I was fortunate to spend the last nine years of my career in education as a Literacy Specialist in the district office of Williamson County Schools in Franklin, TN. We also lived in Franklin, not far from an entrance onto I-65. I was often asked to attend meetings, trainings, and conferences in either Nashville or Murfreesboro, both a 30-40 drive via I-65 under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, the circumstances were rarely normal. The problem was not getting onto the Interstate – the problem was making progress once on the Interstate. Many mornings, although I left well before 7:00 a.m. to make an 8:00 a.m. meeting, I found myself at a complete stop while emergency vehicles raced by, going either north or south, and I, along with hundreds of other busy commuters and travelers, sat stewing in my vehicle, worrying about being late for this or that very important (at least in my mind) appointment.

One day I was apologizing to the person leading the meeting (when I finally got there, about 20 minutes late) and explaining the circumstances. She could see I was frustrated and still aggravated about my tardy arrival. Instead of commiserating with me and sharing her traffic horror stories, she surprised me by saying, “What I do when I’m held up in traffic like that is pray for those involved in the accident and the first responders caring for them.” Pray? I was frustrated, worried about missing the meeting, and anxious for traffic to start moving! I was not in the mood to pray!

However, the more I thought about it, I realized that my anger, anxiety, and frustration were doing nothing to help the situation. I realized that however my day had been altered, it was nothing compared to the serious injuries, or worse, of the victims, and that the first responders were endangering themselves trying to help those who had been in the accident. I felt ashamed of myself for making a horrible situation for others all about me and my misplaced values. Yes, my work was important, but nothing is more important than a human being’s life.

From that day forward, I have practiced what she taught me. When I find myself caught in a traffic delay, I pray for those involved in the accident, for God’s comfort and reassurance for them and their loved ones, and for the first responders, that they will be able to use their knowledge and training to help those victims and remain safe themselves. I thank God that there are those willing to help in tragic and difficult circumstances. Yes, I may still be late for my intended destination, but I am calm instead of anxious and focused on others instead of myself. And I thank God for my safe arrival, too.

As this verse teaches us, in every situation, present your requests to God.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the reminder that our human feelings and failings can best be managed by talking with you about them. Help us stay focused on others rather than ourselves and let us do whatever we can to serve those individuals who are in distress. Thank you for the angels among us who risk their own lives every day to save the lives of others. Amen.

This devotional was written by Pat Scruggs and read by Sally Stovall.

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/.

In my household, it is no secret that I envy my husband. Specifically, I envy his easygoing nature, his ability to accept things that are outside of his control. Over the years I have tried to learn from him, and I like to think that he has helped me stretch and grow in this area. But it hasn’t been easy. Because I am stubborn. I like to know things. I crave certainty. By nature, I tend to be high strung and tightly wound, and I do not easily accept the unexpected. Instead, my tendency is to analyze it to death to try to figure out how it could have been prevented.

This passage from Isaiah is my husband’s favorite scripture because it serves as a profound reminder of the vastness of God's wisdom and the depth of God’s plans. In this life, we are often bewildered by the unexpected. We struggle repeatedly to make sense of adversity, pain and suffering. However, this passage eloquently reassures us, in the face of all that the world suffers, God knows something we don’t. God sees things we can’t. God’s perspective is inconceivably distinct from ours. God’s ways and thoughts are beyond our comprehension. And though we cannot comprehend God’s ways and thoughts, we can trust in God’s goodness.

Acceptance of things we do not understand and cannot control is not a sign of defeat, but a testament to our faith in God's divine purpose. When bad things happen, we are called to trust that God’s ways, mysterious and unfathomable, are higher and greater than ours, and that ultimately, God’s love will prevail.

God of mercy and comfort, when we are dismayed and discouraged by the suffering of the world or by our own heartache, help us remember that your ways and thoughts are higher than the heavens. Teach us that it is not our place to understand, but to trust in your endless grace and abundant love. In your holy name we pray, amen.

This devotional was written and read by Greta Smith.

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/.

When I was a child in Sunday School, I received a mechanical pencil as a prize for memorizing a lot of verses of Scripture. I treasured that pencil and carried it for years. In my mind’s eye, I can still see the print on its barrel, quoting Philippians 4:13 in the King James Version: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” The Common English Bible translation sounds a little darker: “I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.”

But I love the implications of the broader passage—not just enduring difficulty, but “content with whatever I have.” Forty years or so after Paul wrote to the Philippians, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus observed that it is not what happens to us but what we think about what happens to us that determines our experience. Paul learned contentment by keeping his attention on Jesus.

I confess that I don’t always choose to think about things in a way that brings contentment, but Paul shows me the way, and when I remember his words to the Philippians in good times or challenging times, I find contentment too.

Father, thank you for the strength and the joy that comes through Jesus. When we face celebrations and when we face challenges, may we remember to give thanks for that gift and experience the same contentment in all our circumstances. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Donn King.

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/.

About twenty years ago, I was surprised when I received a call from my pastor, as Jim very rarely called me. “It’s mama,” he said. My heart sank. Suddenly, his sweet mother, who had always been so full of life, was gone. Jim was pastor of the little United Methodist church in Tarboro, NC, but a few decades earlier, his father was pastor of the same church, so their ties to that community ran deep. Consequently, this service would be a big one, and he wanted to let me know about it as soon as possible. “I really hate to ask,” he said, “but is there any way there could be a choir? She loved it so much.” Of course there would be.

Spirit-led, I was instantly in mind of a sermon he had preached only a short time earlier, in which he described songs we sing when no one is listening as private devotions. An example he gave was of his mom vacuuming the house while humming “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me.” I knew that hymn had to be sung at her service, so I wrote an arrangement for the choir, ending with the congregation being invited to join in, humming the melody a cappella. When I turned around from the choir to invite the congregation to join, I inadvertently locked eyes with Jim. I was an emotional wreck, but I also knew that we had appropriately honored his mom. Her song, even though she was no longer able to sing it, carried on.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago, Mother’s Day. My wife and I were hosting a dinner for family, including my mom and her mother. My sweet Nana was riddled with dementia at this point, and she didn’t always remember my name. In fact, despite having been there before, when she got to my house, she complimented my sister on it, thinking it was hers. At some point, she wandered into the front of the house, where our piano sat. Sheepishly, she came back to the kitchen and said, “That’s a really pretty piano. Do you think I could play it?” I replied, “I hope you will!” For around half an hour, she played songs stored in the depths of her brain for us like she had looked at the sheet music just yesterday. When she ran out of pieces she remembered, I said, “I’m looking for some hymns for you to play.” “OH! You want hymns?” she replied, and then played on several minutes longer.

We store music so deeply in our brains that it becomes part of us. Music therapy is central to dementia care for this reason. Even for those who are lucky enough to escape the grip of that terrible disease, the songs of their lives echo even after they have forgotten other things. Case in point - I remember the quadratic equation is “x=(-b±√b2-4ac)/2a,” but I have long forgotten what the quadratic equation does. (Apologies to my algebra teacher Mrs. Blackburn.) Anyway, my point is that because music has this power, we must consider what songs we are filling our lives with. When we are humming a tune while no one else is around, what are the tunes that resonate in our souls? When we near the end of our lives, will the songs that continue to echo be songs that glorify God?

God, you give us the miracle of storing music deep in the recesses of our minds. Let us fill those recesses with songs that praise you so that always, in everything, we give you thanks. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Dwight Dockery.

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/.

I tend to worry a lot. I tend to worry about things that haven’t even happened. I worry about how I am going to play in my next baseball game, for example, or about what people will think of me, even people I haven’t met yet!

We don’t need to worry about that stuff, because tomorrow is not promised. All we can count on is today. That makes me think of another verse, Galatians 6:9: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Basically, this means that we have to be patient and not worry about what is happening in the future. Instead, we must rely on God, and keep doing the right thing in the present. If the thing we want doesn’t happen, it’s either not the right thing or not the right time. The Lord will create a path for each of us, and sometimes failing is part of the plan that will make you who you are supposed to be.

Sometimes things don’t work out the way you wanted them to. When that happens, it’s hard to understand, and easy to worry. Two years ago, I didn’t make my middle school baseball team, and then I got cut from the team I was on. Even though that was really hard at the time, now I can look back and see how it helped me become the player I am today—a better player. It taught me to keep working and not give up. It taught me to have faith in God, who helped me through.

And faith is better than worry any day.

Dear Lord, please help me to not worry about tomorrow, and instead live in the present, and trust in You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Ryan Smith.

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/.

My mother couldn’t sing a lick.

That never stopped her. She sang in church every Sunday — loud, joyful, enthusiastically off-key. And she sang the same way around the house whenever the spirit moved her. She couldn’t have carried a tune in a bucket, as she would have been the first to tell you. She just didn’t think that was any reason not to sing.

My wife Carla has a demure, slightly southern speaking voice — soft, measured, the kind that makes you lean in a little. What I didn’t know when I married her was what happened to that voice when she opened her mouth to sing. She has the voice of an angel. Maybe three angels.

The first time I went to church with her, she was gracious enough to forego the choir and sit in the pew with me. When we stood for the first hymn, I found the page in my bulletin — and then this voice came out of the woman standing next to me. I nearly dropped my hymnal.

Two people I love. Two entirely different sets of gifts. Both making a joyful noise to the Lord.

Something happens to a voice on the way to God. It arrives in tune.

The psalm doesn’t say make a beautiful noise. It doesn’t say make a skilled noise, or a trained noise, or a noise that stays within the lines of the musical staff. It says make a joyful noise. The qualifier is about what’s in your heart, not what’s coming out of your throat.

My mother understood this in her bones. She wasn’t performing. She wasn’t auditioning. She was just responding to a God she loved, in the only voice she had. That was entirely sufficient.

Carla understands it too. Her voice is a genuine gift, and she uses it beautifully. But what moves God isn’t the three angels. It’s the same thing that moved him when my mother sang — the joyful, unself-conscious offering of whatever you have.

“All the earth,” the psalmist says. Not all the trained singers of the earth. Not the naturally gifted. All the earth. Which means the only real question is whether there’s any joy behind the noise.

If there is, you’re already doing it right.

Father, you don’t need our voices to be beautiful — just willing. Help us sing today as if what matters is the joy, not the pitch. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Cliff McCartney.

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/.

Welcome to the Saturday episode of the Grace for All podcast. Thank you for joining us today. Saturday is a special time when we take a few moments to review the scriptures that we have cited in the episodes this week.

If you missed any of those episodes, you might want to consider listening to them today. And even if you heard them all, there may be one that you might want to listen to again. We hope that each of these scriptures and podcasts will bring you a full measure of joy, peace, and love.

Now, let's listen to the scriptures that have been on our hearts this week.

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/.

Romans 8:38-39 is one of the most beloved passages in Scripture, but I think we lose some of its power when we read it by itself.

Just one chapter earlier, Paul wrestles with a painfully familiar frustration. He knows what is right. He wants to do what is right. Yet he keeps falling short. Finally, at the end of Romans 7 he cries out, "I'm a miserable human being. Who will deliver me from this dead corpse?"

That is not the triumphant voice we hear at the end of Romans 8. It is the voice of someone who has reached the end of his own resources.

Maybe that's why Romans 8 feels so powerful. Paul doesn't write from a place of self-confidence. He doesn't claim he finally figured everything out. He isn't saying, "My faith is strong enough to hold onto God." Instead, he has become convinced that God is strong enough to hold onto him.

As Romans 8 unfolds, Paul works through every fear he can imagine: suffering, hardship, persecution, danger, even death itself. Then he reaches his conclusion: nothing that happens can undo what God has already done.

That is why Paul can say that neither death nor life, neither things present nor things to come, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

He doesn't mean we will never struggle. Paul certainly did. The good news is that God's love is more persistent than our failures, our fears, and even our worst days.

Father, thank You that Your love does not depend on our ability to hold everything together. On some days, we are pretty sure we couldn't hold a paper clip together. Thank You for holding onto us even when we feel weak, uncertain, or overwhelmed. Remind us today that nothing can separate us from Your love in Christ Jesus. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Donn King.

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/.