Tuesday

Terry Mantooth

Matthew 6:25-34

Think about your future. Where do you think you’ll be in a few years? A few decades? What do you think you’ll be doing? When you were thinking about your future, did you start to worry about it? That’s easy to do, especially in a time like college. You’re pressured now more than ever to figure your future out as soon as you can. I had a professor tell the class on our first day this semester that if we don’t figure out what we’re going to do with our lives as soon as possible, we’re going to get behind others and never find a job, and then basically be failures. People ran out of the classroom crying.With people like professors pressuring us, our minds can easily stay preoccupied with thoughts and worries about the future. God doesn’t want us to live like this, however. He wants us to live more like the birds and the flowers. Why birds and flowers, you may ask? In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus talks about the birds of the air and the flowers in the fields, and how they don’t worry about their futures. God provides for them in every way, and they thrive. Jesus points out that if God provides for things as small as flowers, don’t you think He’s going to provide for us too? Matthew 6:34 ends with “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” Focus on tomorrow when you get there. For now, try to focus on how you can live your life to the fullest today to prepare for your fullest tomorrow. Trust that God will take care of your future, and give your worries about it to Him. He has a plan for you, and He’s not going to let you down.  

God, help me to live more like the birds and the flowers. When I find myself worrying about what my future holds, allow me to give those worries to you and trust that you have a plan for me. Thank you for the opportunities you’ve given me today and all the todays in my future. Amen

Monday

Alexi Bolton

Daniel 3:16-28

If you’ve been around Wesley, you may’ve heard discussion of A Purpose-Driven life, which is a book, but also an approach to experiencing life with Christ. As Christians, we find our purpose in spreading the good news about Jesus. That’s all nice and good on the surface but gets a little dicey in the details. Do I have to give up my dreams? What about when I’ve got big doubts and don’t really feel like sharing? Insert a million other challenges here. The Bible gives us lots of examples of this. One notable story that comes to mind is of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3:16-28. As a person who loves stories, their story of following their dedication to the Lord has always amazed me. They did not fear death by fire (or major life changes, or uncertainty) they had hope in what would come after. Despite certain doom, they had faith like a small young redhead named Annie that the sun would come out tomorrow. 

God, give me faith and courage in tomorrow. When it seems like all I’m seeing is rain, help me to adopt an Annie mentality and stick up my chin and grin. Thank you for giving me a purpose that is so much better than anything I could’ve dreamt and please open my eyes to how I can make your name great throughout my day. Amen.

Saturday

Hannah Alford

Psalm 31:14-15
So I get that the enemies that are pursuing you probably aren’t actual people like David had. But we’ve all felt, or at least I know I feel like someone is working against me sometimes, that can be a professor, family, classes, yourself, the list continues. It can be hard to keep a mindfulness towards the spirit during these hard times, but it’s important to keep trust in the Lord. God’s plan is so much bigger than your problems and although he’s not gonna get rid of them completely, God uses your problems as a way for you to grow you closer to him. It all comes down to trust, in our brokenness we trust that God is doing something in our lives, and no matter how hard the pain, there is something better coming our way.

Hey God!

When we are struggling, turn our eyes towards you. Lead us to trust in you and allow you to take our lives in your hands. Comfort us with your presence and support us in our times of struggle. In your holy name, I pray.A-freakin-men

Friday

David Conour

Romans 8:12-16 

Isn’t it easy to get so wrapped up in our own lives? To become so inwardly focused that we forget that we are the sons and the daughters of the Living God? We all have so much that we have to contend with each and every day. Sometimes these struggles are mundane, common issues, like being up to your eyeballs in homework, having 3 tests in one week, and being a groomsman in a wedding. Other times, they’re a little less conventional, and those are the times that you really have to look to God to lead you. This does not necessarily mean that those things will no longer be a struggle, but that through God, you will be able to overcome the obstacles that are placed in your path.  

Father God,

Keep my eyes fixed on You. Help me to lean on You in my times of hardship, and help me to see your Holy Spirit working throughout my life. Allow me to see past the struggles of my day to day, and to instead see Your Glory in the world around me. In Your Son’s holy name I pray,

Amen.

Thursday

Katherine Norris

John 17:24-26 

This past weekend was Fall Retreat and it was so inspiring and impactful. When you live in a society like ours, it can be easy to be consumed all about yourself. When I say that I mean like not always giving 100% in your relationships or thinking you’re the only person with problems. I personally struggle in this aspect when it comes to friendships. Sometimes I don’t feel as if I can always be the most supportive friend because I can be too consumed with myself. This weekend I learned that in order to gain a stronger relationship with others, it is important for us to vulnerable. This really is difficult because vulnerability is a super scary thing. It opens up a new level of trust that you sometimes fear will be broken (and trust me, no one wants to be broken or hurt). However, in our group sessions, I was able to open up to a group of amazing people and it truly made me hopeful. I knew that this was exactly what God wants from us. He wants for us to be able to love others just as He loves us. He wants for us to all grow stronger together so we can give Him all of our love and attention. As long as we keep our eyes on Him, his love will always prosper. Your future is always bright with God by your side.  

Dear Lord, thank you for loving us even when there are times when we don’t feel we deserve your love. I pray that you help us open up to each other so we can share our love for you. Help us become the best person that we can be, Dear Lord. Our futures are so full of hope and I just pray that you help guide us towards our calling. In your name we pray, amen. 

Tuesday

Will Harper

Proverbs 4:25-27 

Oftentimes our lives can stray from the paths we want them to follow, we get distracted and end up on tangents that lead us away from what we know we should be doing. Sometimes it can go for so long that we forget, or even start to change where we think we should be going. It has always been important to me that enjoying what I do is more important than how well I do it, but there have been times in my life where I stray from that, I get a bit greedy and want to be better at something more than I want to enjoy it. This eventually leads to me avoiding it because I see it as a chore and not as an opportunity to do what I used to love. This can be the case sometimes in our relationship with God. Personally I struggle sometimes with getting lazy in my prayers, sometimes I don’t talk to God as much as I should with the excuse of “God knows me and what I’m going through, so I don’t need to pray it.” I have a hard time with this when I’m by myself and I don’t feel accountable per se. What gets me out of this is being with others, when I have people that hold me accountable to my relationship with God. Whatever it is that makes you stray away from with God, find whatever it is that reminds you of the importance of your relationship, and let it hold you accountable. 

God help us see when we lose sight of you, let us know where we can grow closer to You. Whatever part of our life it is that makes us more distant from You, let us give it up. I pray that whatever keeps us from You, we can find a way to keep ourselves accountable. Thank you for being with us even when we are distant from You so that we may never be without You. Amen.