MonroeOHUMC

  Day 11 -- Friday, March 14, 2025 Scripture: Isaiah 43:16-21 Devotion: "I am about to do a new thing," God declares through Isaiah. "Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" These words were spoken to people in exile—their own wilderness season. Their past was marked by God's deliverance through the Red Sea, but now God was promising something new: "I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Sometimes we get stuck looking backward, trying to recreate past experiences of God's presence. But the wilderness invites us to look for God in new ways. The same God who made a path through the sea can make streams in the desert. Our wilderness seasons aren't detours from God's plan—they're often the very places where God is doing a new work within us. What "new thing" might God be doing in your life right now? Where have you been focusing on the past instead of watching for fresh growth? Today, ask ...

  “Lost in the Wilderness of Life” Luke4:1-13; Acts 6:1-7 In the series “From Brokenness to Wholeness: A Journey of Healing and Hope” Have you ever been truly lost? Not just taking a wrong turn while driving or losing your way in a department store, but feeling completely disoriented in your own life? Maybe it was after receiving a devastating diagnosis, or when your marriage began falling apart. Perhaps it happened when you retired and suddenly questioned your purpose, or when your children left home, and you wondered, "What now?" On a sunny day in the summer of 2019, Becky, Josh, Hannah, and I walked into the forest of western North Carolina, part of a park. We like to take the kids for walks in nature to help them experience creation and shape a love of nature in them. It was peaceful as we walked, hearing the breeze gently rustling the green leaves and the sounds of our feet walking on the path. Along the way, we opted to take various twists and turns in the trail...