NACR - Daily Meditation

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And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Philippians 4:7

Sometimes it feels like our hearts are breaking.

And sometimes we worry that we will lose our minds.

Both our hearts and our minds need protection.

When we let go of the defenses that have protected us for so long, and we
allow ourselves to be honest and vulnerable, it sometimes feels like we
will 'come apart'. In these moments can find courage in God's promise of
protection. God's peace can guard our breaking hearts and our troubled minds.



Notice that God's guardianship of our heart and mind is 'in Christ Jesus'.
It is in Jesus that we see most clearly that God is 'for' us. God can be
trusted to guard us because God cares about us. It is in Jesus that we see
most clearly that God understands the dangers to our hearts and minds. God
can be trusted to guard us because God knows from personal experience the
dangers we face. It is in Jesus that we see most clearly God's power. God
can be trusted to guard our hearts and minds because God has the resources
to do what needs to be done.

The peace of God is not a 'blissed out' euphoria that helps us minimize
or ignore our problems. God's peace does not participate in denial. This
peace is not another Novocain, another 'fix' to alter our mood. It is the
gentle guard that protects us so that we can face reality. It is the security
that comes from knowing that God pays attention, that we are not forgotten,
that God is with us, that we are loved.

Guard my breaking heart today, Lord.
Guard my troubled mind.
Let your peace do its work in me, Lord.
because I am in danger and I need your protection.
Guard me with your peace today.
Guard my heart and mind.
Amen.

Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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NACR Daily Meditation for Thursday, Jan 29, 2009

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Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear
no evil, for you are with me. Psalm 23:4

Sometimes the recovery journey takes us through the valley of the shadow
of death. It is a frightening valley.

What a difference it makes in times like this to hear God's promise to be
with us. It's not that the fears vanish, they don't always. But we experience
them differently when we are not alone. When we are alone our fears can
become the focus of our thoughts and feelings - they can consume all of
our emotional resources. But when our journey is a shared one, fear does
not have the same power over us.

God has made a very specific promise to us when we are going through the
most difficult of life's struggles. God has promised to be with us. It is hard to say how God's presence will be made known. Our subjective experience
of God's presence may vary widely. Sometimes when we least expect it, we may
hear the still, small voice of God saying "I am here". Sometimes
God will use a friend, a sponsor, a counselor, or someone in a support group
to speak to us in ways that help us to remember that we are not alone. Sometimes
God will give us a peace that needs no words.

The important reality is that God is with us. God does not come and go in
the way our experience of God's presence comes and goes. God does not forsake
us. God walks with us. Even through deep valleys.

God, I am walking through a difficult valley right now.
Sometimes I think my heart will give way with fear.
Remind me of your presence.
Sometimes I know you are here.
Sometimes I'm sure you have gone.
Are you really here?
Please walk close beside me.
I need your protection.
I need your love.
Amen.

Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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If I go to the heavens, you are there; If I make my bed in the depths, you
are there.Psalm 139:8

Sometimes life is hell. That's how it feels. It feels like we have taken
up residence in hell. Sometimes the darkness overwhelms us. Sometimes we
hurt so much that we can't imagine experiencing joy or peace ever again.
Sometimes we seem to have 'made our bed ' in a place that God has deserted,
a place from which God has turned away.

But the psalmist says 'even if I make my bed in the depths, you are there'.
There are no genuinely God-forsaken places on our journey. There are no
places unfamiliar to God. It is a difficult and painful journey, but our
lines of support are not stretched thin. God is not at a distance. God is
with us.

If God is with us, we can travel through those dark times in recovery, those
times in hell. If God is with us, we can hold on through the difficult emotional
and spiritual roller coaster of recovery.

No matter where I am, Lord
you are with me.
If I am up, today.
You are here.
If I am down.
You are here.
If I am very, very down.
You are still here.
If I am very, very, very, very, very down.
You are here.
Thank you.
Even in the terrible times when I am in the depths, you are there with me.
Your presence is a ray of hope
in the dark times of my recovery.
Amen.

Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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NACR Daily Meditation for Saturday, Jan 31, 2009

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In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what
we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself prays for us with groans that
words cannot express. Romans 8:26

When we are alone, when our private terrors have left us without the ability
to speak, when even the simplest of prayers ["Help!"] is more
that our weary hearts can muster - those are the times we need God's Spirit
most of all.

It is life itself to know that God pays attention to us. The Spirit of the
Living God is with us and is attentive to our weakness. God does not shame
us for our weakness. Our weakness is not a bad thing to God. Our weakness
is simply a reality. The Spirit's response to our weakness is to help us.
God is on our side. The Spirit knows us and loves us. God knows the pain that
crushes us. God helps us in our weakness.

In those moments when we have been silenced by life, the Spirit prays for
us. The Spirit prays with groans for which there is no language. When we are not
able to pray we can find comfort and hope in the promise that the Spirit
is praying for us.

Oh God
I need to be reminded when I feel so absolutely alone
that you know my pain,
you know my weakness.

When I come to the end of words,
when my mind is full of confusion,
help me to remember that you pray for me.

When I am overwhelmed with despair,
when I want to give up,
when I want to run away in fear,
it is only your presence,
gentle, powerful Friend,
that gives me hope and strength.

I need your help today.
I need you to pray for me.
Amen

Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths
I will guide them, I will turn the darkness into light before them and make
the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake
them.Isaiah 42:16

God leads blind people along unfamiliar paths. God promises to make rough
places smooth for sightless and disoriented people. God will not forsake
them.

During recovery we often feel sightless and disoriented. Our abilities to
see clearly are often very limited - we don't have enough distance on things
to give proper perspective. Denial leaves us blind. Rejected emotions and
ignored human needs can also contribute to spiritual and psychological blindness.



So many things in recovery are unfamiliar to us. We are not accustomed to
feeling what we feel, to talking about our experiences, or to trusting other
people. Honesty is new territory for us. All of this is not only unfamiliar
territory, it is scary territory as well.

But it is exactly to people like us that God makes promises. God makes promises
to sightless and disoriented people. God will guide. God will give light.
God will smooth the rough places. God will not abandon.

I can't see very well, Lord.
I certainly am not familiar with this path, Lord.
Are you sure you know where this leads?
This feels like a pretty rough trail to me, Lord.
Are you sure we can make it?

Be my guide, Lord, I am afraid.
I would be lost without you.
I cannot find my way alone.
Guide me, Lord.
Turn darkness into light.
Make the rough places smooth.
Do not forsake me.
Amen.

Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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NACR Daily Meditation for Tuesday, Feb 3, 2009

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"I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: 'Father, I
have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be
called your son'. . . But while he was still a long way off, his father
saw him and was filled with compassion for him."Luke 15:18-20

It is difficult to think and feel about ourselves in Godly ways. Many of
us think that the prodigal son got it right. He had a well-practiced speech:
"I am no longer worthy". How like our speeches to ourselves! If
you hear about your unworthiness often enough, especially in childhood,
and if you internalize the speech thoroughly, it becomes a part of you.
Many of us know this particular speech so well that we can feel unworthy
for no particular reason. We do not feel unworthy because of something we
have done or said. We feel unworthy because of who we are. Many of us even
think that the more unworthy we feel, the more likely the Father will be
to welcome us back home!

But the Father responds quite differently from the prodigal's expectations.
The Father was 'filled with compassion' and he ran to his son and he kissed
him. When the prodigal finally got his speech out, the Father did not spend
time arguing the point. Instead he 'honored' the son with a robe, a ring
and a feast. He treated the prodigal in ways designed to build a very different
kind of self understanding.

Our goal is to learn to think and feel about ourselves in ways that are
consistent with the way God thinks and feels about us. God's perspective
is a surprising contrast to our own. God does not join our internal chorus
which is so persistent at proclaiming our unworthiness. Instead God says
"You are my child. You are loved!"

Lord, I have not learned to think and feel about myself in healthy ways.
Teach me to think and feel about myself
in ways that are consistent with the way you think and feel about me!
Help me to listen when you say "I love you".
Help me to take it in.
Amen.

Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.Isaiah 43:1

Abandoned. Neglected. Alone.

Many of us share these painful struggles. Unfortunately, many of us have struggled with them from very early in life. People from dysfunctional families often feel that they were never acceptable to their parents. Many struggle with the feeling that they can never be good enough to receive attention. If reinforced by rejection or abandonment from friends, colleagues, or other significant people in our lives, we can easily conclude that we don't really 'belong' at all.

Humans have a deep longing to belong, to be emotionally bonded with others. Social isolation can be very painful to us. But social isolation may have felt like the only option open to us as children. Attempts at closeness may have meant experiencing control, abuse, rejection or loss. We may have pulled away to protect ourselves, even though it left us lonely and afraid.

God comes to our lonely, anxious hearts and whispers our name. God says "I see both the fear you have of closeness and the deep longing you have to belong. I have come to comfort you and to respond to your need. I have been seeking relationship with you. You belong. You belong to me. You are my child."

It may frighten us - this invitation to belong to God - even though we long for it. It may frighten us because we expect pain and disappointment, over-control and rejection. But gradually, as we continue the healing process, we can allow God to meet this deep need. We can allow ourselves to belong more and more to God.

Help me, God, to allow myself to belong to you. Thank you for calling me by name. Thank you for saying 'you are mine'. I want to belong to you, God. Help me to heal, Great Physician, So that I can accept my place in your family. Take away my fear, Father, give me the courage to belong to you. Amen

Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.Ephesians 2:10

God is a very capable craftsman. God's workmanship is of the highest quality.
We are God's workmanship. We are the art of a competent Creator.

Notice in this text that our creation 'in Christ Jesus' means that we are
competent as well. We are like our Creator in that we have been created
'to do good works'. God who is capable of good works made us to be capable
of doing good works as well.

This is quite a contrast to 'you can't do anything right'. In dysfunctional
families and institutions people learn to doubt their competence. This doubt
leads many people to work harder and harder to demonstrate their abilities.
In dysfunctional systems, however, no matter how hard we try, we can't try
hard enough. We learn that our problem is not that we are human and occasionally
make mistakes but that we are incompetent people. We learn that we are flawed
in a most basic way. No matter how compulsively we try, we can't ever get
it right.

This text is an affirmation of our competence, of our importance in God's
plans. God affirms us by saying "there are good things for you to do,
and I believe you can do them". Notice that the text does not say that
we need to do good works to earn God's love or to win God's approval or that
we have to do the work perfectly or compulsively. What is does say is that
God sees each of us as capable of good works. God invites
us to participate in the creative, redemptive work that God is doing in the world. God sees
us as capable.

You are competent, God.
Your works are good works.
It amazes me that you see me as competent.
Thank you for believing in me.
Help me to trust your words of affirmation.
Help me to find joy in doing good.
Amen

Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

Psalm 103:13-14


We are not very understanding or tolerant of our limitations. We forget how we are 'formed'. Instead of accepting our creatureliness as a good gift from God, we often find ourselves being harshly judgmental and unforgiving of ourselves. This lack of compassion can lead to self-abusive and self-neglectful behaviors. When we forget how we are formed, we can forget to take care of such creaturely basics as sleep, decent food and relaxation.


Fortunately, God does not forget how we are formed. God remembers. God knows we have limitations. God remembers that we are 'dust'. Because we are so intolerant of our limits, it is important to emphasize that the metaphor 'dust' in this text does not imply worthless. It is not that God remembers how worthless we are - just dust to be sweep up and thrown away . Quite to the contrary, God remembers our weakness and limitations and has compassion on us. Again, because we are so intolerant of our limits, it is also probably important to emphasize that 'compassion' is not 'pity'. God does not pity us poor, pathetic, helpless mortals. Quite to the contrary, God's compassion is the tender, loving care of a good parent towards a child.


God knows and respects our limitations. They are not a surprise to God. God is our Creator. God remembers what we tend to forget. God remembers that we are creatures.


Thank you, Lord, for remembering what I forget.

You remember that I am human,

that I need to sleep,

that I need to play,

that I have limited strength and ability.

Thank you for having reasonable expectations of me.

Thank you for understanding my limits.

Help me to be compassionate with my humanness

Even as you, Lord,

are compassionate toward me.

Amen.


Copyright 1991 Dale and Juanita Ryan

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Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:4


Jesus pronounced a blessing on people who are courageous enough to grieve. Nothing could be more surprising than this. When we grieve, we often feel like spiritual failures. But God sees things differently. From God's perspective, mourning is valued. It is an occasion for blessing. It comes with the opportunity for comfort.

To be comforted is to be held in the safety of arms you trust. To be comforted is to weep and rage in the company of someone who loves us. The hard edges of the pain are soothed. Strength and hope return in some measure. Healing begins.

Grieving is a commitment to the hard work of facing reality and allowing ourselves to feel the full range of emotions God has given us. It is painful work. But it is work that is blessed by God.


Father of comfort,
you are my refuge and strength,
my help in times of trouble.
Were it not for your faithfulness,
I would hide from my pain.
I would choose not to see my losses.
I would not be able to face what has happened.
Man of sorrow, teach me to grieve.
Give me the courage to mourn
so that I can be comforted.
Amen.


Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

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Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though
the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no
sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the
Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk 3:17-18


Sometimes it feels like life is the experience of loss upon loss. There are times when losses are all we can see. We are like this farmer taking inventory. The figs, the grapes, the olive crop, and the wheat are all lost. The sheep and the cattle are gone. There is nothing left, and nothing to hope for. In times like this we are in danger of believing that fear and sorrow are our only companions.

If the inventory of our lives stopped here, then all would be lost. We would be without hope. But there is more to the story of our lives than our inventory of losses can ever show. We can return again to the hope that God is bigger than all of the losses of life. No matter how long our inventory of losses may be, we can find in God a peace and hope that reshapes our struggle. The losses do not magically disappear. But, when we turn our hearts toward God, we know again that there is more to our life story than losses. We do not want the bottom line of our life's story to read "this was a person who experienced many losses". As each day we turn our hearts again to God, we are writing a life story that will end with "though the losses were painful, this was a person who found deep joy in God's love."


Lord, my losses are many.
Help me not to pretend about them.
Help me to grieve, Lord.
But help me as well to turn my heart toward you.
Even as I grieve,
help me to find
joy in you.
Amen.


Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

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It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn
what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to
call the righteous, but sinners.
Matthew 9:12


One of the most remarkable features of the human condition is our capacity to pretend that we are healthy when our lives are in total chaos.

We work hard to cover up our problems and flaws in our character. We will sacrifice almost anything to keep from facing the truth about ourselves. We work this hard to look good because we experience our human needs, limits and failures with deep shame - a shame that drives us to strive harder and harder to look better and better. We sacrifice our serenity, our relationships, our sanity on the altar of perfectionism. We also sacrifice any possibility of getting the help we need by continuing to insist that "we can handle it."

God does not ask such sacrifices from us. God has no need for us to be perfect. Jesus speaks to us gently but very clearly about this issue. He confronts our pretense, shame and perfectionistic strivings. He says in effect "you do not have to sacrifice yourself in this way. You do not have to drive yourself like this. I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I want you to learn to be mercy-full to yourself. Be compassionate with yourself. It will free you to accept your need of healing. It will allow you to acknowledge your longing for me."

Jesus was saying "I did not come to pass out blue ribbons to the people who have all the answers and have worked hard to prove themselves. I came to bring hope and healing to people who know they need help." We can stop shaming and condemning ourselves because God does not shame or condemn us. God knows our brokenness, our pain, our need. We can give up our attempts to prove ourselves and acknowledge our need for help and healing.


Lord, I don't want to be needy.
I want to be strong for you.
But, I can't sustain the pretense any longer
I have nothing to show for all my efforts to look good.
All I have done is shut you out of my life.


Today I acknowledge my need for you, Lord.
I need your healing and your forgiveness.
I am not healthy.
I need a doctor.
I need you.
Amen.


Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

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NACR Daily Meditation for Monday, Mar 30, 2009

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Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Proverbs 15:22

A friend recently said, "The day my mother told me to lie about Dad's abusive behavior is the day I decided once and for all that no one will ever take care of me but me."

Many of us made decisions like this early in life. For one reason or another we reached the conclusion that it was not safe to need others. One of the longest-lasting effects of abuse and neglect is this kind of ruthless independence.

Unfortunately, because we may not have experienced appropriate care, we have not learned how to do a good job of taking care of ourselves. We are harsh with ourselves. And we have huge blind spots. We keep falling into the same ruts and traps.

The toxic individualism that comes from abuse and neglect is an illusion. We are needy. We need others to help us and support us. We cannot live whole, healthy lives in isolation. We need other people. We need their counsel and their honest feedback. Success is more likely when we work interdependently. We need love and acceptance. We need listening ears. We need to be held accountable. We need encouragement and support from other people. And others need all these things from us as well.

It may seem like a risk to allow ourselves to need anything from anyone. But it is a risk worth taking again and again and again. It is appropriate to be cautious and wise about the risks we take in relationships. But risks cannot be avoided. Mutual relationships of love and care are the basis for all real joy in life. They are worth the struggle and hard work.

Lord, you know the fear I experience
when I allow myself to receive good things from other people.
You know how hard it is for me to let myself need people.
And you know I struggle to believe I have anything to give to others.
So interdependence is difficult.
Help me, Lord, to give and to receive.
Give me the courage to risk love.
Amen.


Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

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NACR Daily Meditation for Wednesday, Apr 1, 2009

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Then they led him away to crucify him.
Matthew 27:31

There are days when we find it difficult, if not impossible, to sustain hope. The day of Jesus' death was such a day. It was a day of despair for all who had put their hope in him. It was a day of unbearable grief for those who had been changed by his love. In such terrible moments hope disappears. Darkness seems to be all that remains. God seems absent.

It is, however, one of the most fundamental convictions of the Christian faith that, in those times when hope seems unattainable, God is at work. In that moment when even Jesus had a difficult time sustaining hope in God's redemptive purposes, God was fighting the decisive battle which would extend the rule of the Kingdom to all peoples. In that moment of terror, the foundations of reality were exposed and God was at work on the deep structures of the world. God could do work at that moment which would have been impossible during ordinary times.

Much the same is true of our moments of hopelessness. It is when hope grows weakest that our foundations are most exposed. It is when the struggle to sustain hope is most difficult that God can work on the deep structure of our persons. It is at those times that God can reach the unreachable crevices of our hearts and work on regions where fear and despair seem to reign.

It is a terrible thing to lose hope. But all is not lost. Though we lose hope, God is still at work. It may be that during our season of hopelessness God will extend the rule of the Kingdom of God into new regions of our lives.


In those times when I cannot hope, Lord,
help me to remember the work which
you accomplished during Jesus' hour of darkness.
Remind me, when I lose all hope,
that all hope is not gone
because you continue your work in me.
Extend the rule of your kingdom
into the deepest regions of my heart
where fear and despair have reigned for too long.
Amen


Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

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Remain in my love. . . I have told you this
so that my joy may be in you
and that your joy may be complete.
John 15:10-11

It is sometimes difficult to imagine joy at all. When we struggle with failure, or we are faced with our need for change or we are grieving old losses - in those times joy seems unimaginable.

But joy can come in the midst of these struggles as we learn what it means to remain in Jesus' love.

We do not have to grieve or change alone. We learn early in recovery that we will not get very far if we remain isolated. We also learn early that we need to turn to a power that is greater than ourselves. To recover we need to learn to remain -- or abide or spend time -- in the love Jesus gives us. We are loved by God. And we are loved by other people. It is in these loving relationships that we find joy.

In John 15 Jesus has been describing himself as the vine, telling us that we are branches. He is our life-line. We need to stay closely connected to him. We can no longer pretend to be self sufficient. We must daily acknowledge our need for help and relatedness.

Jesus told us this truth because he wanted us to experience joy. "Remain in my love", Jesus said, "so your joy will be complete."

Lord, help me to remain in love.
Help me not to distance myself from you or from others.
Help me to give up pretending to be self sufficient.
Help me to remember that it is in loving and in being loved
that I will find healing and joy.
Amen

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan


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He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust".
Psalm 91:1-2

Imagine yourself traveling across a desert in the heat of the afternoon sun. You are desperate for a place to rest. You need shelter from the heat. You search the horizon for a tree or a large rock that could provide the comfort of shade.

During the process of recovery we become aware of our need for a sheltered place in which to rest. The journey can be exhausting and disorienting. But we don't know how to rest. It doesn't come naturally to us. We don't know where to find a safe shelter.

Now imagine yourself resting in God's shadow. You are sheltered, safe, at rest. The heat of the desert will not consume you because of God's protection. You can sit and rest in God's loving presence. God is a shade, a shelter, a fortress. You can draw strength and comfort from God's presence.

Rest has the potential of teaching us two essential truths. First, we are not God. God is God. We are creatures. We are limited, finite, dependent. It is a good thing to be a creature with needs. Second, when we rest we may learn in new ways that we are loved. Because we are God's children, God loves us. Not because of what we do, but simply because of who we are, we are loved.

I turn to you, Lord
from the heat of the sun
and the pressures of the journey of life.
I turn to you
for shelter
and refuge.
I want to rest in you today.
Be my shelter
O Most High.
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

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There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone
who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from
his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest . . .let us
then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:9-11,16

God rested from his work.

And God invites us to rest from ours. In our time of need God invites us to experience the rest-full-ness that comes from receiving mercy and grace.

But we resist. Rest is such a reversal of our expectations. We don't expect mercy and grace. We expect criticism. We don't expect to be invited to approach with confidence; we expect rejection. We don't expect rest, we expect to receive a list of demanding tasks to perform. Becoming the kind of people who are capable of rest will require us to change. It will require effort on our part.

First, we will need to change the way we see ourselves. We are attached to the illusion that we have no limits. We may not claim to be immortal, but if you examine our behavior, we act as if we need less rest than God. God rested. We don't. Clearly something is wrong. If we are to become the kind of people who are capable of rest, it will take some effort to change the way we see ourselves.

Second, to increase our capacity for rest, we will need to change our behavior. Rest is not an idea. It is a behavior. It will take some effort to change the way we live. We will need to learn the skills that make it possible for us to say no to over commitment. We will need to build rest into the rhythm of our lives.

God rested. We need to do the same.

Help me to acknowledge my need for rest, Lord.
Help me to make quiet spaces in my life
when I cease all my doing
and allow myself to be.
Help me to make the effort to rest today.
Amen.

Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan

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"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans
to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

Hope is about the future. It may be oriented to the next hour, or the next day, or the next month or year or decade. But hope is always about anticipation.

Those of us who like to control things often find hope difficult because we do not control the future. Many of us are compulsive makers-of-plans. We are willing to work ourselves to death trying to make our plans become reality. But when our hopes and vision for the future are based only on what we can control, our vision is inevitably narrowed and impoverished.

We need to remind ourselves regularly, therefore, that God's vision for the future is better than our own. God sees possibilities and opportunities that we cannot see. The horizons of God's imagination are not bounded. When we root our hope in God, a totally different future is possible. It is not a future we can control. God's plans may not be the same as our plans. But we can return again and again to God as our source of hope.

God has been clear about our future. It is God's intention to give us a hope and a future. This is not a promise of a trouble-free life. It is not a promise of immunity from struggle. But it is a promise of hope. God has been with us in the past. God is with us in the present. And God will be with us in the future.

Thank you for paying attention to my future, Lord.
Thank you for making plans.
Help me today to rest in the thought that
your plans for me include blessing.
Open my heart today to the hope and the future
you have prepared for me.
Amen.


Copyright Dale and Juanita Ryan