Great Plains Daily Devotional for 3/21/2021

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me
    to devour my flesh—
my adversaries and foes—
    they shall stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,
    my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
    yet I will be confident.

One thing I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
to live in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
    and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter
    in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will set me high on a rock.

Now my head is lifted up
    above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
    be gracious to me and answer me!
“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord, do I seek.
    Do not hide your face from me.

Do not turn your servant away in anger,
    you who have been my help.
Do not cast me off, do not forsake me,
    O God of my salvation!
If my father and mother forsake me,
    the Lord will take me up.

Teach me your way, O Lord,
    and lead me on a level path
    because of my enemies.
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
    for false witnesses have risen against me,
    and they are breathing out violence.

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

About this time a month ago, early in Lent, I wrote a devotional in which I suggested that it might be appropriate to have a Lenten focus on what God is doing and has done for us. I suggested that one way to do so would be to keep a list of “God things” – adding at least one way we have seen God at work in our lives each day.

Since it is always a good thing to practice what one preaches, I have been keeping such a list. Now, as we are past the mid-point of the Lenten season and moving into the later weeks, I have a list that covers two pages in my notebook. The list is mostly the kinds of things that I have often taken for granted in my life – ordinary, simple things where I have not always been aware of God’s work in the moment.

So where have I seen God’s hand in the days since Ash Wednesday? Some things on my list are whimsical – thawing pipes after the “deep freeze” in February (with no damage!); or hearing a couple of birds “talking” to each other as I hiked a trail at the local nature center. Some are things that touched my soul – the sound of 40 or so people sitting behind me in the sanctuary singing the opening hymn on the first Sunday we had Holy Communion together in a very long time; being informed that I was Volunteer of the Week for doing things I love to do. And some have simply made my heart happy – a Facebook query from a city family seeking somewhere they could take the kiddos to experience farm animals, which got at least a dozen responses from farm families offering to host that family; and getting my second dose of Moderna so I can now spend time with (and even hug) loved ones I haven’t seen in over a year!

It’s been a mixed bag, but in each day I have seen ways in which God cares for me and have been reminded that even in the wilderness of life the Holy Spirit moves us. The psalmist affirms that there is no need to fear, for the Lord is the “light that keeps us safe” and that we will live to see how kind the Lord really is if we trust in the Lord. No matter how bad a day may seem, if we look closely enough most of us will find some way in which God has touched us and cared for us in that day, and, maybe, realize that Jesus is showing us the way through the wilderness.

 

                                                                                                --Rev. Robbie Fall, retired elder  
                                                                                         Hutchinson

Prayer for Reflection

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 52:1-12
Hebrews 5:5-10
John 12:20-33