Focus

Slow your breathing and become aware of the taking in and letting out of your breath. Focus on putting things aside so you will be open to what God is saying to you today.

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Read

1 Peter 1:23-25 (NRSV)

You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. For

“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

That word is the good news that was announced to you.

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Reflect

I’m pretty sure there is a country song buried in these verses somewhere. Imagine a lonely guitar playing and a twangy voice singing, “Sometimes you are the dead grass and sometimes you are the flowers.”

We’ve all lived through both emotions in our lives: a life well–lived has both the ups and the downs of reality. At times I feel like the flower with my head turned towards the sunlight, happy and bright in the sunlight of God’s love. Other times I feel like the dormant grass in winter—dry, brittle, and feeling alone.

Just as nature circles through winter and summer every year, God leads our lives through the circles of a lifetime. After every winter, spring and summer always follow. For every dark period of our life, we know the light of God will shine through and show us God’s flowering love.

Maybe it won’t be a hit country song, but the melody of God’s circling love makes my heart sing.

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Pray

Dear God, let me see your summer that is to come. Help me to see the dead grass as part of your plan…just as much as the flowering plants. Keep me focused on the light that comes from you.

Go with God.