The creek had been buried by overgrown brush and debris for fifty years until the neighborhood coalition worked to “daylight” it. Now children gather at its restored banks, learning the names of native plants from elders who remember when fish were plentiful. “This creek carries stories,” explains Rita, who helped lead the restoration. “When we heal the water, we heal the connections between people and place.”

The psalmist imagines nature itself celebrating divine shalom – rivers clapping, mountains singing. To modern ears, this might sound like mere poetry. But what if these ancient words point toward a deeper truth: that environmental healing and social shalom flow together like converging streams?

In this restored creek, we glimpse such possibility. Where careless neglect once constrained life, native plants now filter runoff. Where once-divided neighborhoods now share garden paths. Where children once saw only an eyesore, they now watch water fowl swim in clear water. This is creation care – not just preserving what remains but restoring what was lost. Not just sustainability, but regeneration.

As climate challenges mount, such small acts of restoration matter more than ever. They remind us that peace with creation isn’t achieved through grand gestures alone, but through countless local acts of attention and love. Every creek restored, every garden planted, every community gathered around healing places joins the ancient song of clapping rivers and singing mountains praising God.

Dear Lord, show us places and people who need to be restore. Show us the acts of environmental healing that we could do today. Amen.

This devotional was written by Chuck Warnock and read by Jim Stovall.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

When I look around, when I listen to the myriad voices speaking most fervently–and most loudly–in our world today, I confess that I do not see hope in abundance. What I see, what I hear, looks and sounds a lot more like decay–the earth depleted, the social fabric torn, a people demoralized. And where, pray tell, is hope? Who is holding it? Who is offering it?

In this moment of history, hope eludes us, doesn’t it?

The apostle Paul probably knew a thing or two about the elusive nature of hope. By the time he writes this letter to the Romans, he has traveled for years as a missionary, been imprisoned for his preaching, and dealt with all kinds of conflict within the early church. Here, he spells out his theology of hope. Listen to the contrasting language in this passage: suffering, waits, frustration, slavery, decay, and groaning compared with coming glory, breathless anticipation, set free, glorious freedom, and first crop of the harvest. Paul contrasts what is seen with what is unseen, what is temporary with what is eternal. What is seen is suffering and frustration, but suffering and frustration serve the hope of what is unseen–freedom, glory, and adoption into God’s family, into “the glorious freedom of God’s children.” Paul emphasizes the importance of hope in gospel theology when he says, “Who hopes for what they already see? But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.”

The hope of creation is that present sufferings are always the labor pains of being birthed into new life in the Spirit, and that they are incomparable to the glorious freedom that is found in Christ. But we are not only passive participants in this transformation. Elsewhere in Romans, Paul tells the church that we participate in this birth process when we choose not to conform to the patterns of the world, but instead to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. In other words, we have to be willing to be changed, willing to do the hard work of hope, and that involves waiting, and trusting, and praying, and sometimes groaning in pain and despair.

God of hope, you have called us to be in the world, but not of the world, and Lord, honestly, sometimes that is so very hard. We get weary, and discouraged, and it becomes so difficult to wait with patience, to hope for what we cannot and do not see. In these moments, give us your strength. Give us your eyes. Help us to see with hope, that we might strengthen and encourage one another. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Greta Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United...

I am sure we have all been in this situation. You had a dream, a plan that you wanted to accomplish, and then you hear a resounding “NO!” For a variety of reasons you come to realize that this dream will never happen. What has been your response at these moments in your life?

If I am honest I have to admit to feeling disappointment and even anger. I am angry about all the reasons why this plan will not proceed, about the people who have blocked its fulfillment, and, even worse, I admit that at times I have been angry with God. In frustration, I have prayed something like this: “God, you know why I think this plan is important, why I think it will be good for me and others. Why have you said “no?!”

Even though these responses are normal, King David shows us a different path. This is the last speech we have recorded from David. His life is coming to an end and soon his son Solomon would succeed him as king. David had seen many successes as king, but he still had unfulfilled plans. Chief among them, David wanted to build a temple to help the people worship God. To this plan, he was told no by God. How did David respond?

Instead of being angry David first focused on the future. He collected materials for the temple and had plans drawn up. The temple would get built even if David was gone. But even more, David focused his attention on celebrating God who had been and would continue to be with the people. David celebrates the goodness, the power, and glory of God. I believe this was David’s focus because he wanted the people to feel safe and secure in this time of change. David was about to die; Solomon was to soon reign. But ultimately God was in charge.

Hearing no, being in times of transition, is a scary and upsetting time. Instead of being angry or frustrated with life and perhaps with God, David’s prayer reminds us to be still, to find within ourselves the strength to accept what is instead of lamenting what might have been. Focusing on God who is always with us, who is great, and whose Glory fills our lives reminds us that God, not us, is in charge. In that knowledge we sometimes find that that plan we wanted to occur was better not happening because God had something better in store. And if the plan is good but we, like David, come to understand that we wont be a part of its fulfillment, we can do all we can to nurture it, even if we might never see the results.

Loving God, it is sometimes so hard to hear your “no” to our plans, to our dream, to our prayers. In those times help us to remember that you are with us, your love and your power surrounds us. Help us to accept the “no” and turn our lives to the future, knowing you are with us and will be with us in these times of change. AMEN.

This devotional was written by Bill Green and read by Jim Stovall.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is:...