Quiet Devotions is a daily devotion based on one of the readings from the Daily Lectionary (as it appears in the back of Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Augsburg Fortress, 2006). All biblical quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) unless otherwise noted. May these devotions help bring you in closer relationship with the Triune God.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Year B, Easter Wednesday


Inspired by Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!”  Psalm 118:1

Sometimes it’s difficult to see beyond the troubles of the day.  We look around us and see what may seem like an impossible situation, and we can’t imagine how things are ever going to improve.  Despite our best efforts, it feels like on our best days we’re merely maintaining the status quo, but on most days we lose more ground.  And when we’re in the middle of a situation like that, it feels as though our endurance is waning, and forever is bleak.

But our mortal minds cannot truly fathom ‘forever’; we have only the most limited idea of time.  And while our human endurance can indeed wane, we rely on the One whose endurance can withstand any crisis, any calamity, and any apostasy on our part.  Our God is good, and his steadfast love endures forever.  While we struggle through our days, using up what little strength we have, he is there, replenishing our strength enough to get us through the next day, and the next, and the next, until eventually we realize that things have been changing for the better, and we have actually gained back some of that lost ground, and are still moving forward.

Whatever your troubles may be this day, they are not trouble enough to defeat or even hinder the Lord, whose love for you will never wane, and who is with you, sustaining you with his love, at all times.

Let us pray.  Eternal Lord, your steadfast love endures forever.  Help us face the troubles of our time with strength and hope, that we may reflect your love for us in good times and in bad.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

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