2nd. May. 2020. Daily Devotion.

Thank you to Peter Millar for his weekly meditation:

A Candle in the Window

Words to encourage us in tough times. A grandmother’s tip:

My grandmother once gave me a tip: In difficult times, you move forward in small steps. Do what you have to do, but little by little. Don’t think about the future, or what may happen tomorrow. Wash the dishes. Remove the dust. Write a letter. Make a soup. You see? You are advancing step by step. Take a step and stop. Rest a little. Praise yourself. Take another step. Then another. You won’t notice, but your steps will grow more and more. And the time will come when you can think about the future without crying. Elena Mikhalkova

Simple words, but true. They were sent to me by Mary Duncanson a friend of long-standing who lives in the beautiful village of Cromdale in the Scottish Highlands. As one of the local ministers Mary, like many other friends across the world, is caring for people who are finding the going tough, especially all those who mourn.

Walking together:

Brother. Sister, let me serve you let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.
We are pilgrims on a journey and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.
I will weep when you are weeping; when you laugh, I’ll laugh with you
I will share your joy and sorrow till we’ve seen the journey through.

Some words from a popular hymn written by Richard Gillard

The steps of God:

“For every step we take towards God, he takes a thousand steps towards us”.

These beautiful words paraphrased from the Koran speak of a God who sits with us where we sit, in all our uncertainty and muddle and contradiction. And there is an even greater truth in those words. Even the slightest inclination of our hearts toward the divine fills our life with God’s possibilities. Saint Simeon, a visionary theologian, put it this way: “Radiant in his Light, we awaken to the knowledge that we are held in love in every part of our body.”

Life is not just a question of getting through each day, although that is important, and especially as we think of millions of our sisters and brothers who face a struggle for food and shelter every new morning For centuries, all the world’s religious traditions have invited us to discover within ourselves a continuous expansion of heart and spirit. We forget this in our often-frenetic lifestyles, but these virus weeks have caused us to halt and become aware in fresh ways of our amazingly rich humanity. Just pause as you read this and listen to that inner voice which tells you that your life is both unique and precious. That you carry within you the possibility of discovering a guiding Light which will not go out. Befriend that inner strength which enables you to keep searching, to be alive to new insights, to encounter these fresh truths which can change the way you think about everything. Shed any pent-up bitterness. Laugh at your own limitations. Look outwards, phone a friend (you don’t need Zoom!) and hear the bird song above the silent streets. PM

Pray for Mary Duncanson and Peter Millar and others who minister comfort.

Psalm 46

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth, A song.

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.’

11 The Lord Almighty is with us the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Prayer

Oh Lord, you know my heart better than I know it myself. You know my struggles and You hold each hope and fear in Your caring hands. Teach me, LORD, to be still and to know that You are God.

You are in Your holy temple; let all the earth, including my mind and heart, be silent before You, resting in Your sovereignty. Like Elijah, teach me to wait for Your still, small voice and quiet the earthquakes and blazing fires in my life.

Replace my restless doing with inner calm, and help me, like Mary, to sit at Your feet in quiet adoration even if there are a million things clamouring for my attention. Just as You spoke over the tumultuous sea and storms, so speak over my heart Your shalom.

“Peace. Be still,” You said to them, and immediately they quieted. Teach my heart to cease striving and to know– to yada, to have an intimate and deep, personal, first-hand experience–that You are God.

Help me cultivate a quiet heart, like a baby content in its mother’s arms, no longer coming to You with a “gimme” spirit but instead calmly nestling against Your heart. Help me find quietness and happiness in intimate communion with You. You will be exalted over all the earth, and You have got the details of my day covered. I can rest in You. Amen.