Episode 532

TODAY’S READING

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

I pre-faced that these are my personal prayers because this was a very personal devotional time for me as I prepared for the day ahead of me as I prepared for surgery as I prepared for what the next couple of months of recovery will look like. It’s a really small, you know, hernia repair on my stomach. It’s not this huge undertaking, but it does come with the reality that the foods that I’m going to be eating and the recovery are a little bit longer. It’s a little bit tedious. It’s a little bit constricting on my diet, and so I know that there are moments of weakness, and I know this because this is the second time that I actually have to undergo the same procedure. It happened seven years ago, and I re-herniated my stomach this year. So anyway, I’ve been through this, and so this recovery is nothing new. And the pain that I’m about to go into, or it’s not pain, but the struggle of overcoming these new dietary changes. It is a struggle, and I was a little bit nervous coming into this week knowing that I have to go through the healing process of this procedure again, but this first was really something that I can hold on to at all times. And that’s, you know, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid to not be discouraged. And that word discouraged really stands out because I’m not necessarily afraid of surgery. 

I’m not afraid of what I may be facing right now. Sometimes I can be, sometimes you might be, but we’re discouraged. That happens a lot. It happens because I am not excited to go through the healing process. And that discouraged can actually follow me in a lot of the different things that I face. I might be discouraged to go to work, and I might be discouraged to have to meet with some person or go to a set event or any of the above situations. So take this as a reminder that no matter what you face, Be strong and courageous. No matter where you go. God is always with you. When you feel discouraged, he is there when you feel afraid. He is there. The Lord will be with you wherever you go. That’s why today’s diva was called with you wherever you go. Today. He’s with me in the ER, and he’ll be with me in recovery. 

He’ll be with me when I come home tomorrow. But he’s also with you when you go to work on your drive to drop the kids off at summer camp or simply as you’re washing your dishes at home. Whatever you’re doing today. 

Prayer

Father God, thank you for a beautiful Tuesday, and thank you for the opportunity for us to gather and worship you and put you first in our day. Are we thank you for all that you do in our lives. We thank you for the person that you are to us. And for us. We ask that you watch over me today as I go into your thank you so much in advance for what you’re going to do. And Lord, I thank you that you are my strength, and you are my courage, and you are with me wherever I go. The same with the person on the other side of this mic. You are with them wherever they go. You are their strength, and you are their courage to learn whatever we’re facing today. May You give us the ability to see it through. May You give us the strength that we need. May You give us the courage that you need. May you continue to bless us each day. Thank you for the day ahead of us, and we thank you for all the two for us. They say your son’s holy name that we pray. Amen.