Grace For The Journey

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1555. Today's Devo is called Grace for the Journey. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Hello, everyone, my name is Lauren Burgos and I have been your host for this week. Today is our last episode. Reading out of Proverbs 31. And again, just as a new wife, I glean so much from this chapter, Proverbs 31. And I hope you go back and read through all of it. What is it they say? Like a proverb a day keeps the devil away. But anyways, it's so great. I've learned a lot from it. And I think this is a great closing to reading about Proverbs 31, because it's not just applicable to women, it's applicable to all of us. And I've said it every day this week because it's the Word of God. And the Word of God is applicable to all of us. That. That we should have wisdom in the way that we speak, that we should not be idle and lazy, but we should be diligent in our ordinary work. When it comes to our friends and our family, that it really matters what we say, that what strength and dignity looks like in front of God, all those things, it's not just applicable to women or to married women. It. It's applicable to all of us, of all ages, of all stages of life. So I thank you for hanging in there for me. To our male listeners, I thank you even more for hanging in there with me. Um, so let's close this one out with Proverbs 31, 28. And it says this. Her children arise and call her blessed. Her husband also, and he praises her. There's another verse in Proverbs 31 that says her husband is respected at the city gates. I think that's such a cool image because you can just kind of see the kind of man she's married to and the kind of man she respects and builds up with her words. And. And then here it says, her children arise and call her blessed. Her husband also, and he praises her. Proverbs 31, 28. And here we're talking about grace for the journey, basically grace for our lifetimes. Because I think a lot of times, even I read Proverbs 31, and I'm like, this is a lot. And I made, like, the joke before of, like, you could tell this woman's, like, up like the crack of dawn. She. She'd be super fit. They have, like seven kids. She's just, like, whipping out homemade meals. And we can easily get discouraged and be like, that's never gonna be me. Like, that's a lot to live up to. Or like, I have two kids and I can barely get out of bed. Or like, I have, like, me, I have zero kids. And I really struggled waking up this morning. So it's like, I'll never be that. And it can easily be discouraged. But I think we forget that this verse is not to be, like, an unrealistic expectation. It's just to show us that our whole life is a journey and God graces us for the journey. Because it's not something that this woman learned in two years, and she's, you know, just mastered at a super young age. Here it's showing us that as she's gotten older, her children arise and call her blessed. Her husband also and praises her. So it was never meant. Proverbs 31 was never meant to become a crushing standard of perfection. It is a picture of life gradually formed through wisdom, faithfulness, humility, and it's also dependence on God over time that when we act with wisdom in our lives, when we think with wisdom, talk with wisdom, our children arise and call us blessed, and so do our spouses. And again, here's the danger in thinking this only applies to women, men. When you act with wisdom and grace, your wife arises and calls you blessed as well. Spiritual maturity and wisdom, it doesn't come instantly. It comes with age. It comes with learning. It comes with knowledge and understanding and asking God to give you knowledge and understanding. Other seasons, you may feel exhausted, uncertain, emotional, and stretched thin because you have kids that are keeping you up at night. Or it's just an exhausting season. Maybe you're in college and you're like, I just don't even have time to sleep because I'm too busy studying. So you're like, what are you even talking about? Wisdom? Like, what are you even talking about? I'm so tired and stressed out, I'm failing all my classes. Hopefully not. So maybe some seasons you feel totally exhausted, uncertain for the future, emotional, or completely stretched thin. But God's love for you does not fluctuate depending on your performance or perfection. Because God calls you to a whole lifetime and a whole journey, just not where you're at right now. So remember, you are loved before you achieve anything. You don't need to become the Proverbs 31 woman or the Proverbs 31 man overnight. You have time. And God has graced you for this. And God loves you for the season you're in right now. Now. And God has graced you for the journey. Whatever journey you are facing, whatever you are going through, God has graced you for this. But let us pray for wisdom, knowledge and understanding no matter what season we are in, so that eventually we can become like the Proverbs 31 Woman, where our children arise and call us blessed and our our our spouses also. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you that you you are not someone who just calls us for one specific season, God. Because that would mean when we have bad seasons, we're in it forever. But God, you call us to the good seasons, the bad seasons. You call us to a full lifetime. And we trust you with our journeys. We trust you with our lifetimes. Lord, give us wisdom, knowledge and understanding God in every season, in the low seasons, in the high seasons, in the good and in the bad. And Lord, may our journeys look a lot like the Proverbs 31 woman that our children will arise and call us blessed, that our spouses will also arise and call us blessed. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend. Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.