Focus

Take a few minutes to push the “pause” button on whatever is going on around you and be still with God.

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Read

Psalm 102:12-28 (NRSV)

But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
your name endures to all generations.
You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to favor it;
the appointed time has come.
For your servants hold its stones dear,
and have pity on its dust.
The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
For the LORD will build up Zion;
he will appear in his glory.
He will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and will not despise their prayer.

Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:
that he looked down from his holy height,
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die;
so that the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion,
and his praise in Jerusalem,
when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he has shortened my days.
“O my God,” I say, “do not take me away
at the midpoint of my life,
you whose years endure
throughout all generations.”

Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you endure;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away;
but you are the same, and your years have no end.
The children of your servants shall live secure;
their offspring shall be established in your presence.

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Reflect

One Saturday afternoon, my wife and I were watching television and our children were playing in their rooms. Our youngest daughter came running into the living room, tears in her eyes, claiming that her older sister had pushed her down. Going to investigate, I found her older sister sitting in her room, feeling guilty. “I’m so sorry. I am such a bad person,” she whispered. My child was dealing with shame over a mistake she had made. I put my arms around her and whispered in her ear, “I love you.” She asked me, “Why?” I responded, “One reason and one reason only…you are mine.”

The psalmist says “from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die.” God never gives us what we deserve! We are all unworthy of God’s love, but Jesus has made us worthy—not by anything we have done, but by the grace of God. When you feel like you have blown it, when you feel all alone, and when you feel like you are unlovable, hear the soft words of God say, “You are mine.”

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Pray

All loving God, remind us today of your unconditional love for us. Amen.

Go with God.