Trust and Comfort

SCRIPTURE
- Psalm 71:5-6  
"For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you." 

REFLECTION
- Mary Ellyn

MUSIC
- "In Search of Love" by The Mountain
- "Be Not Afraid" by The O'Neill Brothers Group
- "Ode to Joy" by The O'Neill Brothers Group

NOTES
- Converting Fear Into Faith in God by Mary Ellyn

PRAYER OF LETTING GO
To You do I belong, O God,
 into Your hands I surrender my life.
 Pour out Your Spirit upon me
 that I may love You perfectly,
 and serve You faithfully
 until my soul rests in You.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:30

A very warm welcome to all of you. We're so glad you're here. There are certain things we reach for almost without thinking when we need a little comfort. Something familiar. Something that makes us feel safe. And sometimes those simple things can become quiet reminders that we're being held by something much greater than ourselves. Wherever you are as you join us today, bring whatever is on your heart with you. Let us pray. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_05 1:14

Amen.

SPEAKER_04 1:16

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your grace. I love you, God. O God, I love you so deeply. I want to embrace you and hold you with arms that will never let go. You're as real to me as the ground beneath my feet.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

All I need to do is to call to you in faith, singing to you the praiseworthy God. And when I do, I'm safe and sound in your care.

SPEAKER_04 2:11

You are light in my darkness, and in your brightness I can see the path ahead. With you as my strength, I can handle any burden and move through every barrier that stands before me.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

What a God you are. All your promises have proven true. What a secure shelter you are for all those who turn to hide themselves in you.

SPEAKER_04 2:49

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust. O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from before my birth. You are He who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you. The word of the Lord. When I was very young, probably around three years old, I had to go to the emergency room for a very serious situation. I ended up having to stay overnight in the hospital. I was put in a room and remember being very scared and shaking a lot. Once in the room, someone came in and gave me a little pink elephant stuffed animal. I can't tell you how much that helped me. I held on to the pink elephant for security. It calmed me and helped me from being so scared. Throughout my childhood, that pink elephant helped me through many situations. Whenever I felt scared or nervous, I would wheeze that elephant tight. But as I grew older, the pink elephant was put to the side. Eventually it was probably put on a shelf or in a box and forgotten. It wasn't until years later, when I was an adult, when another scary situation happened to me that I longed for that security of my childhood and desired a familiar squeeze of my favorite pink elephant stuffed animal. But the problem was I couldn't find it anywhere. I mentioned my desire in search of this pink elephant stuffed animal to one of my clients while working at the beauty salon one day. My client turned to me and said that she had been making these pink elephants for over fifty years. I couldn't believe it. She probably made the original one for me years ago. I had never known that she did this for the children at the hospital. Next week, she brought one in for me to replace my missing one. I was very grateful. I thought it would bring me such comfort. As I squeezed it, I reminisced about how this dog animal helped me as a young child. But as I did so, I didn't feel that security or comfort I was longing for. I was missing something. It was then that I realized that it wasn't the pink elephant that helped me through all my trials and scary situations. It was always my Lord and my God. He was the one holding me as I held onto the pink elephant stuffed animal. He was the one I prayed to while squeezing the stuffed animal. He was always there to show me that I was love and that I had the strength to overcome every situation in my life. It's always Him. From my youth, I have leaned on Him, and I will continue to do that and give praise and glory to Him forever.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

With confidence, we pray, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Let us pray. Loving God, you have known us from our very beginning, and through every season of our lives, you have remained near. When fear begins to take hold, help us lean into your presence and trust the hands that have been holding us all along. May we recognize your love in the people you place in our lives and find our security in knowing that we belong to you. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

Amen. To you do I belong, O God. Into your hands I surrender my life. Pour out your Spirit upon me that I may love you perfectly and serve you faithfully until my soul rests in you.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Thank you, Mary Ellen, for speaking so beautifully about trusting in the Lord and surrendering our fears into his hands. If you'd like to go even deeper, she's also written a blog article that explores the roots of fear. Head over to thegodminute.org to read the full article. There's a link in the show notes and on the Discover tab in our app. And may God bless us as we go into the rest of our day in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Look for Christ in the small things until we pray again tomorrow.