God Is in Control

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My dear mother-in-law often said that God uses the weather to remind us that He’s in charge. Her words rang true on a recent camping trip that Ted and I took. On Day 1, the wind fought us setting up our tent. Two days later the heavens dropped so much rain and wind that many campsites flooded and tents came down (not ours). We found ourselves checking the forecast frequently on our phones. The evening of our last night of camping, they predicted rain and calm winds starting at 9:30. Then, it seemed as if God said, ‘Watch this.’ Shortly after 9:00 the sky turned black and dumped buckets of water on us. The wind screamed. The rain flew sideways as we fought to keep the tent upright. After a few minutes, Ted called out to me, “How long is this supposed to last?” I pulled my phone from my raincoat pocket and glanced at the radar. “About an hour.” What I didn’t tell him was that this storm was supposed to continue for an hour and then we’d get more, off and on, for several hours.

The oddest thing was that I felt calm. God, in His great mercy, had graced me with a sense of peace even during this storm. I prayed for His help; I knew we couldn’t fight this wind ourselves. I asked Him over and over again to keep us safe.

Then, about 20 minutes after it had started, the storm… stopped. 

When we dared to breathe, we and our neighbors made sure each other was OK. Then, knowing we were in for a long night, we lay on our cots to try to rest. During that calm I read the words, ‘The Lord hears me whenever I call Him’ and also ‘I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety’ (Psalm 4:1, 8). I kept repeating those phrases. Sleep didn’t come to me at once but the Lord did put words from hymns in my heart, traditional hymns like ‘Holy God we praise Thy name’ that spilled from my heart in profound, continuous, joyful thanks. Our God, Who controls the wind and the rain, Who commanded the storm to stop while the apostles’ boat tossed in the waves – He cut that storm short. 

I awoke to seagulls squawking, songbirds singing, and my beloved loons calling to one another. After that violent storm at 9 pm, there were no more storms and no more rain the rest of the night. 

Some might say these events are just part of nature. But God created nature and is still alive among us. Let us praise Him, thank Him for His goodness, and even sing joyful hymns to Him. He is in control. 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.” – Psalm 106:1 

Let all I do be with You, for You, and because of You.

Thank you for reading my reflection.  All thanks to God for giving me the ideas and guiding my words!    © 2025 Gina Bedell   

  

Through these reflections, I invite you, the reader, to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other qualified persons in order to grow in your faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life. 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below.  Comments are always welcome! 

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list. 

You can also find my posts on my Facebook page!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the people around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

Let Your Light Shine

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If we read the lives of the saints, we may be inspired by their great works and heroic bravery. We may also think there must have been something superhuman about them that let them live such holy lives or make such a dramatic difference in the world. In reality, most of the saints were ordinary people like us who did extraordinary things simply by letting God’s light shine in and through them. And while most of us won’t be asked to do something remarkable like caring for people who are sick and dying in the streets as St. Teresa of Calcutta did, all of us are called, with our own skills, to have a holy and positive impact on the world around us. How can we do this?

We can do this with God, Who lives in us. No matter what job or role we hold, all of us who’ve been baptized already have the power of God within us to do good works and change the world around us for the better, in small or big ways. 

God is always with us. When we become aware of His presence and let His light shine in us, we let Him affect all of our thoughts, words, and actions. As our faith strengthens and our awareness of His presence grows, we let the power of His love overtake our hearts. The more we do this, the more we act less from our own strength and inspiration and more from His power. With Him, we know that we can be and do more good than we could ever do on our own. Even as we work to overcome our human weaknesses and failings, we strive not to do what is our will but God’s will. For example, with God we can love those we find difficult; be patient and calm in times of stress; be peaceful, and peacemakers, in our chaotic world. Knowing that He’s present with us, loving us, and guiding us gives us His peace, which no one can take away from us. And His peace brings us deep joy.

When we let God use us to be beacons of light to the people around us, we really can have a holy and positive impact on our world. And when others see God working through us then they, too, will want the peace and joy that we have. They, too, will thank God for His loving power.         

So our kindness toward others, our loving actions, and our peaceful, joyful demeanor all happen when His light shines in us. For that and all that comes from Him, we give thanks and glory to God.

“You are the light of the world…. Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” – Matthew 5:14, 16  

Let all I do be with You, for You, and because of You.

Thank you for reading my reflection.  All thanks to God for giving me the ideas and guiding my words!    © 2025 Gina Bedell   

  

Through these reflections, I invite you, the reader, to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other qualified persons in order to grow in your faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life. 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below.  Comments are always welcome! 

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list. 

You can also find my posts on my Facebook page!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the people around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

The Advocate Is With You

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When was the last time you did something for the first time? When was the last time you did something that made you nervous or scared? Those common questions challenge us to take a look at how willing we are to go out of our comfort zones to grow physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

When was the last time you asked God for a gift? Not just a favor, or the answer to a prayer, but for one of His gifts: Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, or fear of the Lord? What about the gifts of His love, patience, peace, joy, honesty, humility, and all the other good things He wants and is eager to give you? 

When we ask Him for these things, we acknowledge that something is lacking in us. That takes honesty and humility. It takes courage to ask, too, because we know that these gifts will help us grow stronger in our faith. With stronger faith, we may be bolder in sharing His love in more concrete and perhaps even profound ways with the people around us. This might stretch us out of our comfort zone; we may feel anxious at the thought of living our faith ‘out loud.’

But we can ask God for these things with confidence. He has already given us His Spirit – His Spirit – through our baptism. He is eager to give us more and more of His gifts and has promised to stay with us as we work to put them into practice. We just have to ask Him and then trust Him to guide us and strengthen us. With the blessing of His gifts and the power of His Spirit, we can be and do more with Him and for Him. 

In these days before Pentecost, let’s ask our Lord to fill us with His gifts. Let’s open our hearts to receive more of His goodness from Him. Let’s courageously go out of our comfort zones and allow Him to use us to show the power of His love in more concrete and profound ways to the people around us.

Let’s ask Him:

Lord, fill me.

Fill me, change me, energize me with the gifts of Your Spirit.

Fill me with Your love so that I can share You with the people in my world.

Fill me with Your Spirit so that no other spirit hinders me.

Fill me with Your peace so that I can bring peace to others.

Fill me, love me, empower me with Your Spirit.

“I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.”

– John 14:16 

Let all I do be with You, for You, and because of You.

Thank you for reading my reflection.  All thanks to God for giving me the ideas and guiding my words!    © 2025 Gina Bedell   

  

Through these reflections, I invite you, the reader, to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other qualified persons in order to grow in your faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life. 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below.  Comments are always welcome! 

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list. 

You can also find my posts on my Facebook page!

P.S.

Pray for peace at home and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the people around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.