To me there is a very fine line between being very anxious and being afraid.

On the morning of September 20, 1070, I left my three-month-old daughter with close friends and departed with her mother for Dulles International airport. I had a large suitcase with whatever I thought I needed when I arrived in South Vietnam. I flew through Dallas/Fort Worth airport on to Travis Air Force Base in Oakland, California.

Those destined for Vietnam were to depart early the next morning. That night several of us went to the officer’s club for dinner. We ate like it was the “last supper.” We had shrimp cocktail, steak and all the fixings. I was with two hundred plus soldiers on a DC-8 Flying Tiger contract jet. The flight took 22 hours. We stopped in Anchorage, Alaska to refuel and stretch our legs in the terminal looking like stuffed bears and such.

We reboarded and flew to Yokota, Japan to refuel once again. There was not a lot of chatter on the plane, just subdued conversations. I guess were trying to keep our mind off what might be coming next or who would be on the return flight a year later. The flight attendants were cheerful, and the meals were at least adequate. I could sense a quiet anxiety among those on board.

Our apparent anxiety was not helped when the pilot announced that we would be making a quick descent to avoid any gunfire that could occur. Once on the ground, we were bused to a holding station to await our assignment. Again, anxiety over whether it would be a highly vulnerable location and assignment or one less so. During this whole experience, there was anxiety because soldiers are not supposed to be afraid.

At the same time, there was a certain trust or peace that God would see me through this. I was in the Army Quartermaster Corps. That assignment was to supply food, medical supplies, fuel, electronics, etc. and whatever it took to help the ground troops accomplish their mission. The Army personnel office decided, based on my training and education, that I was going to be assigned to the Office of Economic Affairs at the very secure Military Assistance Command in Saigon.

I was not in great danger like many of the troops in Vietnam. I dealt with some survivor guilt from 1971 until 2016. I know what it is to be anxious or afraid. However, I have the faith of things unseen that God will take care of me.

Dear God, help us to put our faith in you and trust that you will reduce our fear and anxiety in the future. Amen.

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/.

Years ago, I was giving the children’s message on Sunday morning, and this was our verse. I gave each child a different piece of fruit – a banana, an apple, an orange, a pear, small clusters of grapes, red and white. After getting through the comments “I like oranges, I don’t like pears, my mother cuts my grapes up,” and so on, I asked them why it is important to include fruit in your diet. Again, the expected answers were given: “they have vitamins, they’re good for you, they taste good,” and then one unexpected answer: “they make you sweet.” We did go on and make the connection between fruits of the Spirit and striving to show them in our daily lives – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness.

I hope some of the children really did understand the importance of accepting and exemplifying the fruits of the Spirit, but the more I thought about the answer “they make you sweet,” the more I believe that child was exactly right.

Think about the opposites of these gifts: hatred, unhappiness, anxiety, impatience, meanness, and disloyalty. These are not qualities we seek, nor are they the characteristics of a happy person. I believe God is telling us that through Him we have the capacity and strength to be better people. Without the Spirit giving us the ability to love others, no matter their faults, a Christian is no different from the saddest, meanest, grouchiest person who lives. Who wants to be like that person?

The fruits of the Spirit that Paul lists benefit every one of us. They also benefit everyone who comes in contact with us. The checkout line is long and you’re in a hurry? You can be impatient and grouchy, or you can be kind and encouraging to others in line with you and especially the stressed out clerk. A friend or family member has betrayed your trust or done something to hurt you? You can hold a grudge forever and respond with unkind words or you can forgive and work to repair the relationship, even when that may take a lifetime or never happen at all.

As human beings, it is not easy to be the one who is kind or the one who forgives. Truthfully, most of us cannot do it on our own. We must embrace the Spirit in order to enjoy the fruits for ourselves and to demonstrate Christian joy to others. Through the power of your Spirit, we can.

Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that through the Power of your Spirit, we can behave in ways that go against our instincts. Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness and faithfulness are the fruits you give us so that we can live in a different, Christ-like way that is pleasing to you. Amen.

This devotion was written by Pat Scruggs and read by Bernice Howard.

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/.

You are listening to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast produced by the people of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee.

This is Scripture Saturday, a time when we pause and reflect on the scriptures we have read throughout the week. If you missed any of our devotionals on these passages, you can find them on our website at firstchurch.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Now, we invite you to listen and receive Grace.

Welcome and thank you for joining us.

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/.