Well, it seems that we have reached our midway point during this Lenten journey together and we are halfway on our journey to the cross. I thought I would start today’s devotion by reminding you that it is not too late to engage your faith in a deeper way, even though we are halfway through these forty days. There is still time to participate in one of the Bible Studies at 10am on Sunday mornings or join me for our Thursday afternoon strolls around Blue Jacket Park from 2-3pm. We have had people join in every week and we have learned to walk with wonder and have some faithful conversations with one another.
One of the conversations we shared last week circled around trust. One of the questions we asked each other, from Jim Harnish’s devotional book, Easter Earthquake, went like this.
When have you doubted God’s promise in your life or for the world?
I openly admitted that as a Pastor, I do sometimes doubt. Not often the plans for my life, but the plans for the world because I look around and it seems like quite often, the world is a hot mess. I know I am not alone in this feeling because I think we all struggle with trust and doubt. We look at the way things are unfolding around us with hungry children, countries in armed conflict, divisive and unethical political leaders, anger and poverty and addiction and on and on it goes and we are left wondering if we can really trust whole heartedly. I will admit that I have had seasons when I have told God how I think life should be, how, if I was “running the show” I would plan to make a few improvements. But then I struggle to give my husband and three children the same level of love, attention and investment on a daily basis and quickly realize that I could never handle all that God is handling. So maybe I should be me and let God be God.
Instead, I am trying to work towards being a person that you can trust. If I represent God with my words and actions and I want others to trust God, then I must work at being a trustworthy representative.
Maybe you and I struggle to trust God because we are afraid, maybe we struggle to trust because we are relearning how to love God and be the church or maybe we are struggling to trust because ultimately, we are uncomfortable when things are out of our control. Whatever the reasons, I want you to know that in this season of Lent, I am learning to trust God in personal and communal ways too and I don’t have it all figured out. Instead, I am learning to lean on God when my to do list is long and the hours are short, learning to trust God with our family’s finances and future plans, and I am still figuring out how to fall into the arms of a good God in areas like my health and my calling. I am not completely there yet, but I am on the journey with you.
A song I have been listening to recently that reminds me of my growing trust in a loving God is called “Goodness of God” which has been sung by several Christian artists. The one below is CeCe Winans and I hope her voice and this song blesses you and the lyrics move you as you listen to it during your devotional time this week. AMEN