Dear Friends of the Chapel,
Today I was reading a daily scripture and it really caught my attention. It comes from Psalm 143:10.
“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” NIV
Over my years of trying to follow Jesus, there have been many times where I have felt God’s spirit lead me to a more level ground. Sometimes it meant letting go of something. Sometimes it meant adding something new to my life. Still, other times it meant I needed to intentionally study and train. And at other times it meant I needed to ask forgiveness and to move forward with hope and expectation. And still other times It meant I needed to forgive someone and to let go of the grudge that I was holding. As God teaches us to do God’s will, it often it will challenge us. And sometimes God also affirms us when we are living God’s will and ways well.
I can think of a time early on in ministry when I tended to make a lot of statements — things that I thought were true and factual. And that may have been the case; however by stating things as facts, I oftentimes ended conversations before they had an opportunity to open up and to bloom to where God really desired them to be. One of the things I learned was God’s will for me was to learn to try to ask more questions and to listen more. It’s still something I work on learning today. Another thing that God has taught me is God’s will for me is to step out of my comfort as an introvert and to extend myself sometimes beyond what I want to in order to experience the community, service, and the opportunities that God has for me to be a part of to help with and to savor and enjoy. When what I really want to do is curl up in a chair sometimes, not always, God’s will leads me to get out of the chair and get out with the people. What is God’s will leading you to do? What new ground is God asking you to be a part of?
Here are a few more of the ways you are sharing talents from our service August 30.
• God has given me the talent of helping others and I have used these by helping listening to others in need at shelters.
• God has given me the talent of crafts and I’ve been able to donate many scarves and hats.
• God has given me the talent of creativity and I’ve used his talent helping others problem solve issues they were having.
• God has given me the talent of organizing special events I’ve used this when planning scholar donor luncheons at work.
Thankful to be a part of creating ministry with you,
Pastor Donna