May 7, 2021

Dear Ones,

Happy weekend! Happy Mother’s Day! We are leaving soon for the lake and will stop on the way to see a friend. Then on to the Silver Chateau to have friends for coffee before going to Bemidji for a party for Lars, and on to his graduation.  We plan to come back tonight so will be a full day.  

Devotions from Judy’s heart

God works in so many wondrous ways and sometimes it leaves us in utter awe. Other times we misread what He is doing and think He is not being loving and kind and is failing to see how great is our need. But it is we who have to adjust our thinking because God is always Love! This morning on Facebook was a familiar story of two angels who visit the mansion of a rich man. They are not warmly welcomed and are given a cold basement room for the night. They notice a hole in the brick basement wall and the older angel fixed it so it couldn’t be recognized where there had been a gap. The next night they went to the home of very poor couple who shared their meager meal and then gave them their bed to sleep on. But in the morning their only cow who gave them milk to drink and sell at market was dead. The younger angel asked why they helped the rich man and why the poor couple suffered a devastating loss. But the wise angel related that things are not always as they seem. She said there was gold in that wall that she closed up and the rich man would never find it!  The poor man’s cow died but the angel of death came that night for the man’s wife, but took the cow instead. Sometimes we need a new way of seeing as God views the whole panoramic picture and we don’t. We pray and cast our concerns on Him but how He answers are reason for thankfulness even when we don’t understand. Yesterday at the close of Bible Study here at our apartment complex, needs were shared. One friend who formerly lived on our floor but had moved to her son’s house, was present and asked for prayers to find a new place to live; her son was not in good health and his wife wanted to have this time alone with him. So our friend needed a place to live and as we closed the prayer time, she was told our manager had new hours and was presently in her office. She immediately went there and was told that one apartment was available and it was for the handicapped. Perfect for our friend who looked at the apartment and signed the lease on the spot. Now that is a quick answer and she left with the broadest smile on her face ever. Don’t we all wish our answers came so quickly? Sometimes they not only are delayed but answered in ways we don’t understand. But let us remember the words in Jer. 33:3 (The Message), “Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.” His answers come in many varied ways, some very quick but not all!

Challenge for today: Give your questions and concerns to God and thank them in whatever way He answers.