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The Journey | 9.20.26 – 9.25.26
As a kid, I was so often inspired by books or movies to make a huge impact on the world. I read about Florence Nightingale and wanted to be a nurse. I read God’s Smuggler and wanted to help covertly smuggle Bibles into the Soviet Union. I’d watch a movie and want to be an attorney saving the underdog. Each time, my hopes and dreams were big, and I wanted to make a huge difference in the world, sometimes even for God. Though I believe in the power of one, and the massive impact one person can have on the world, my life turned out pretty ordinary. To many it may seem mundane. I live in the Midwest, I got married young, I was (and am) a teacher, I had and raised a few kids. All good, but nothing exceptional to most outsiders looking in. Still, every step of the way, I’ve come back to the foundational sense that I am who and where God wants me to be.
God knew what I didn’t all those years ago: where I’d be, who I’d meet, what I would be doing. I am the type of person who does not focus much on the past or the future; today is enough all on its own. However, when I do look back, I see the fingerprints of God all over it. As I’ve gotten older, I am much more aware of how I’m wired and who I was created to be. My marriage and family have been a place and a people to give and receive love, even when I fall short. I’ve found tremendous joy in the everyday, working with children, teens, and adults, and with others who also care deeply about those same things. I’ve been blessed by years at Heartland, through the peaks and valleys, to serve alongside others who love Jesus and love the church. Life and circumstances can feel quite random, but I’ve found (mostly by looking back) that God is weaving together the strings of a tapestry whose pattern remains unknown to me. God’s specialty is bringing order out of chaos.
So when Brad described eternal life not as a place (heaven) but as a relationship that never ends, that resonated. God created me, wants a relationship with me, and sent Jesus (at a costly price) so that I could become an heir, a daughter. It’s a never-ending relationship, one that has already started and will continue. He has been in my life long before I learned to welcome him into it. After so many years, I’m beginning to really understand the relational aspect of prayer: a way to know God (and not just know about him).
So, if you’ve ever wondered whether your life actually adds up to something, rest in the assurance that you matter deeply to the God who created you with a purpose and a hope. he never asks us to do everything, just what’s right in front of us: to be faithful in the small things (one thing at a time) and to stay in relationship with a Father who loves us, so that at the end of our days we too can say, in our small way, “I have brought you glory by finishing the work you gave me to do.”
Last Sunday: Remain connected to the vine.
This Sunday: Our relationship with our Heavenly Father helps us know ourselves and who we were created to be. Jesus knew who he was and why he came. He did not do his own thing and hope God would bless it. That’s an entire lesson in itself (one I continually work on). Faithfulness isn’t doing everything; it’s doing the work God has given you to do.
Do the work given to you by God and, in so doing, glorify God.
By Molly Fisher
Monday, September 21
This is not the first time Jesus prayed, but it’s still important to start there: Jesus prayed. And if Jesus prayed, we should as well. Although it is one of many prayers, this particular prayer is unique. he asks to be glorified, which seems at odds with the rest of Jesus’ life, until the very next thought, where he asks it in order to glorify God the Father, because Jesus has finished the work he was given to do. Until now, Jesus was not seeking glory; he had work to do. he knew not only why he had come as a man to live among us and the final result of his coming, but also all the things in between his coming and his crucifixion. he lived a full life as a human, with friends and family. he worked, healed, and performed many miracles. Jesus was tempted, felt joy and grief, laughed and cried, and took time for people over and over again. Jesus has much to teach us, but key among those lessons is that we matter. Our lives matter. The everyday and the people whose lives we touch matter, to us and to God. That way, like Jesus and Paul (in 2 Timothy), we can also say at the end of our lives, “I have done what you tasked and gifted me to do, and I have finished.”
Reflect: Where in the world has God placed you, and who do you matter to? What would it mean if faithfulness to the small thing in front of you were what mattered most right now?
Apply: Identify at least one way God has specifically gifted you. Use that gift today. In that faithfulness, you bring glory to God.
Prayer: Dear God, our/my Father, open my eyes to see who is in my path and what gifts you have given me that I can use today to show someone else (and me too) that we matter to you.
Father, help me to know you.
Father, help me to do the work you have given me to do. Show me!
Father, help me to glorify you (by the life I live and the way I live it).
Tuesday, September 22
Despair is a state of mind we can get to, where we ask, “What is the point?” It is no one’s best headspace. Most of us have experienced a sense of futility, hopefully temporarily, and found it hard to move forward. The author of Ecclesiastes focuses on the word “meaningless” and wrestles with the “whys” of work and life. But God, the God who created us, says we matter, that our lives matter. God wants us to know that he sees our work and what we do, and there will be a time, God’s time, when we will know that it all had meaning.
God wants you to know that he created you, specifically you, and he loves you. You cannot earn that love; you are already fully and completely loved. (That can be hard to accept or wrap your head around, but you are.) Jesus died so that we too can be heirs, and we can approach God as a loving Father who tells us we matter, that our lives have value. he sees you and knows you, not for what you’ve done, but for who you are.
Reflect: There is an ache that hits our heart and soul when we feel like all our work, and sometimes our whole life, amounts to nothing. Have you experienced that heartache? Are you experiencing it now?
Apply: Use a breath prayer to inhale that acceptance and exhale discouragement. Your prayer can be more specific than that.
Prayer: Breathe in: Thank you that you love me. I am wonderfully created. I have value to God. Help. Breathe out: Forgive my doubt. Take my worry. Heal my wounded heart.
Wednesday, September 23
Fear can be paralyzing and keep us from using our gifts: fear of doing the wrong thing, fear of looking foolish, fear of someone’s anger, disappointment, or judgment. Sometimes it seems easier to do nothing, to manage expectations by falling short on our own terms. The end result of that strategy, however, only hurts you. God may not be handing you actual bags of gold, but he has given you gifts and talents that can benefit you and others. God is asking you to make the most of what you have. And he is pleased when you use your gifts, talents, and money for the benefit of others, which always makes a difference to you as well: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Reflect: In what ways has God uniquely gifted you? What do you bring to your relationships with others that only you can?
Apply: Identify one “talent,” one piece of gold in a bag of gold, that makes you, you. How can you multiply your impact in a positive way (a note or text of encouragement, an act of kindness, intentionally praying for someone in need …)?
Prayer: God, please help me see the talents you’ve given me. Help me not diminish the uniqueness that is the way you made me, and help me use my gifts to benefit my friends, family, co-workers, and those you put in my path. (This could easily be a daily prayer!)
Thursday, September 24
Near the end of his life, Paul says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Unlike the author of Ecclesiastes (Tuesday’s devotional verse), Paul knows his life has had purpose and meaning, that he lived it for God, and that he brought glory to God. Paul’s life pointed the way to Jesus, and though it was often hard and he was often persecuted, his finished work is for God’s glory. He knows his life has mattered, and he has poured into others so that they can carry on.
Prayer: Lord, thank you that Paul compares his life to both a race and a fight, because sometimes life feels like both. Thank you that I have models of what it looks like to keep the faith through difficult circumstances, and at times when I’m not sure I want to keep it up. Jesus, help me rely on your supernatural strength to keep going. Bring folks alongside me to help, encourage, and pray when times are tough, and let me be that for others.
Friday, September 25
Put your heart and soul into every activity that you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord himself and not merely for others. You were meant for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). God created you and knows you; he knows where you are and who you are with. We are designed to work and be in relationships, and doing all of that to the glory of God is exactly what Jesus modeled. If you ever wonder, “WWJD?” it’s Colossians 3:23.
Prayer: Jesus, though sometimes the way does not seem clear, and it can feel like I’m spinning my wheels and just stuck, please remind me that the way through is to put you first and do everything as if only for you. Thank you that this simple act honors you and glorifies you!
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