1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, thank you for listening to your Daily 2 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,319 Speaker 1: Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 1: to learn more about God and his will for us. 4 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Carol McCracken, and after a short word 5 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,759 Speaker 1: from our sponsor, will dive into today's Bible verses, Acts 6 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: seventeen twenty six through twenty seven. Today's Bible verses are 7 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: Acts seventeen twenty six twenty seven. From one man, He 8 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: made all the nations that they should inhabit the whole earth, 9 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: and he marked out their appointed times in history and 10 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that 11 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him 12 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: and find him, though he is not far from any 13 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: one of us. Last year, if you'd asked me about 14 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: the Commuino de Santiago in Spain, I honestly wouldn't have 15 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: known much about it. I'd heard the name before vaguely, 16 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: but I didn't know why thousands of people from all 17 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: over the world walk across northern Spain every year as pilgrims. 18 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,559 Speaker 1: Then one day my prayer partner mentioned a mission trip 19 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: serving pilgrims on the Comudo. At first I wasn't sure 20 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: this was for me. I never really felt called the 21 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: missions in the traditional sense. I'm not someone who has 22 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: dreamed about traveling overseas to evangelize in villages or preach 23 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: to crowds. And if I'm being completely honest, one of 24 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 1: my first concerns was very practical sleeping in a hostile 25 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: dorm with bunk beds and strangers. I remember thinking, Oh Lord, 26 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: I am way too old for bunk beds. Something about 27 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: the opportunity quietly tunned at my heart. So I went, 28 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: And what I discovered was that God often calls us 29 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: into space as we know ever would have designed for ourselves, 30 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: because He already knows what waits for us there. Our 31 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: team served in a Christian hostel along the Camino for 32 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:12,239 Speaker 1: a week. Pilgrims would arrive exhausted from walking all day, 33 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: carrying backpacks, blisters, grief, questions, and stories. We cooked, me 34 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: almost cleaned, listened, prayed when invited, and simply created a 35 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 1: place of peace and welcome. What struck me almost immediately 36 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: was this, I didn't have to go searching for the nations. 37 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: The nations came to us every day. There were people 38 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: from different countries, speaking different languages, carrying different wounds, and hopes. 39 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: Yet over and over again the conversation somehow drifted toward 40 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: god purpose, healing, forgiveness, or hope. One morning, a man 41 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: named Jesus, not the Jesus, of course, but a pilgrim 42 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: from Spain came to the hostel early want in a 43 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: Spanish tortilla. It's a traditional potato hi. They eat there 44 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: and we sat talking while the hostel slowly woke up 45 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: around us. He shared parts of his story and his 46 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: journey and what had brought him to the Camino. It 47 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: amazed me how quickly strangers became people, not projects or interruptions, 48 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: but people with souls and stories. Then there was Sylvia 49 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: from Argentina. At one point she shared with me for 50 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: the Book of Isaiah and spoke honestly about seasons in 51 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: her life where she had felt barren, emotionally dry, and 52 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: almost forgotten. Yet here on this journey she felt God 53 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: awakening something in her again. As she talked, tears filled 54 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: her eyes, and eventually she held me and cried, healing 55 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: tears that seemed to come from somewhere deep insider spirit. 56 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: I could still picture it. Two women from different countries, 57 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: different lines, connected through the Word of God and the 58 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: healing presence of Christ. And then there was esther. She 59 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: liked to hike with her boyfriend. On a previous trip, 60 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,119 Speaker 1: she had been convinced he was going to propose to her. Instead, 61 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: he broke up with her, and she told me how 62 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: devastating that had been, and she thought she had lost 63 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: the future she was supposed to have. So she decided 64 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: to do the Comino on her own, but this time, 65 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: with only two days left on her walk, something had 66 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: changed in her. She realized she was becoming stronger, freer, 67 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: more fullierself, and she began to see that maybe she 68 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: hadn't lost God's best after all, maybe she'd been released 69 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: from something God never intended for her life. And her 70 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: face looked lighter when she said it. That's one of 71 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,720 Speaker 1: the things I love about the Comino. People A wived 72 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: physically walking, but emotionally and spiritually. Many of them are 73 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: processing life grief, maybe divorced, burnout, addiction, questions about faith, 74 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: fear about the future, and some are searching for God intentionally. 75 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: Others are just trying to survive. I have another day 76 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: and stumbled into conversations about Him almost accidentally, And that's 77 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: why today's verse matters. So much. Paul speaking in Athens, 78 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: when he says that God established the nations, the times, 79 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: and the places where people would live so that they 80 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: would seek him and find him. Think about that God 81 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: appoints places and moments because he's drawing people toward himself. 82 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:30,799 Speaker 1: The Greek verb translated seekh carries the idea of searching carefully, 83 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: almost feeling around in the dark for something desperately. Hope 84 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: is there that described so many people I meant on 85 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: the Camino. They were searching, some knew it, some didn't, 86 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: But underneath the hiking and adventure was often a deeper 87 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: ache for meaning, healing, peace, or direction. And Scripture says 88 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,359 Speaker 1: God isn't far away from any one of us, not 89 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: far from the woman grieving a break up, or from 90 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: the man caring regret, not far from the exhausted pillgrim 91 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: limping into a hostel, or from the person listening today 92 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: who secretly wonders whether God still sees them. One of 93 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: the most beautiful parts of the week was realizing that 94 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: ministry sometimes looks less like preaching and more like presence, 95 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 1: a meal, conversation, listening, hospitality, making space for someone to 96 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: feel seen. I had spent many years assuming missions probably 97 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: wasn't my thing, and God knew exactly what environment would 98 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: awaken my heart for it. I didn't have to become 99 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: someone else to be useful to him. I simply had 100 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,160 Speaker 1: to be available. And maybe that's the encouragement for us today. 101 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,160 Speaker 1: You don't have to fit someone else's picture of ministry 102 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 1: in order to be used by God. Sometimes the most 103 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: meaningful spiritual moments happen in ordinary conversations with ordinary people 104 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 1: who were quietly carrying extraordinary birth. The Nations may never 105 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,279 Speaker 1: come to your hostel in Spain, but they may show 106 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: up at your workplace, your neighborhood, your church table, grocery 107 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: store line, right beside you. Maybe many people around us 108 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: are walking their old emotional comino right now. They may 109 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: look fine on the outside, but internally they're carrying heartbreak, confusion, disappointment, loneliness, 110 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: or fear. Some are searching for God and don't even 111 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: know how to put words to it yet. So pay 112 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: attention to people God places in front of you this week. 113 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: Listen before you speak, create space for honesty, all for kindness. 114 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: It is questions. You never know what a simple conversation 115 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: may become holy ground for someone else, and if you're 116 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: the one searching today, hear this. Clearly, God isn't far 117 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: from you either. He sees you, He knows your story, 118 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: and sometimes he meets us in the most unexpected places, 119 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: through the most unexpected people. God's always drawing people toward himself, 120 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: and sometimes we get the privilege of being part of 121 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: that story. Let's pray, Dear learning Heaven. You allowed me 122 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: to have the most extraordinary experience, and sometimes it's not 123 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: about the extraordinary. Sometimes you are calling us to have 124 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: open ears, maybe open hands, something hospitable for someone who 125 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: needs it. Lord, I ask you to direct us to 126 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: those people who need it just by being ourselves. You 127 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: created us, and you gave us unique gifts for the 128 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: kingdom that you created. Help us to know our place 129 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:45,959 Speaker 1: in it and in God, to be comfortable in it, 130 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: and maybe, just maybe we need to be uncomfortable enough 131 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: to step out in what you want us to do. 132 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: Give us courage, Lord, because we're never alone. You are 133 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: always with us. In your precious name, we pray Amen MHM.