AM - Psalm 31
PM - Psalm 35
Gospel - John 9:1-17
For reflection: What physical or emotional misfortune in your life has turned into an opportunity for God to demonstrate His power?
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Were you born blind?
I’m afraid I was, at least to the extent that I do not recognize quickly how God works in my life on a daily, minute by minute basis!
I know that He has saved me, and that He has promised to be with me forever, but maybe I don’t relate that to everyday activities like He wants me to! After all, the hymn “I Need Thee Every Hour” is just a pretty hymn, not a real petition – or is it? Sing along with it! You know it well, I hope.
The gigantic times in my life when I “just kinda” wonder where Jesus is at the moment occur when I see a close friend or family member suffering. When life is ebbing away in pieces, not suddenly, it strikes me that we all need Jesus every minute of every day. But David knew that long, long ago as evidenced in his Psalm 31. It’s at times when one loses their memory, ever so slowly. When a slow degenerative disease is eating away, but no one knows yet and one is afraid to tell! Maybe one is losing their savings month by month! How about when a child is straying from the way we had chosen for them? Bad decisions don’t occur without some warning signs.
But I’m convinced that the one bad decision I could make is to lose faith and let my trust weaken in God’s protection of my life. So it is with David that I say,
14 But I trust in you, LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.
17 Let me not be put to shame, LORD,
for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
and be silent in the realm of the dead.
18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.
17 Let me not be put to shame, LORD,
for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
and be silent in the realm of the dead.
18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
And then let me always remember that my righteousness is from that faith that I have in You, O my God!
- Hal Gross
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