By Meron Asnake (WITHIN Devotional Contributor)
 
On April 23rd, 2020, Illinois’ Governor announced the extension of the stay-at-home order until May 30th. As my introvert friend casually broke the news to my hearing, I remember my throat welling up with a groan. I recall myself in dismay and said in return “girl, I think I am going to scream.” With which she shockingly replied, “is it really that bad?” I did not have answers for her because I was grappling with the thought of another month. I am reminded of my racing thoughts as I verbally processed with her; “I mean, it has been more than 6 weeks already. I have been working from home; we are limited in our travel and time with community, and so much more. I do not think I can. This just cannot be happening; it JUST can’t.” Our conversation was abruptly interrupted by an incoming call from her aunt, and we hung up to reconvene later. But I couldn't help myself from replaying the conversation in my head.

I was not ready for an extended stay neither was I ready for my own outburst of the matter. However, it set off an alarm in my mental health; it communicated my need to address the underlying concerns I was suffocating. I did not know how to express it, nor did I have enough words to pray about it. So, I slowly got up from my home desk and sluggishly walked into my bedroom. I grabbed my pillow and screamed into it as long and as loud as I could. I came up for air and dived back into the pillow and screeched even louder. By this time, I burst into laughter; it was a peculiar thing I was experiencing because I was acting “out of character.” Yet again, there is nothing normal about this pandemic. I felt the tension dissipating; however, I dived back and screamed for the last time to relieve the rest of my worries.

I wondered if this is what Paul meant about Romans 8:26. I experienced literal hermeneutics of this verse in my scream-fest as the words leapt to the forefront of my memory. From bird’s eye-view observation, I suppose this is what Paul expresses; 26 “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words.” Even with our “right minds and understanding”, we lack to fully discern the will of the Lord in our life. We have a need for an intercessor, who searches the hearts and knows the mind of the Spirit, and an intercession according to the WILL of God (Romans 8:27).

In a rightful posture of weakness, which humbles us to depend on God, we find sobriety in His presence. We recognize our hearts’ deceitful and sick conditions that want to keep us intoxicated with their desires (Jeremiah 17:9).  Praise God for his grace and mercy in knowing all things and giving us the ultimate comforter and counselor. We may not have answers to several things; maybe, this is the reason for this season: for us to go to God with our anxieties and to cast our cares on Him for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

Hence, I want to encourage us to intentionally pray for one another.  I pray that we take the time to do a mental inventory of our state of mind. I pray we ask God to help us process and submit to Him and NOT suppress our anxieties and fears.  I pray that He surrounds us with a community of believers that will pour into us. Moreover, I pray we are not ashamed to seek professional counselors and therapists, if able. May the Lord keep you; may He shine His light upon you and give you peace that will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. 

Passages to read/memorize/meditate:
Romans 8:26-27
Jeremiah 17:9-10:
James 1: 2-4
1 Peter 5:7Questions to Reflect on:

1. What is your state of mind, heart, soul in this season?
2. What is God showing you about yourself? and Himself?
3. Do you pray for God to reveal the deceitfulness of your heart?
4. Do you trust Him and His Will to be perfect for your life?

By Yodit Kifle Smith
 
A little over a week into celebrating the resurrection of our Lord & Savior and it seems like every year, I marvel at the details of this story and what ends up sticking out to me. This year, I couldn’t help but ponder upon the words I read in the account found in Matthews 28:6, when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb after the Sabbath and found it empty, and an angel comforted them by saying,

“…He is not here, for He has risen, as He said”

And these words rang louder than before to me, “As He said.”

As who said? As Jesus said.

 Jesus did what He told His disciples He would do. In Matthew 16:21-28, He told them of the suffering He would have to endure and how He would be killed but be raised to life on the third day. Of course, we, on this end, read that and perhaps think, “how foolish that these disciples didn’t believe or understand Him.” But remember, for them, it was happening in the moment. They were mere men who were being stretched to walk by sight in the midst of the chaos that would ensue. They didn’t know what was to come and how it would come.

While it’s easy for us to read these accounts and like to believe that we would have done differently had we been the ones walking with Jesus in person, what gives us a reality check is that we have the whole story and account in His Word and still have trouble believing and walking by faith, even after seeing all that Jesus had done.

But as we were reminded on Resurrection Sunday, the same Jesus who did as He said, continues to do what He says in His Word for those who are His. God’s Word is a treasure that allows us to stand firm in our faith because they are God’s very words. No, we may not have seen Jesus like the disciples saw Him then, but the faith we’ve been given allows us to see Him even clearer than the disciples saw Him in those moments when they walked with Him. In having the whole counsel of God’s Word today, we can hold onto what He has said.

The question now is, do we know what He has said? If we don’t, we will fall into the deception of claiming words, thoughts and promise of God that are never found in His Word. And that can yield dangerous results.

We need to be women whose hearts and minds have hidden God’s words in our hearts, not just so we won’t sin against Him, but that we would live each day with the truth and reminder that we haven’t surrendered our lives to a mindless god, but One who is a living God, everlasting and faithful to do what He has said. His words are living and active.
 
So, what are some things Jesus said in His Word that we can cling to?
 
In Him [Jesus], we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7)
The salvation we have received when we put our trust and faith in Christ means the beautiful reality that what would have presented us guilty before a Holy God, now has been fully paid for by Jesus through His death and resurrection. Now, we can approach God with confidence and boldness (Hebrews 4:16) because our sins have been forgiven. And through the forgiveness we’ve been given, we are free to confess when we do sin, knowing that we are not under guilt and condemnation. If we don’t remember what He said in His word regarding our forgiveness, we will continue to live under condemnation rather than the freedom granted by what Jesus has done for us. And this freedom isn’t license to keep sinning. It’s the power of grace to run away from sin and sin.
 
I will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)
I find these words to be the most comforting words for us as believers. He said it way back to Joshua in Joshua 1:5; it was again written to remind the audience in the book of Hebrews, and it holds true for us today. We know how hard it is to not believe this truth when the things going on outside of us seem out of control. But these aren’t just any words; they are covenant words given to those who have entered into a covenantal relationship with God through Jesus. We are forever bound to God through Christ and that is why Romans 8:31-35 can remind us that if God is for us, there is nothing that can come against us that would remove us from the covenant relationship we have with God because we aren’t the ones who did the work to establish it. It was Jesus. And nothing can come against Jesus. He overcame and had all things put in subjection to Him (1 Corinthians 15:27). So, sisters…He won’t leave or forsake us. He is for us. Even when we think He feels distant, before we assume it’s Him who has left us, let’s check our hearts. Let’s check the distractions that keep us from hearing Him. Let’s check our own flesh that fights against the Spirit to be found in His Word and in prayer. He is not man that He should lie.
 
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7)
These words remind us that we have a God who understands the humanity we experience. He knows that anxiousness can rise up in us because of life’s circumstances. But He has given us a way of escape through the Peace He gives when we choose to submit our anxiousness and requests to Him in prayer. His Peace isn’t comprehendible through our own understanding. It’s a Peace that stands firm when all else is shaky. It’s a Peace that requires our willingness to surrender the answers we think we should have to our requests. It’s a Peace that trusts in the God who gives it. This Peace is Jesus. He holds us in the midst of turmoil. May we remember what He has said so that we don’t run the other way when anxiety rises. We have a God who promises to guard our hearts and minds so that our heart and mind don’t rule us.

Of course, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of truth that God’s Word gives us that we can cling to. May we continue to search them out as we grow in our relationship with His Word so that we can know that as He said them, we will know them to be true in our lives.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. 

Passages to read/memorize/meditate:
Matthew 28:6
Matthew 16:21-28
Ephesians 1:7
Hebrews 4:16
Hebrews 13:5
Philippians 4:6-7Questions to Reflect on:

1. How does knowing that Jesus did what He said He would do regarding His death and resurrection encourage you to trust His Words now?
2. How has this devotional encouraged you to see God’s faithfulness to His Words? To you?

By Debbie Ramamoorthy (WITHIN Devotional Contributor)

I am sure one of the many things on all of our minds recently has been how quickly our lives have changed, seemingly overnight. A few weeks back, we all entered into a world of unfamiliarity, flexibility and adaptability. The entire world, in some way or another, has been affected by something that came in so quickly and so abruptly.
 
Living in the Amazon, in a fairly impoverished part of the jungle of Ecuador, during a global pandemic, puts a lot into perspective for me. I look around my world and am constantly facing the reality that the people around me are in so much more need than myself. They have been out of jobs and not getting paid for 4 weeks and living off of nothing. Yet, every person I speak to seems to be speaking about how uncomfortable they are that they don't get to go see their friends, or have to cook more than they desire to. I am sure there is a level of discontentment we all feel but I can’t help but see that there are those who are in greater need than me.
 
While we are all trying to adjust to this new normal, I am constantly battling with the question, "What can I be doing to help others?" I want to help. I want to use this time to show those around me who Jesus is and who He can be to them. In their moments of despair that there is a God who sees them, knows that and wants them to live in total hope in Him. But…I'm stuck at home. I want to actually be the hands and feet of Jesus! Finally--this feels like the time! However, our curfew is 2pm and if we are out of our homes, we will be fined or even imprisoned.
 
I want to show my neighbors what Jesus' love looks like, truly, really and deeply! Yet, being in contact with them could potentially put them at risk and their families. I know that the communities I work with, my students- are all struggling. Their homes are currently rampant with abuse, neglect, loneliness, sadness, confusion, and parents who lost their jobs, having no means to put food on their tables. I know my students are feeling a sadness of being in a home that is filled with family members who are seeking shelter together and a sense of abandonment by the school and their teachers. I want to go over to them and hug them. I want them to see me and know that I still care about them. I want to let them know that they are not wasted space and they’re here for a reason. They consume my mind and heart.
 
The reality is that these communities don't have immune systems that could fight off a virus. They live with their elderly and they don't have access to running water. So, if one person potentially gets infected, that could mean the loss of many of them. So, what do I do? Do I still go over there to be their "savior?" and potentially put them at risk? While it’s tempting, God has given me perspective.
 I know that I must choose to surrender my heart and consume my mind with Scripture so that I gain discernment. I hope you are encouraged in some way by what I have learned:
 
1. Prayer---What a powerful tool that we all have access too. I was reading James 5:16 and it says "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective," and it struck me. I can lift each person that comes to my mind (whether or not I know their names) in prayer--bold, deep and transparent prayer. James 5 goes on to say that Elijah, just a regular man, prayed and his prayers were answered! I trust that God will answer me.
 
2. Humility--- Our posture right now needs to be rooted in Christ. Humility is what Jesus embodied. His ministry here on Earth seeped with humility. He had one and only one concern- to stay in intimate connection with the Father and please Him. That's it. He wasn't here to gain the approval of man, to be liked by His friends, or to do things that made sense to those who watched Him. His heart was set in humility, and from that, His actions were motivated. So, surrendering our hearts to the Lord, and making sure that all that we are doing is rooted in humility and in pleasing our Father. No one else. 1 Peter 5:5 says:  
“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

3. Stillness--The last one that I have to consistently and daily surrender to the Lord is to just Be Still. This is a season where we are being refined and restored. We are all in a season of Sabbath. We are all, in some form or the other, in "the desert." We are being stripped of things and we are seeing that we have to let go of other things, and it seems like we are going back to the basics of what truly matters. But our tendency is to rush past things. We want to get to the next thing. We want to be at the next level. We want to take the next step. We want to do, do, do. And what a beautiful thing that is when God's people want to live out His call! But first... we must sit at His feet. We must drink from His cup. We must taste Him and see Him. And Then, when He has totally taken hold of our hearts- right now, in this season, in the most captivating way- then we are ready.
 
I hope you are all staying safe. I pray that you all remember how loved you are by our Father and He is right in this season with you., holding you and loving you through it!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. 

Passages to read/memorize/meditate:
1 Peter 5:5
James 5:16
James 4Questions to Reflect on:

1. What are some ways in which God is refining you in this season?
2. In what ways are you experiencing God? What aspects of His character are you growing in learning?
3. What are some ways in which you are afraid right now? What are some truths of Jesus you are using to combat those fears?