Hello, and welcome to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast produced by members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. I’m Grace Jonas, the reader and writer of today’s devotional, which I’ve entitled “Let Heaven and Nature Sing”. Thank you so much for joining me today!

When I was younger, I remember a song from either Vacation Bible School or a Children’s Play containing the lyrics “I’m not gonna let the rocks cry out for me” and “I’m not gonna let the hills bow down for me” in reference to praising God. I remember as a child, these lyrics seemed silly to me, which, even as an adult, they still seem a bit silly. But, not for the reasons you may think.

After all, the lyrics to the well-loved hymn “Joy to the World” contain the lyrics “let every heart prepare Him room, and Heaven and nature sing.” And refers to fields, floods, rocks, hills and plains repeating the sounding joy.

When I was young, I could not put a finger on why I thought the lyrics to that children’s song sounded silly to me, but now analyzing the lyrics to this hymn and this verse hand in hand, I know why that is: there are several hymns and church songs referring to creation singing of God’s love, but specifically in this context when we refer to creation, we refer to beings such as rocks, oceans, and other landmarks. In my mind, I feel this goes to show that while, yes, we shouldn’t let the rocks cry out for us or the hills bow down for us, we should fill the Earth with songs of worship and let all features of God’s wondrous Earth be alive with praise in harmony with our own.

Dear God, while we may believe the only things that can sing your praises are the beings with voices, help us be reminded that there is a beautiful Earth surrounding us that you painstakingly created that we should rejoice and be worship in harmony with. May we always love and appreciate the Earth you have created and fill it with the songs of your praise. In your name, amen.

This devotional was written and read by Grace Jonas.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

Have you ever said those words, “Why God is this happening to me?”

I have.

At those moments I must be feeling much like the people to whom Isaiah was talking. They felt that God was ignoring the predicament they were in. Or maybe that God didn’t care or that God had grown tired of trying to fix the messes that they had gotten themselves into. You know the list when we are playing the blame game and wanting to lay all that is happening at God’s feet and proclaim that if God cared then none of this would have happened.

Isaiah’s response was to remind them, and us, that God is the creator. If God created all the world then God would never grow tired or weary. God’s power and understanding is limitless. And God is willing to share that hope and strength with us. But we have a part to play. We must believe it. We must put our faith and hope in God. When we do we will gain strength. We still have to deal with the situation that we are in. But we know again we are not alone, God is aware of what we are going through. Our misery is not hidden from God. And in good time, with God’s love, this powerful creative God will help us to soar again with the eagles.

I recall a woman I got to know when I was a teenager. Blanch lost her eyesight when she was about 75. For the longest time she was in a great big pity party, to use her words. She kept asking God, “Why Me?” Finally she started to ask God a different question. “How can you use me?” She became a prayer warrior. Her daughter would keep a list of all the people who asked her to pray for them. She would read Blanch a few every so often and then Blanch would pray for them. She spent hours a day in prayer. It lifted her spirits and moved her back into the world. She had been staying home afraid and embittered. Now she was back to church and her women’s group and full of life. She had begun to soar. Her blindness was not cured, but her attitude was transformed. She realized this all powerful God loved her and had a use for her. She made a tremendous impact on me as a young man and I am sure she did on others who admired her ability to enjoy life even when it was hard.

Loving God, when we feel like you do not care, remind us that you never grow weary in loving us and caring us. Help us to put our trust in you knowing that we will get through this difficult time, we will gain strength and yes, might even soar again like an eagle. AMEN.

This devotion was written by Bill Green and read by Donn King.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United...

The advice we receive throughout our lives follows a pattern of stay strong, be independent, be resilient, fix your problems, and be proud of your accomplishments. The advice in scripture in dozens and dozens of places throughout the old and new testaments is to be meek. In the modern world, we rarely hear people advise us to be humble. We strut and brag. We go around pointing out what is wrong with others. We want more, and we are taught to go out and get it out.

But how does one really show strength and feel a sense of peace in a world so full of turmoil?

It does not take strength to hate, and it does not take strength to yell. It takes strength to show restraint, to accept that we do not know the truth, to look around and realize we have what we need, to put everything in the hands and heart of the Lord, and to follow the path that Jesus showed us.

The Earth is the Lord’s, and we are the children of God. What greater joy is there in childhood than to have a hurt, a fear, or a worry and to run to the arms of our mother for consolation. The peace we find in that moment is to rest in the strength of those that love and protect us. The need to be strong, to be right, to be better, and to belong is so strong that it causes us to kick and scream like children in a tantrum. If only we would stop and embrace the grace that surrounds us.

Let us seek silence, humility, and be meek. Let us turn the other cheek, accept censure, take the harder path, the Way, that is straight but an uphill climb in the world that surrounds us. Let us not cocoon ourselves in our own dignity like a blanket of self-righteousness.

Peace is to be found not in proving we are right, seeking more, or telling others how to act but in acting with grace towards all God’s beloved children. In humility, may our actions be meek because we quietly listen to the Holy Spirit as our actions are guided to listen not provoke, to assist not demand, to hold hands not to yell, to forgive not retaliate, and to trust that God holds us so that we may have all the peace of grace and love in the universe.

This devotion was written by Jill Pope and read by Judy Wilson.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.