Mid-week Devotional:

Week of July 19, 2026

Mid-week Devotional - week of July 19, 2026
Rev. Joanne Elston

This morning as I sat in my rocking chair on the deck in Minnesota, I thought about all the times this week when I was reminded again and again how little control I have over the world that surrounds me.

I was reminded that…

-I do not control the breeze that ruffles my hair.

-I do not control the leaves on the cottonwood trees to make their whispering sound as the wind moves through them.

-I do not control the flow of the water in the creek that meanders through the pasture.

-I do not control the movement of the clouds in the sky above me.

-I had no control over the way the light from the sun shimmered as if it were alive through the trees yesterday morning as we walked down the lane past the corn field on our left and the rolling pasture on our right where the cows and their calves grazed.

-I had no control over the 2 male deer who ran out of the corn field and leaped over the pasture fence in front of us when we walked early this morning.

It is in times such as these that I am reminded that God is everywhere around me 24/7. God is always loving and always patient with me even when I stray and act as if I am in charge of the world in which I live.

Scripture written by the psalmist in Psalm 47:1-2 tells how each one of us are to respond to God’s continual presence in our lives.

Hear the Word of God,

“1 Clap your hands, all you peoples, Shout to God with loud songs of joy, 2 For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.”

This is God’s word for God’s people. Thanks be to God. AMEN.

Today and in the days ahead may you take time to pause in your busy life and look at the world around you and see with new eyes the many ways God shows His holy presence that surrounds you.

  • May you come to see the world around you with new eyes.

  • May you place your faith and trust in God’s love and grace.

  • May you give thanks and “shout to God with loud songs of joy” (v. 1).

  • May you share with all whom you meet today and in all the days to come where you saw evidence of God’s presence.

I will be praying for you.

Peace be with you.

AMEN.