Dear Ones,
Hope you have a wonderful day, entering into all that God has for you. We are in Coralville, Iowa, after traveling 16 hours and 900 miles yesterday. As it was getting dark and raining hard, the freeway was totally stopped and thought it might be an accident as lights flashing etc… we got off and took another very winding narrow route. We were so grateful for your prayers as we arrived safely to our hotel! Today we head home!!
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  Are we people of faith; faith in a God we can’t see but loves us and is true to His promises? In I john 5:4 it says, “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” Today we need faith more than ever before as we live in this uncertain world. We don’t know what will happen next and life seems more fragile today.
   It takes courage and faith that comes from trusting in the Lord to overcome the darkness around us. At times we may feel like tight rope walkers as we try to live a life of faith and not be overcome by the world; but the Lord is our safety net underneath us at all times.
   Maybe we are doing our best to escape difficulties but we are not to run from them but stay faithful. That means believing God will bring good out of whatever challenges we are going through right now; nothing can touch our lives without God allowing it to happen. Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it is to trust and accept His will for being a quadriplegic; but she says she would never exchange her suffering and pain for all the spiritual benefits she has gained in coming to know the Lord in this deep way
    God wants us to have faith to surrender everything into His hand which includes all of our hurts and pain. We hear so often that we need to take control of our lives but the truth is we need to surrender control of our lives to the Lord. Author Juliet Ann Canha writes how when we are in control of our lives it is the same as self-rule. We want to run our own lives the way we want and that means resisting what God has for us. But it is in wisdom not weakness that we surrender in obedience to obey God. Instead of working things out ourselves and trying to manipulate others and force our own way…we simply let go and let God have His way. It’s really the only way to live if we want peace.
Challenge for today: In faith, daily choose to surrender to the Lord and say, “Your will, not mine.”
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy