Your Ways

SCRIPTURE
- Isaiah 55:8
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.”
REFLECTION
- Peggy

MUSIC
-

NOTES
-

PRAYER OF LETTING GO
To You do I belong, O God,
into Your hands I surrender my life.
Pour out Your Spirit upon me
that I may love You perfectly,
and serve You faithfully
until my soul rests in You.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_03 0:32

God's richest blessings be upon you, brothers and sisters, as we gather once again before God. I'm Father Ron, with the privilege of leading you today in prayer. Welcome. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_04 0:57

Amen.

SPEAKER_06 0:58

O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Forgiveness based on Psalm 32. Those who know their sins and seek forgiveness are blessed indeed. When we do not confess our sins to the Lord, we carry a burden and feel worn down.

SPEAKER_06 1:26

When we completely confess our sins to the Lord, and now all is forgiven. The burden is lifted, and we are released from darkness into light.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

All faithful people shall pray to you in times of need. We can rest knowing that your deliverance protects us. We will be instructed by you, and you will guide us and watch over us. We shall obey.

SPEAKER_06 2:10

All you righteous people, be glad and rejoice in the Lord, always and forever with songs and praise. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

The word of the Lord. Recently we welcomed our fifth grandchild into the world. The arrival of this sweet baby girl was one of the most recent examples of a surrender to God's ways and God's timing in my life. My daughter had medical issues with her previous two pregnancies. So she was scheduled for an early induction with this one. And shortly before she was supposed to go to the hospital, she got a call that her appointment needed to be rescheduled for a later date. Maybe tomorrow. Or maybe the next day. She was certainly disappointed and frustrated. She had mentally prepared herself for the arrival of child number three, and she was told, not yet. Keep waiting. God's timing, along with God's thoughts and God's ways, don't always match up with our own. Often leaving us frustrated and disappointed, maybe even confused, angry. Most of us would prefer a little more control of situations and outcomes that affect us or our family members. Of course. My example is just a very small example of believing that we are in control when in fact our control of certain situations is very limited. We can see but a very small portion of the master plan known only to the creator of all things. And let's be honest, sometimes we don't even see that very clearly. Over and over again in our lifetime, we hear that God's ways are not our ways. And yet each time I'm reminded of that fact, I'm struck by how difficult it is to live within those limitations. For many people, the well-known serenity prayer is a helpful mantra. You know, the one that goes, Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Instead of asking the question, why God, perhaps it's more fruitful to consider what now, God? What are you asking of me? Is there a lesson to be learned in the situation that I'm currently facing? Our understanding of God's thoughts and ways. It's so limited. One thing that we can be assured of is God's goodness and his love for us. In Jeremiah 29, God tells us, I know the plans I have for you. Plans for your well-being, not for harm, to give you a future and a hope. God's character and heart are displayed throughout Scripture. The way He pursues us and cares for us, instructs us, that tells us about the God we serve, one who is gracious and full of compassion and mercy. The words of the prophet Isaiah were offered to provide hope to people of their time. These words also provide hope to us in our time. Even when we don't understand the thoughts of God or his exact timing, we can trust in his goodness and his care for us as we follow his ways.

SPEAKER_03 7:35

And with trust, with confidence, we pray, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

SPEAKER_04 7:50

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 8:09

Let us pray. Lord God, your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts reach far beyond our own. When we don't understand where you are leading, give us the grace to trust rather than worry. Quiet our need to have all the answers and lead us along the path you have chosen, confident that your way is always the way of love. We ask through Christ our Lord.

SPEAKER_06 8:53

Amen.

SPEAKER_03 8:56

To you do I belong, O God. Into your hands I surrender my life. Pour out your spirit upon me, that I may love you perfectly and serve you faithfully until my soul rests in you. And since today is Friday, we always end with a song, and today's selection flows perfectly from our scripture and Peggy's beautiful reflection about trusting in God's plan and letting go of our need to control and to manage. And you know, my own experience is that when I do that, I find His presence and moments of beauty and grace in the world around me. It's like in opening my hands to God in trust? Well, it turns out my eyes and spirit open as well. And so who better to remind us of that beauty around us than the beautiful soul and entertainer we recently lost, Dolly Parton, singing, Everything Is Beautiful. I'll leave you with that as we go, surrounded by God's blessing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_06 10:35

Amen.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

Thanks for joining us today, and we'll see you tomorrow.

SPEAKER_05 10:44

When I look out over a green field of glover, I watch the sunset at the end of the day. When I see such beauty, everything's beautiful in its own way. When I see a fountain flow from a mountain, or see April showers bring flowers to me. Everything's beautiful in its own way. When I see the beauty in each coming day, what my eyes behold can be both so Everything's beautiful in its own way. When I see the clouds form a black summer windstorm that uproots the harvest and holds it away In the midst of such anger, destruction and danger, the storm's even beautiful in its own way. When I see the leaves drop from out of the treetops, or once the snowfall on a cold day, my thoughts seem to wander into the blue yard. God made it's like beautiful in its own way. What's in the beauty in each coming? What must be home can't be both so everything's beautiful in its own way?