Sheridan News

Women’s Devotion: Open Your Window and Pray

November 4, 2022 / , , ,
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Open Your Window and Pray

“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.”
Daniel 6:10

When our current worship series, Resiliency, began, I wasn’t sure how it applied to me. I’ve always felt pretty resilient. But as the series has continued, I’ve faced challenges that have shown me the limits of my resiliency. As God would have it, during this same time my Grace Group has been reading a book by Aundi Kolber called Try Softer. It introduced a new concept to me – Window of Tolerance (WOT). My imperfectly translated explanation is that when our difficulties compound, simple things we normally take in stride become too much to handle. Ugly junk from our past that may remain unresolved, along with the constant barrage of bad news worldwide and close to home, can impact our WOT. Things like the ongoing pandemic effects, political divisiveness, violence, short staffing everywhere, death, financial stresses and more. We often don’t have the capacity to give ourselves and others grace. This is the time to “try softer.” Be gentle with ourselves and recognize the many burdens we carry. It’s OK to lay some of them down at the feet of Jesus and open that WOT a little bit wider. That sounds a lot like resiliency to me!

Merciful Jesus, Thank you for being so in love with us that you will carry any burdens we bring to you. Help us to open our windows and give thanks as we give them all to you. Amen

This month’s devotion was written by Suzan Lund. Suzan has been blessed to be a member of the Women’s Ministry Team since the beginning. She is also a member of the tech team, running worship visuals about once a month, and is current chair of the call committee. Suzan continues to be grateful for the opportunities to learn and grow, and for her long-standing Sojourners group and Grace Group that keep her grounded in faith. She works at UNL in the Office of Research and Economic Development. She is married to Joseph Moser and mom to UNL junior, Zoey Moser.