Today's Meditation
Read:
Romans 8:15b-27
When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
To be truthful, this has been a difficult personal week for me as I'm sure it has been for the rest of you. I'm not used to sitting at home. I'm used to putting my energy into "figuring things out", even when life throws me something unpleasant, difficult, painful. Two days ago the meditation was to sit with one word as a prayer, and yesterday to live into the darkness. That proved to me harder than I thought. My anxiety wants to say, "Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled program" and get back to the ways things were.
In pondering this, I thought about Lent (our regularly scheduled program) and what Lent means. Lent is a wilderness journey. Lent is a holy season that is set apart not for a time to dwell on our own sinfulness or to make our lives more difficult by "giving things up" or practicing penitence. It's also not a time to prove our worth to God or to make sure that we're "good enough" by the time Easter comes (Side note: Who knows when we'll celebrate Easter as a community?) But Lent is a season of the wilderness journey. And who could have predicted the kind of wilderness we would be navigating? It is a great time to listen to God's Spirit speaking to our spirits. What is God leading you to do? Where is God leading you? In this wilderness there's a great opportunity to close our mouths and open our ears, to hear how God might already be whispering the next chapter of our lives and our story.
If anything, this can be a great wilderness moment. Learn from it. Take in all that this wilderness has to offer. Because when we emerge out onto the other side of this unknown, we'll have become something different than what we now are. The wilderness could shape us to become bitter and full of apathy, but it could also shape us for a bright and better future. But honestly, it will be up to us and our willingness to listen that will make all the difference.
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