Focus

Prepare yourself to discern what is and what is not of God today. Still yourself so you can hear how God is calling you.

 

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Read

Psalm 122 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.”

For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.

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Reflect

“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” – Psalm 30

I lost my wife, Marti, and my son, Jordan, in a car accident in 2006. It was certainly hard in the ensuing days to even function. And somewhere along the way, I know I heard those words quoted by well-meaning people who wanted to either soothe my aching heart, or their troubled conscience. Of course, at the time, I was not thinking rationally enough to know the Psalmist didn’t necessarily mean the night-day thing literally – he meant it as a metaphor. But for a while, I lost my theology hat when I lost my wife and son.

Over the twelve years since the accident, I have embraced the understanding that weeping does not last. Just as a night is sure to end, so does sorrow. And though the big glowing ball in the sky goes down in the evening, it comes back up in the morning. And with it, comes newness of life and promise. The sun lights everything up again.

I found my theology hat. Of course, you don’t need a hat to find out that when the morning comes, there is the possibility of joy. And it is only a possibility if you do not commit to the sometimes-excruciating work it takes to step forth, into the light of the day and of God’s love, and receive the word that “joy showed up this morning.”

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Pray

O God, Light-maker and joy-Bringer: show that You are Your own source of light as You walk into the darkest places where people have withdrawn to grieve the loss of a loved one. May the person who thinks he is too far to be found – whose eyes are clinched shut so they can’t see the light; or, whose blind eyes are really blind; may they still hear You breathing. In Your precious presence, I am praying this. Amen.

Go with God!