Rev. John Braaten tells of Douglas Maurer, a teenager from Missouri diagnosed with leukemia. The prognosis was grim. Facing three years of chemo and side effects like hair loss and bloating, Douglas sank into depression.

His aunt ordered him flowers. But the real gift came not from her card, but from a second one:  “Douglas, I took this order from your aunt. I had leukemia when I was seven. I’m 22 now. Good luck. My heart goes out to you. — Laura Bradley”

Douglas lit up. 

It is amazing. Douglas was in a hospital that had the most up-to-date technological equipment available. He was being treated by doctors and nurses with years of medical training. But it was the sales clerk in a flower shop – a young woman – who by taking the time to care, and by being willing to listen to her own heart, gave Douglas the hope and will to carry on.

Perhaps God has carried you through an experience of brokenness, or failure, or illness in your life. Perhaps someone came along and said just the right thing or gently encouraged you at just the right time.  I wonder if you might be able to do the same for others.

Let us pray: Thank you, God, for those who came into our lives when we needed them most. May we carry that gift forward and be a source of hope for others. Amen.

MaryAnn McKibben Dana writes about the L’Arche communities. L’Arche nurtures people with mental disabilities and their caregivers so that, together, they can live in dignity. Their founder once said, “This kind of community is only… created when its members accept that they are not going to achieve great things, that they are not going to be heroes.” He went on to say, “God put in a finite body the seeds of eternity, which are visible in small and daily gestures of love and forgiveness.”

The seeds of eternity are visible in small and daily gestures of love and forgiveness.

Mother Teresa once said, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love. It’s not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it.”

Author Shane Claiborne lives in an intentional Christian community in inner-city Philadelphia, where they share much of their ministry with the urban poor and homeless. They often have people stop by their house to ask for help. As you can imagine, sometimes that gets old. So, they put a sign above the door that can be read only from the inside: “Today… small things with great love, or don’t answer the door.” 

Small things… with great love.

Let us pray:  Loving God, we remember that Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It starts small and inconspicuous. It began in a manger, in an impoverished backwater of the Roman Empire, and it spreads through tiny seeds of compassion, healing, love, and hospitality. For those who have eyes to see, it is already here—happening quietly, behind the scenes. Give us eyes to notice, and a willing spirit to join in. Amen.

Every summer, our youth spend a week up in the mountains of Montreat, North Carolina – at a conference geared just for them. Every year the worship is incredible. Friendships are built. Relationships are deepened. The energy is tremendous. They are quite literally having a mountain top experience. At these high points in life, we often do sense God’s presence. 

You probably have had moments in life like that – maybe on a spiritual retreat, or at the birth of a baby, or at a Christmas concert, or in a breathtaking corner of creation. However, the truth is, so much of life is not lived there. We come down from those highs, we go back to school, back to work. There are dishes to do, laundry to fold, problems to deal with… Life is lived in the middles where God’s presence is often not so evident.  

But God does meet us there as well. It is not always in a blaze of fire, or at a spiritual high. Sometimes God meets us in the quiet moments of prayer or silence, sometimes in conversation with others, or in simple acts of hospitality.

I pray today that in the middles of life, our hearts would ever be attuned. Especially in the less obvious moments, may we be open to the in-breaking of God’s Spirit. 

Let us pray: In our everyday life, O God, give us eyes perceptive enough to sense your presence. Infuse us with your grace, joy, and hope – even when we least expect it. Draw us now closer to you. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Several years ago, I was struck by a poster hanging in one of the children’s Sunday school rooms at the church where I was serving. On the poster, there was a picture of a white water raft full of people racing down the face of an enormous waterfall. You can see the look of intensity on the faces of the rafters. They have their paddles raised out of the water and have clearly given up on trying to guide or control the situation. 

The caption reads, “Trust in the Lord with all Your Heart.” Proverbs 3:5

Now, I love white water rafting, and part of me would love to be there in that raft with the adrenaline flowing. But my initial thought was: Is it fair to put ourselves in situations that are dangerous and in places that God did not intend for us to be, and then cry out, “God help me?”  

On second thought though, sometimes in life, we do find ourselves in difficult, confusing, scary circumstances – with white water raging all around us. We all have moments when all of a sudden we realize that there is nothing we can do to guide or control the situation. And, whether we’ve brought it on ourselves or not, we simply have to surrender and trust that we are in God’s hands.   

I don’t know what you may be facing in life. But I pray today that in whatever circumstance surround you, however, they came about, that you would know in the deepest part of your being, that you can place your trust in the Lord. 

Let us pray: Loving God, You are our shepherd, we shall not want. Help us to trust you. You lead us beside still waters, so give us hearts that can be lead. You restore our souls. And, we thank you that beyond the danger, beyond the troubled waters, you bring healing.  We pray especially today for people who are in dangerous situations and others who feel they are beyond their ability to cope. We ask for your protection, your strength, and your guidance. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today, I am deeply grateful for those of you who have supported the Dial Hope Foundation with a financial donation. So many people benefit from your giving!

M.H. Schubert shares the story of a group of fishermen in the Scottish Highlands who regularly gathered for tea and discussed the day’s catch. As the waitress brought a cup of tea to the table, one of the men accidentally knocked it out of her hand. It splashed against the wall, leaving an ugly stain. Noticing what had happened, one of the other guests took out a crayon and began sketching around the stain. Unbelievably, a beautiful piece of art emerged—a picture of a stag with magnificent antlers. The artist, as it turns out, was Sir Edwin Landseer, one of England’s most well-respected painters.

Schubert made the point that if an artist can transform an unsightly stain into a beautiful masterpiece, think about what God can do with our past mistakes and failures.

It is true. We worship a God who wastes nothing.

Sometimes we despair over our past. Sometimes we can’t let go of mistakes we’ve made or events that happened to us. Sometimes it might feel as though we have wasted months or years. Or we find ourselves in a situation that seems meaningless.

But if we are open to it—if we’re willing to learn from it, to grow from it (sometimes making amends, sometimes letting go of anger or bitterness or blame, sometimes simply letting go and trusting)—God will pick up the broken pieces and use this experience, this brokenness, in unexpected and sometimes even beautiful ways.

Let us pray: Loving and gracious God, take our mistakes and our failures of the past. As we lay them down before you, we ask you to heal us, strengthen us, and refashion us more and more into your image. Amen.