Unwrapping Advent: Through Voices of Wisdom Dec 12
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Day 12
Lord, you’ve been kind to your land;
you’ve changed Jacob’s circumstances for the better.
2 You’ve forgiven your people’s wrongdoing;
you’ve covered all their sins. Selah…
8Let me hear what the Lord God says,
because he speaks peace to his people and to his faithful ones.
Don’t let them return to foolish ways.
9 God’s salvation is very close to those who honor him
so that his glory can live in our land.
10 Faithful love and truth have met;
righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth springs up from the ground;
righteousness gazes down from heaven.
12 Yes, the Lord gives what is good,
and our land yields its produce.
13 Righteousness walks before God,
making a road for his steps.
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 CEB
Peace in His Provision
I was 18-years-old and fresh out of high school. I had attended school in Dallas for the past eight years and was now going to embark on a fresh start in Houston to attend college while working at my father’s McDonald’s at night. It was a new journey outside my comfort zone and into this new world where I had no friends, no familiar places, and everything felt up to me.
The first anxiety attack hit me when I was out eating with my father and stepmother’s family. I remember feeling so out of control and afraid that I just had to leave and go back home to my room and breathe.
So overwhelmed with anxiety, I couldn’t be around crowds and had to drive if I went anywhere. I needed to be in full control. Everything I did had to be done my way, or I could not function.
Over time I self-developed coping skills, moved back to Dallas, and went on living my life trying to control every aspect by doing what I wanted. But the anxiety, uncertainty, and loneliness always lingered around the corner.
Years later I found and attended a Bible study, Disciple 1. There, I found the peace of God through His simple messages: honor God, be obedient to His teachings, and trust in Him to rule my life. I found the peace only God can provide.
Reflect: Do you ever feel like you are stuck and overwhelmed? Are you lonely and afraid of what the next day might bring?
Pray: Heavenly Father, forgive me of my sins. Thy will be done in my life and not my own. You and only You are in control. I turn my life over to You today and seek Your ways. Guide me with Your teachings and in Your ways of obedience. Enable me to trust in You to lead me down Your path and not my own. Let me feel the peace and comfort only You can provide as You lay Your path in front of me. I pray all of this in Your Son Jesus’ name. Amen.
Garon Bruce
Administrative Council