Mary
CBF Field Personnel, Southeast Asia
What is saving my life right now? Well, in a word, God. I truly don’t mean to be flippant or dismissive, but it really is the first response that comes to mind every time I try to reflect on this question. Then my mind wanders in more directions than I can track. How do I encapsulate what it means to have an ongoing awareness of the presence of God in my life moment-to-moment or the myriad ways God keeps me attuned to that presence? Therein lies my challenge. Perhaps it’s because I have a short attention span; but God’s revelatory processes, like God’s mercies, are new every morning. More accurately, God creates new combinations each day.
In recent months, I have found myself less distracted by the frustrations of the limits of the people we read about in Scripture and more engaged with the God who honors the struggles of those determined to be in relationship with God. God’s interactions with each of us are unique because our stories are unique; I marvel at God’s love, tenacity and understanding. While I see God in a different light in Scripture, the seeming paradoxes of life and faith rest more comfortably within me. What we sometimes identify as contradictory experiences or emotions are complementary, with God shaping them into something beautifully compelling. Human relationships, spiritual disciplines, nature, art, music, movement, tragedy, laughter, science, literature, conflict—the list is inexhaustible. God uses combinations of all of these in wondrous variety to transform me, to transform us. God is always available and at work to draw us closer. As we offer ourselves to God’s nurture, we are made new.
Pray, Practice, Ponder
Merciful God, thank you for honoring the struggles of your children throughout the ages, and for honoring the struggles in which we find ourselves today. Be with us when we grow weary of our own humanity. Remind us that your mercies are new every morning. Help us to trust that the combinations you create in our lives each day arrive to transform, strengthen and nurture us to become more like you. Amen.
Pray. . .Give. . .Go.