transformation and rebirth. Here are a few Bible verses on this topic:

John 3:3 (KJV) – "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) – "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

Romans 12:2 (NIV) – "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will."

Finally, as Christmas approaches, I reflect upon one last little thing that reflects God’s love. God sent his baby son to grow and live among men. 

In closing and in celebration of this Christmas holiday season when we rejoice over the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, I'd like to share this Bible verse:

Isaiah 9:2,6 (NRSV) –  "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined…For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

~*~
Author Bio:

Inspired by the Bible story of Elijah and the widow’s son, Dana McNeely wondered why the prophet had come to stay with these two. Who were they? What was their life, before? And how did the boy change after dying, seeing the other world … and coming back?

Dana began research for her novel, Rain, which tells the story of the three-and-a-half-year drought from the boy’s perspective.  

No stranger to drought, Dana lives in an Arizona oasis with her hubby the constant gardener, two good dogs, an antisocial cat, and migrating butterflies. She writes biblical fiction, cozy mysteries, and has written for magazines and newspapers. Her short story “Death in the Butterfly Garden” appears in SoWest: Killer Nights (2017).

Connect with Dana on Facebook, Twitter, or DanaMcNeely.com.

Devotionals for the Heart: When your heart is heavy and you cannot pray

Sighs, groans, and prayers
A devotional by Melissa Henderson

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness: for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” – Romans 8:26 (NRSV)

The words wouldn’t come. My heart was heavy. My body was exhausted from worry for a family member who had been making terrible life decisions. I had taken matters into my own hands thinking I could “fix” everything. I had not prayed to ask for help. Why did I not go to God first?

Praying doesn’t mean everything will turn out the way I want things to be. Praying gives me a relationship with God. He knows my thoughts before I think or speak.

Yet, years ago, I held on to my thinking of how life would be different for my family member if only I could help. Offering to go along on doctor visits, to cook special meals, to take the person on outings every week and much more.

If only these offers would make the person happy and find a way out of the dangerous decisions they were making. If only… I could fix this problem and make them feel better. I truly wanted to help.

Worry and anxiety consumed my days and nights. Just thinking about the wrong decisions the person was making made me physically ill. Knowing the potential of this wonderful family member brought tears more than once or twice. Watching them take a downward spiral broke my heart.

Why won’t they listen? Why do they repeat bad behavior over and over, not only hurting themselves but hurting the people around them? Why? Questions came over and over. Yet, I had not gone to God during those moments.

Oh, I may have complained and shown a less than friendly attitude when talking with God about the situation. I’ll admit that. My questions continued to be “Why is this happening? Why are You letting this happen?” Why? Why? Why?

Instead of surrendering to Him and placing the burden at His feet, I tried to carry the burden alone.

After a period of time passed, with my body weak from stress, worry, and sadness, I finally surrendered the situation to the Father.

On my knees, I asked for His forgiveness for not coming to Him sooner. I thanked Him for the love He provides freely each and every moment. I didn’t have special words. I spoke from my heart. I did not have a beautiful, thought out prayer. My prayer began with groans and sighs “too deep for words”.

And He found me, in my despair. He lifted me up. As I gave the situation to Him, my burden lightened and peace was found.

Shortly after that surrender, life began to change in a wonderful way for my family member. I know God was listening and He answered prayers in His way and in His time. God reminded me to take burdens to Him. He will handle the outcome.

Blessings,
Melissa Henderson

~*~
Author Bio:

Melissa Henderson and her husband Alan live in South Carolina.

Married for over 38 years, they have one son (Mike) who is married to daughter-in-love (Christine) and now are blessed by a precious grandson (Rowan).

Melissa was taught the love of reading and writing at an early age from her parents. She is now working on her first inspirational fiction novel.

Her passions are volunteering, Bible Studies and reading and writing. Connect with Melissa online, https://mimionlife.wordpress.com.