Growth
Today’s Scripture Selection: Genesis 12:10
“Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to live in Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.”
It must have been awful. It must have brought much pain and hardship. Many were probably losing hope. Many probably wondered where their God or the “gods” were in it all.
The word famine evokes many pictures, none of them pretty.
But, hidden there among all the struggle and hardship, there was something else – opportunity.
The Book of Genesis, indeed the whole Bible, is filled with instances like this
- Fresh starts that come after dead ends
- Forgiveness that comes after judgment
- New insights that come from misunderstanding
- Life that comes after death
And it can come in the most surprising of ways – like an empty tomb after a crucifixion.
So, think of all the opportunity that growth that can come your way, today, right now, even if you find yourself in great difficulty.
It may just be a door – about to be opened – to something beautiful.
Prayer: Creator God, help me to find the way to grow, even when I see only pain and difficulty. AMEN.
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By Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
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