My thoughts (Melody Merida):

Have you ever heard the story of the Hebrew hero named Judith? If you haven’t, it’s no surprise. The book of Judith is a little known Apocryphal book that didn’t make into the final cut of the Protestant Bible for some reason, but is sacred none the less. It is a book about a heroic woman who saved the Israelite people during a time of desperation. Here is a bit of her story.

Judith’s setting is a little town in the region of Samaria called Bethulia where the Assyrian enemy had set up an assault to take the town for their king, Nebuchadnezzar. After enduring the assault for some time, the Bethulians saw no choice but to surrender and become slaves to Nebuchadnezzar. As one final act of hope the people decide to wait for five more days and in the hopes that God would deliver them within their time limit.

News of that decision reached a godly widow named Judith who felt God call her to deliver her people from the Assyrians. She confronted Uzziah, a town official who hatched the “five day plan,” and reproached the people who had tried to put God in a box with deadlines and limits. Her words to Uzziah and the men of Behulia were included in chapter 8, today’s reading.

Judith’s act of challenging the ideas of the male community leaders was so brave that it alone should warrant our respect; but what she said in her challenge is even better! “Who are you to put God to the test today, and to set yourselves up in the place of God in human affairs?” She goes on to say something like, “Did you really put God on a time limit? What do you think you are doing? You don’t even understand the workings of the human mind or the human heart and yet you dare to put God, who created all of humanity, in a tiny little box to meet your demands?”

Judith understood something that it seems the officials in the town did not — God’s ways are beyond us and it is futile for us to put limits and boundaries around God. Instead, what God longs for is our complete surrender, our trust in the divine love which is greater than any force humanity has ever known. Putting God in a box only serves to limit the possibilities of that divine love.

Judith fought against the decision of the people and, in doing so, broke through to a deeper understanding of what God could do in their midst. Because they followed Judith’s plan, the Bethulian people defeated the Assyrians and were saved from slavery. Judith knew how to fight like a girl by surrendering to an uncontainable God!

What about you? When was the last time you surrendered to your uncontainable God?

Thought for the day: Take the Judith challenge: Keep God out of the box, remove the limits you’ve placed on divine love, and watch what miracles will unfold!

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

Are you in the process of learning to live healthier? Maybe your New Year’s resolution was to eat better, exercise, or in some other way improve your physical health? Join us for the next few days as we offer scripture, insight, and encouragement to help on that journey.

My thoughts (Melody Merida):

Proverbs 14:30 A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh.

Comfort food. . . there is a reason it has been given its name. My guess is that every one of us has had the experience of sitting down to a big plate of comfort food hoping that it will, temporarily at least, take us out of the sadness, anxiety, or pain we feel. Maybe it works for a few minutes, but when the meal is over those same fears and anxieties are waiting for us to pick them up right where we left them. Food will never provide for us what God alone can.

These last two weeks have been almost unbearable and I’ve desperately wanted some comfort. Every day for two weeks I have traveled to Richmond, Indiana for hours of class then traveled back home to do 8 hours of homework. These are the January Intensives at Earlham School of Religion — a semester long class crammed into two short weeks. It is physically and mentally exhausting.

Fortunately, I remember thinking; there is a little donut shop in Richmond on the way to and from school. When the thought of going to class felt like a great burden to me, I would pump myself up by telling myself that I could stop at Square Donuts on the way and pick up a donut for breakfast. On a couple of mornings this was the motivating factor that got me on the road. On one of those days I did actually stop at Square Donuts; and you know what, that donut didn’t help me feel any better about the day. I was still tired and still didn’t want to be in class. There was no comfort in that comfort food.

The next day I was determined to try something different. I spent the long drive listening to praise songs and hymns; I turned the music off at one point and just quieted my mind as I thought about the goodness of God. Now, I’m not going to say that class was a breeze that day and that everything was swell; but my outlook on class and the homework I needed to do was different. I was calm, tranquil even. That spiritual comfort food sustained me for the rest of the day. This year I am committed to filling up on the right kind of comfort. How about you?

Thought for the day: Am I seeking comfort from temporary things that will never offer the peace I desire? Or am I relying on the presence of God to nourish me?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

This is the fourth week of Advent, the Christian season of preparation for Christmas. We’re looking at some of the traditional themes of the season. This week: Revelation, Birthing, Love, and Rejoicing.

Today’s scripture: Psalm 89:1-4 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Melody Merida):

All hope is lost; the world is a mess. There is nothing but fighting, greed, violence, chaos, and misery. Whatever hope I may have had that things would be different is gone now. The promises I have held fast to all my life are blown away by the wind of oppression. Nothing good can come from my miserable world; I may as well give up.

These could have been the words used by the Psalmist to convey his own feelings for what was happening in his world. Let’s face it; they could also be the words used to convey the way many folks feel today. The writer of this text was indeed living in a miserable time of conflict, war, danger, and all-around misery; but he didn’t let his circumstances get the best of him. Instead, he writes this psalm of praise to God for things yet to be accomplished, for things God has promised but not yet fulfilled. The psalmist is finding hope in God’s covenant.

Like David, the eventual king and author of this Psalm, you too are living under a time of divine covenant. God has promised steadfast love and faithfulness to you, a hopeful future and eternal divine presence. Even more, God’s covenant with you includes the peace, love, and hope you need today to make the kingdom of God real in our world today.

David did not have a covenant with God that was greater than the one God makes with you, if you accept it. Sure, we could sit around and bemoan the awful tragedies that have become commonplace in our world, we could spend all our time mourning what we do not have, we could deride God for making us feel like the time of covenant will never begin. Or, we could do what the Psalmist did and praise God for the promising future, for the covenant to be fulfilled for us, and for the present love and faithfulness of God.

Thought for the day: You are God’s chosen child with whom God has made an everlasting covenant. The time to live into that covenant is now! Rejoice in the promises of God because they are meant for YOU! Amen.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

This is the first week of Advent, the Christian season of preparation for Christmas. We will look at some of the traditional themes of the season over the next four weeks. This week: Anticipation, Expectation, and Waiting.

Today’s scripture: Isaiah 25:6-26:6 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Melody Merida):

Most movies for children (and many for adults as well) have a very obvious “bad guy” and an equally obvious “good guy.” Throughout the movie suspense builds as things go from bad to worse for the hero while the evil villain gets his or her way. Just when all hope appears to be lost, a miracle happens and the hero finds a way to win. In the end our hero comes through to save the day!

Then again, there are the occasional films where the hero does not save the day and the evil villain is victorious. In those instances we feel instinctively that the ending was wrong, that things couldn’t have ended up with the villain getting away with evil, somehow there must be justice! We all know intuitively that the hero, the oppressed, the one striving for good should always be the victor, even though it doesn’t always work out that way, or so it seems.

Today’s scripture seems to be saying something like, “take heart, my friends, for though we are downtrodden, despised, abused, and rejected today, tomorrow will tell a different story!” The Moabites were the hostile neighbors to the people of Judah, defeating them in violent wars, plundering their livestock, destroying their sacred spaces. The people of Jerusalem had long been victims; but Isaiah’s prophecy is one of victory against their oppressors, one of freedom from tyranny and persecution. Isaiah prophesies that even when it seems as if all hope is lost, a miracle will occur and God will find a way to save the day. Oppression, brutality, and even death are no match for the divine hero.

Thought for the day: What are the “bad guys” in your life that keep you from feeling truly free? God is just; be patient and trust that your hero will somehow find a way to lead you to freedom and victory.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Melody Merida):

My son is just beginning to walk. He takes several steps then wobbles and falls to the floor. Sometimes he falls a bit too hard for his liking and he cries in pain when his head hits the floor. After a few seconds of soothing he is ready to go again. We repeat this process several times a day while he is still getting the hang of putting one foot in front of the other.

When he first began to take some steps I hovered over him like most nervous parents do. I was walking close behind him trying my best to anticipate a tumble before it happened. That meant that on several occasions I would reach out to grab him when he was in the process of restoring balance on his own; he let me know that I was interfering. He would pull away from me so that he could take off again. I learned quickly that the best thing I could do was to let him figure it out on his own, bumps and all. As much as I hate watching him take a tumble, I do so because I want him to learn on his own.

This image of me and my son reminds me of the way God lives in relationship with us. As our scripture for today reveals, our sufferings of this present time, our falls and wobbles, can be an opportunity for the glory of God to be revealed in us. God walks with you as you slowly put one wobbly foot in front of the other, sometimes crashing to the ground; but God cannot intervene to stop the crash because this is your opportunity to restore balance for yourself. It’s okay to cry and wail after the crash and to know that when you do you will be comforted by the loving God who hovers about. Then, when you are ready, get back up, balance yourself, and take off again.

Who knows, maybe my son will grow up to be world class runner; to do that he first has to learn how to walk by suffering through the falls. Just like I wait to see who he will be, “all of creation waits with eager longing” for the revelation of you learning to walk and run as a child of God’s! There is glory yet to be revealed to you!

Thought for the day: What suffering are you experiencing in this present time? Can you envision God as a loving parent hovering about, cheering for you to restore your own balance?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Melody Merida):

Most parents have time to prepare for the arrival of their children — time to childproof the house, to decorate a nursery, to shop for adorable baby clothes, to think about baby names, or to hear a tiny heartbeat through an ultrasound. Most parents have nine months to fall in love with the little gift they are about to receive.

My partner and I finished our adoption paperwork and were told to wait 12 to 18 months before we would be matched with a child. That was October 8, 2010. On November 16, only six short weeks later, we received a phone call that changed our lives completely. It was our adoption agency calling to tell us that a baby boy had been born earlier that morning and the mother had chosen us to be his adoptive family; the agency wanted to know if we wanted him. Without hesitation we said yes and less than 48 hours later he had moved into our home. But he had taken up residence in our hearts before we ever laid eyes on him.

People sometimes think I’m crazy when I tell them that I loved my son before I even knew he existed, but it is the truth. When I had no idea that an amazingly brave and wonderful woman carried him inside her, I loved him. The idea of him, which he has already exceeded, was born in my heart long before he was born into this world. That first moment we saw him was merely a confirmation of what we already knew: we were head over heels in love.

Our scripture for today reminds of such love. Imagine a love for you that is so complete it existed before you ever did. That is God’s love for you. In the same way that my yet-to-be-born child owned my heart, so too do you own the heart of God. Read again what I wrote about the love I have for my son and know to the very core of you that this is how God feels about you. You have already exceeded the idea of you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made!

Thought for the day: God is head over heels in love with me! May I reciprocate that love by giving it to all those I meet today. Amen.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.