Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Worry”
Our Bible verse for today: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “It’s difficult to worry when you’re in the presence of God.”
I love the story about the nuns who run “The Home for the Dying and Destitute” in Calcutta, India. This is the organization founded and led for many years by Mother Teresa.
The work the nuns do all day, every day, is difficult beyond description. They serve some of the poorest, the most destitute and miserable people to be found anywhere. Literally, many of those who live in the Home were found by the nuns on the streets, in the gutters, terminally ill and half dead already. The nun’s days are filled with bathing unspeakably filthy bodies, treating festering wounds, spoon-feeding those who can’t feed themselves, and cleaning up vomit and urine and excrement.
Day-after-day, for 12-1 5 hours a day, week-after-week, for months and years on end, their work is the same. How do they do it? I doubt that I would last an hour, much less a year, or a lifetime, in such an environment.
And yet, the nuns are known for their tremendous sense of joy and serenity in the midst of all that pain and suffering. They seem to have few cares or worries. They laugh and smile and sing as they go about their labor. Where does that come from?
It comes from spending much time in the presence of God. Philip Yancey was there, in Calcutta, and witnessed this for himself. He found that their serenity can be directly traced to what takes place every day before their work begins. At four o’clock every morning the nuns gather in the Chapel where they sit together in deep silence and in adoration before God. They pray together, they recite Scripture, and then they sing. They sing loud and joyfully. They sing praises to God and they celebrate His goodness, His mercy, His grace, and His love. Then, empowered and renewed with a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit, they go forward into their day with joy in their hearts and a song on their lips.
I know your days are often challenging, so are mine. But seriously, compared to what those nuns face day-in-and day-out I have little to complain or worry about. I find their example challenging and stimulating. I want to face my days with the joy and serenity they have. To do that, I will have to go to the same source that they go to. I too need to begin my days in prayer, worship, adoration, thanksgiving, and praise.
In Psalm 46:10 we’re told to simply be still in His presence and know that He is God. Before your activities for the day begin; before you think about the long list of things to do, or all the things you could potentially worry about; just be still in His presence and know that He is God. Then praise Him, worship Him, and go forward into your day prepared for whatever lies ahead. Do that and you’ll probably worry a lot less.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 