Reflection for Thursday, March 8, 2018

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

JER 7:23-28
PS 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
LK 11:14-23

In today’s passage, Jeremiah 7:23-28, God commands His people to be humble, listen to His voice and do what He says, and they will prosper. Yet, the people don’t listen, they are unwilling to change, and they don’t obey.  Why is it so hard for us to hear God’s words and give Him control of our lives?

Over the last couple of years I have experienced several difficult and painful life situations.  Things that I thought were lifelong and secure crumbled at my feet.  At the beginning, I struggled with feeling God’s presence in my life.  I read my daily devotional that assured me of God’s love and hope for the future. Yet, I still felt alone. I resisted letting go of my anxieties and fears and giving them to God because I thought I could handle them myself.  I wasn’t going to be weak.  However, as time went on, I realized that my weakness wasn’t in letting go, but in holding on.  I slowly began to give my fears and worries to God.  The more I trusted, the more I became aware of the many blessings around me: the giggles of my grandchildren; the text from an old friend that just said hi, I’m thinking about you; or the chance for me to bring joy to someone else’s day.  I have learned that God’s grace and peace come in all shapes and sizes and at the most unexpected times if you only open your heart and listen to His words.

The Lenten season is a time of prayer, refection and fasting that brings us closer to God. In Joel 2:12-13, the Lord tells us to return to Him with our whole heart for He is gracious, compassionate and abounding in love.  As we prepare for Easter Sunday, I encourage you to humble yourself in God’s grace, reflect on the meaning of this season in your life and remember his promise.

                    Hymn of Promise

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter, there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Natalie A. Sleeth, 1986