Make Room for the Squirrel: Grace in Disruption

Devotional

Day 1: When the squirrel shows up: naming disruption

You had a plan for how this year would go, and then something unexpected, uninvited, and uncomfortable landed in your lap. Like a squirrel handed to you at a ballet, it threw off all your reference points and left you asking, “What do I do with this?” It’s okay to say, “This isn’t what I expected,” and it’s okay to feel tired in places deeper than your body. You don’t have to pretend the squirrel isn’t there; you can acknowledge it and still belong. Today, begin by naming the disruption and noticing that God is already present within it. You’re still here, and that matters. [08:42]

Romans 8:28 — We are confident of this: in every single circumstance, God is actively weaving good for those who love Him and are called by Him—not because everything is good, but because God refuses to waste anything.

Reflection: What is the “squirrel” you’re carrying right now, and what would making gentle room for it look like this week rather than trying to get rid of it immediately?

Day 2: Grace doesn’t remove; grace makes room

Grace doesn’t erase disruption, but it does create sacred space within it. You don’t have to wait for everything to be fixed before you worship, pray, or belong. Grace says, “Bring the squirrel with you, and sit here with God.” This is why community matters—not because anyone performs perfectly, but because we carry each other’s disruptions together. Trust that the surprise that startled you did not surprise God, and He is at work even here. Let grace widen the margins of your life. [09:27]

2 Corinthians 12:9 — The Lord said, “My grace is enough for you; where you feel weak, My power shows up best,” so we can actually rest in our limits and let Christ’s strength shine through us.

Reflection: What small, practical rhythm (like a short prayer, breath prayer, or five quiet minutes) could help you sit with your disruption in God’s presence each day this week?

Day 3: Permission to grieve without shame

Grief is not proof that your faith is failing; it is evidence that your heart has loved. The joy of the Lord doesn’t mean you must whistle through tears or hide your ache. Some losses are visible, and some are quiet—like a relationship that faded, a plan that unraveled, or a hope that didn’t materialize. Grief won’t have the last word in Christ, but it is allowed to have a word today. Give yourself permission to lament, and let God meet you in that honest space. It’s okay to grieve, and you don’t have to grieve alone. [07:58]

Psalm 34:18 — The Lord draws close to those whose hearts are heavy and rescues those who are crushed in spirit.

Reflection: What specific loss do you need to name before God today, and who is one safe person you could invite to witness that grief with you?

Day 4: Disruption as doorway to growth and compassion

When people describe the moments that shaped them most, they rarely talk about the easy days; they talk about the disruptions that redirected their lives. Pain is not good, yet God is present and opening new depths of humility, compassion, and imagination through it. The squirrel you never wanted may become the place where your empathy is born and your faith deepens. Look back and notice where resilience has quietly formed in you this year. Let that awareness turn into gratitude, not for the pain, but for God’s nearness within it. Your story is being refined, not reduced. [10:11]

2 Corinthians 4:8–10 — We get pressed from every side, but we’re not crushed; we get puzzled, but not abandoned; we take hits, yet we’re not finished, because the life of Jesus keeps showing up in our fragile lives.

Reflection: Where have you noticed your compassion widen this year because of a specific disruption, and how might that shape one concrete act of kindness you can offer someone else this week?

Day 5: Still here: belonging in the middle of the mess

Maybe what you most need right now isn’t more answers but permission to breathe and belong. You can say, “This wasn’t what I expected—but I’m still here,” and that is a faithful confession. God isn’t asking you to fix your story; He’s inviting you to trust that He’s already in it. As a new year approaches, the squirrel may still be around—but so is Jesus, and so are the people walking with you. Make room at the table of your life for both grace and disruption. You are not an outsider; you are family. [09:03]

Matthew 11:28–30 — Jesus says, “Come to Me, all of you who are worn out and carrying heavy loads; I will give you rest. Walk with Me, learn My pace, and you will find rest deep in your soul, because My way fits you and I carry the weight with you.”

Reflection: What is one step of shared belonging you can take this week—asking for prayer, joining a group, or simply telling a trusted friend what you’re carrying?

Sermon Summary

Hope and humor meet honest lament, calling weary hearts to make room for disruption rather than deny it. Using the vivid image of sitting at a formal ballet and being handed a live squirrel, the teaching reframes the “unexpected, uninvited, uncomfortable” moments that shattered plans in 2025. Those moments do not disqualify anyone from belonging; they become places where grace does its deepest work. The emphasis is not that “all things are good,” but that God works for good in all things. That distinction protects sufferers from shallow cheer and invites them to trust a God who is not surprised by their story.

The year-end reflection gives permission to acknowledge exhaustion and grief without shame. Grief is not faithlessness; it is human. It should not have the last word, but it must be given space. Losses—of people, marriages, health, hopes, or relationships—are not ignored. They are named, carried, and brought into God’s presence where grace makes room. This is the strange mercy of grace: it does not remove every disruption, but it enlarges the heart to hold it with God.

The call is practical and pastoral: stop waiting for the squirrel to be gone before worshiping, serving, and belonging. Do not postpone intimacy with God until life feels neat. Sit in the disruption and watch for the God who keeps showing up. Church, then, matters as a family where imperfect people carry imperfect stories together and discover compassion, humility, and a deeper imagination for what God can do. The charge moving into 2026: release the pressure to fix, explain, or justify every twist of the story. Trust that what surprised you has not surprised God, that grace is already at work, and that there is room at the table—even with the squirrel in your lap.

Key Takeaways

1. Make room for disruptive squirrels Grace doesn’t erase disruption; it makes space within it. When life hands something you never planned for, the invitation is not control but consent—learning to carry what you cannot cancel while trusting God’s presence. That posture enlarges the soul and often becomes the birthplace of compassion for others. Making room is how grace turns chaos into formation. [76:37]
2. Grief needs space, not shame Grief is not a failure of faith; it is an honest response to loss. Allowing sorrow to be named keeps the heart from hardening and opens it to God’s comfort. The goal isn’t to rush emotions into “victory,” but to let Christ hold the ache until hope rises again. Grief won’t have the last word, but it must have a voice. [71:22]
3. God works good within not-good Romans 8:28 does not call evil “good”; it declares God’s active presence in all things. That distinction protects wounded hearts from denial and invites trust in divine agency amid disorder. The cross teaches that God can bring resurrection from real death, not from make-believe pain. Expect redemption without romanticizing the wound. [73:43]
4. Belong before resolution, worship now Don’t wait for the problem to disappear before drawing near to God or community. Faith grows not by escaping tension but by worshiping within it. Church is a place to be “still here” together, even when nothing is tidy. Belonging in the middle breaks the lie that disruption makes you an outsider. [78:47]
5. Release the need to explain Not every why will be answered, and that’s okay. Mystery can be a sanctuary where pressure to justify your story is surrendered to the God who already knows. Peace often grows when explanation shrinks and presence expands. Trust that what surprised you never surprised Him. [81:02]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[17:15] - Hands for the Lord story
[19:13] - Introductions and gratitude
[55:35] - Did 2025 meet expectations?
[58:07] - Hidden growth noticed
[61:21] - Naming our exhaustion
[62:08] - The ballet and the squirrel
[66:17] - Disruption reframes everything
[69:14] - How pain shapes calling
[71:22] - Permission to grieve
[73:43] - Romans 8:28, not cliché
[74:41] - Grace makes room, not escape
[76:37] - Worship before resolution
[78:47] - Church as place to belong
[81:02] - Benediction: make room for squirrels

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading

- Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Observation questions

In Romans 8:28, what does God promise to do “in all things”? What common idea does the passage not say (for example, that “all things are good”) ([01:13:43])?
Consider the image of being handed a live squirrel at a formal ballet ([01:02:08]). What details in that picture highlight how disruption feels and why normal “rules” no longer fit ([01:06:17])?
What specific kinds of losses and disruptions were named (diagnosis, failure after trying hard, betrayal, grief) ([01:09:14])?
What was said about grief’s place in the life of faith (that grief is okay, human, and should not be shamed) ([01:11:22])? What was also said about grief not having the last word ([01:12:31])?

Interpretation questions

If God works for good in all things (Romans 8:28), how does that change the instinct to erase or escape disruption? Why might “making room” be wiser than trying to remove it ([01:14:41])?
What harm can come from shaming grief or rushing it into a quick “victory”? How could giving grief a voice actually protect the heart and invite God’s comfort ([01:11:22])?
How could belonging before resolution guard against isolation? In what ways does worship inside tension (not after it’s gone) grow trust ([01:18:47])?
What does releasing the need to explain every “why” reveal about a person’s view of God’s presence and timing ([01:21:02])?

Application questions

Name your “squirrel” right now—the unexpected, uninvited, uncomfortable thing on your lap. What would it look like to make room for it this week instead of trying to hide it or fix it fast ([01:06:17])?
Grief needs space, not shame. Where are you grieving (a person, marriage, health, hope, relationship)? What honest step will you take—tell a trusted friend, journal a lament, take a quiet walk with God—so grief has a voice this week ([01:11:22])?
Worship before resolution. What is one simple act of worship you will do with the squirrel still present—sing one song at home, attend and stay for prayer, serve someone in need, sit quietly with a psalm? When will you do it ([01:16:37])?
Belong in the middle. What concrete step will you take toward community while things are still messy—ask for prayer, share your story in group, join a team, invite someone to coffee ([01:18:47])?
Release the pressure to explain. What “why” question will you hand to God this week? What prayer or phrase will you use when the urge to control or justify rises (“You’re not surprised, and You are here”) ([01:21:02])?
Let disruption birth compassion. Who could be helped by the very thing that has wounded you? What will you do—write a note, make a call, sit with someone who’s grieving—so your pain becomes a doorway to mercy ([01:09:14])?
Notice hidden growth. Where did quiet growth appear in 2025, even if the year didn’t meet expectations ([00:58:07])? What small practice will you carry into 2026 to keep that growth going (a rhythm of prayer, weekly service, a Sabbath hour)?

Sermon Clips

``now grief should never have the last word and we know it won't if we're in Christ we know it won't but right now in this moment maybe what you need to hear the most is it's okay it's okay to grieve and we've all gone through moments that we had never would have chosen to go through but if we look back those are the moments that impacted our lives and changed our lives the most and no we wouldn't say yeah I would want to go through that moment again but yet those moments became doorways not because the pain was good but because something opened up within us [01:13:06] (51 seconds) #ItsOkayToGrieve

experiencing grief and the one thing that I really felt pressed to tell them and let them know is that the grief they're feeling it's okay and I think sometimes we get shamed into thinking that something's wrong with us if we continue to grieve the joy of the Lord people think that means we're supposed to be singing and whistling all the time [01:10:46] (46 seconds) #GriefIsNormal

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Make Room for the Squirrel: Grace in Disruption

Devotional

Day 1: When the squirrel shows up: naming disruption

Day 2: Grace doesn’t remove; grace makes room

Day 3: Permission to grieve without shame

Day 4: Disruption as doorway to growth and compassion

Day 5: Still here: belonging in the middle of the mess

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

Make Room for the Squirrel: Grace in Disruption

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