<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Helvetica;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Aptos;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;}
span.EmailStyle21
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ligatures:none;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#467886" vlink="#96607D" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Not really sure what this has to do with blindness and the NFB. I did not realize this was a religion oriented discussion list.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Marion Gwizdala<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> NFBF-L <nfbf-l-bounces@nfbnet.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Peggy Fleischer via NFBF-L<br><b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, December 4, 2024 5:53 AM<br><b>To:</b> Communities Of Faith Nfb Florida <nfbfl-faith@groups.io>; NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List <nfbf-l@nfbnet.org>; NFBFDaytona <nfbf-daytona@nfbnet.org><br><b>Cc:</b> Peggy Fleischer <peggy.lynn.fleischer@gmail.com><br><b>Subject:</b> [NFBF-L] Devotions for December 4<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt'><strong><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Psalm 137</span></strong><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><strong><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Hope When Things Go Wrong in the World</span></strong><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Yesterday, we said <strong><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.</span></strong><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>But what about when all the evidence this Christmas tells you the future might only bring more pain? When forces outside of your control, like war, the economy, and sickness, cause chaos all over the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>If you’re asking this question, you’re not alone. Around 500 years before Jesus, the people of God were invaded, captured, and forcibly deported to a faraway nation. They were separated from their families, homes, and, for many, their hope.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Their forced migration is called the exile, and its trauma influenced countless Scriptures.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Today, you’ll read a lament (a pain-filled song of praise) by a few of these people. These exiles were musicians, but after their capture, they were taken as servants or slaves to work at a farm in a nation called Babylon. Their captors asked them to play the music of their people, and they responded with despair, saying something like, “How could we sing songs of hope and praise to God when we’ve experienced so much pain?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Global events outside their control made hope feel impossible. Can you relate?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>When things go wrong in the world, it feels like evidence that God is against us, ignoring us, or He’s left us behind. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Throughout their time in Babylon, the people of God not only survived, but learned to thrive. They discovered God was present in their pain, and God still had a plan for their future.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>In fact, one of the most famous Bible verses (Jeremiah 29:11) is about God’s plan for His people in exile. In that verse, He promises to give them hope and a future. And God delivered on His promise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Your pain isn’t evidence God doesn’t care or is far off. It’s evidence that God is still working on His plan to make all things new.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>True hope doesn’t ignore the pain of life. Instead, it trusts God’s plan despite the worst life has to offer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Yes, it’s a slow process. And it’s normal to get frustrated with God’s timing. But when we look at the experience of the exile, we see the evidence of God’s faithfulness in the middle of pain and in the fulfillment of His promises.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><strong><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Pause and Pray:</span></strong><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><em><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Lord, thank You that even in the darkest of times, You are working for good. Help me to have hope even when things are hard in my life. Help me to share the hope I have in You with those around me. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus. Amen.</span></em><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><strong><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>Reflect or Discuss:</span></strong><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin-bottom:16.5pt;line-height:21.6pt;-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;-webkit-touch-callout: none'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>What is one thing in the world that makes things feel dark? How do you hope God will work good through that thing?<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Peggy Fleischer<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>Second vice president national Federation of the blind of Florida<o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></body></html>