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Today I'm fasting. Today I'm in prayer. I am praying for the victims, the survivors and all the relief works of various kinds who are crying out in Haiti. But today, I also remember to deeply pray for friends and family in need of God's guidance and the comfort of God's embrace. I even pray for myself as my heart painfully faces the third year of infertility. There is so much suffering and so few answers, but the beauty and the grace is in the faith that we are in God's hands and we belong to something so much bigger than this world.
Each day, I read a devotional from the Upper Room's book Disciplines. I found today's astonishingly timely.
Scripture: Psalm 36:7-10
7 How priceless is your unfailing love!
Both high and low among men
find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
you give them drink from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
in your light we see light.
10 Continue your love to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
The following is an excerpt from the devotion. This has given me much to focus on and contemplate as I focus on hearing God; hearing the silence that exists under the noise.
"It is good to read scripture slowly and thoughtfully. In this case, the words "steadfast love" merit a close look. To be steadfast means to be firmly fixed in place, unchanging, determined. Most of us, if we reflect on our lives, can identify times and places where God has been faithful and steadfast, unchanging, determined to stick with us. Are we stead fast or "firm in belief" that God is faithful, even when we can't fully understand why difficult things happen to God's children?
When the sun is shining, our car is running well, and our home is not in need of emergency repairs it is easy to take God's steadfast love for granted. It is when we are suddenly confronted with a tough change in life or a great loss that we question God's love and just how steadfast it is.
Knowing God well, finding the strength to affirm God's steadfast love for us in all circumstances, remembering that God is with us even when we don't feel it - all these things don't just happen by themselves. They happen when we live in community with other Christians and when we practice the spiritual disciplines faithfully and consistently.
God promises us refuge, no matter what. The "shadow of your wings" is that place of refuge." - Written by Cookie Santiago, Disciplines.
Sweet and loving God, there are so many things we do not understand. There are changes that are happening in our lives that we do not like, that are painful. Lord our faith wavers in our suffering. Help us to be strong in your steadfast love and committed to a relationship with you where we can find comfort and peace in the "shadow of your wings." Heal the brokenness in our world and in ourselves. Out shine the death. Give light unto the darkness. Give hope to the hopeless. Wrap the suffering in your loving arms. Help us to see you in and through the suffering. In your Sons holy name, Amen.
