Carl DeLine

Prayer and Scripture:

Exodus 3:1-15 and Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b • Jeremiah 15:15-21 and Psalm 26:1-8 • Romans 12:9-21 • Matthew 16:21-28

Lord, I am greeted this morning by the Spirit of expectation. My prayer is guided by the words of Scripture. Each of the passages have something to share with me, with the group, with those of us who struggle with our past and now with our present.

Lord, thank you for Moses for his humanity, for the things I can learn about you through him. I am prompted to listen to the conversation and amazed how the conclusion is so different. Here we are to understand how little we know about You instead of how much we know.

Lord teach me, teach us patience, nurture us to understand the meaning of getting to know you. Let us understand we have walked through time, time nurtures us, gives us space to be nurtured. We do not own time. We are like the Israelites of old. We wander from day to day not knowing what the day will bring.

Lord, thank you. As in many situations I simply forget. Thank you. All the medications, all the damage, not remembering those things I keep putting behind me, some times, intact many times I forget the good things as well as the bad. So thank you that you choose to walk with me anyway.

Lord, I confess my self centeredness. It has become all to easy live in my own world. I pray for your forgiveness. I pray the walls I am building around myself will be taken down and rebuilt with the understanding and perspective that I am your servant. I pray that like Israel of old we would be nurtured, I would be nurtured. Knowledge comes to your people that our/my life is to be taken and being filled with your grace. As your grace then has the freedom to flow through me, then to others.

Lord, as I read the words of Jeremiah I am reminded of a sorrowful man. He felt so abandoned, so left out. At times I feel the same way. Deliver me, allow your grace to nurture me through a stressful reality. May the darkness turn to light. May the night turn to day. May the tears of sadness turn to tears of joy. May the deliverance not nurture retribution, may deliverance nurture kindness, powerful hugs.

Lord, let these words be words of integrity, words of faith nurtured in dialogue, nurtured as words being tested by the fires of life.

Lord, allow us to be a team, a people who forgives, who forgets. If we are to be found guilty may we be found as doers of good works of gentle ways.

Lord, may we understand the brokenness of our world. May we understand the power of dying to our own hopes and expectations. May we see our short sightedness in favor of your vision.

Music:

“All Creatures of Our God and King”

“10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)”

“Trust in You”

Meditation: Please read the scriptures before reading the meditation.

An obstacle to be nurtured through.

There are some things in life you are destined to do. There are times when you may want to say, “stop the world, I want off!”

Moses, no doubt, found himself in that situation.

He was born an immigrant. He could not change that. The blood flowing through his veins somehow kept reminding him of that.

His patterns of behavior were nurtured, it was as if the patterns began to live on their own not the life Moses had hoped for. I am convinced you understand these words. It is as if sarcoidosis entered your life and began to turn you in it’s own direction. The blood flowing through your veins sprinkled Sarcoidosis’s influence. Sarcoidosis would then lie dormant until a triggering event would happen. Moses understood triggering events. God then said I want you.

Who are you? This voice coming from beyond says “I am.” They will come to know me because they will come to know you. This is what this life is about for you. You have your destiny. I will nurture you.

Many of us going through long term sarcoidosis are getting to understand destiny. We are often tired of being told what our destiny is. How can someone else know when they do not know what is going on? How can they deny the story, yet they do. Perhaps their ignorance is part of our destiny.

Tell them of the good things happening to you. Tell them of the sustaining events in your life. Tell them pain and suffering is real. Tell them there is a greater good than just for ones self. Moses wanted nothing to do with this “human rights” walk. He just wanted to walk away. How many times have you said to yourself, “Okay, doctor, thanks for letting me know. I’ll be going now. Got a lot to do, don’t have time for all those big words no one knows anyway. Bye!”

“It doesn’t work like that” says the voice. Don’t argue, just keep going. I will nurture you. Your destiny is before you. The struggle was real. The trials massive. Never forget this is your destiny. You have been given permission to live, think, and care when the world says we don’t have time to care or to care about others. You will not be a martyr. You will live through this illustrating my desire for a meaningful destiny, a message consistent with the history of the voice.

Moses, no doubt, cried out, why are you always thinking of yourself first? Why can’t you live with what you need instead of your greed? Why can’t you understand we are all immigrants needing to be supportive to/for each other. Moses had his destiny. We have a destiny. Sarcoidosis, as villainous as it becomes, pales into insignificance when we live out our destiny.

Please choose to live out your destiny. You are not alone. Thousands have heard the same voice and are responding out of a destiny meant to bring hope and healing.

Closing Thought: “Magnify”