Steadfast Love and Trust
“Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.”
--From an ancient song of trust
Our week concludes with a verse from an old Hebrew hymn. This Psalm is a litany of the many ways God demonstrates steadfast love in all sorts of circumstances. It is as though the writer is concluding the song saying, “OK folks, if you are wise you will look at all these examples and trust in the steadfast love of the Lord.” Psalm 107 is filled with good observations that still ring true today—around 3,000 years later.
Popular writer, Max Lucado, has a deck of cards known as “Comfort Cards.” This 50 card set is a contemporary example echoing the sentiments of the Psalms. Here is a card that seems to incorporate our theme of the week, trust, and our meditation verse for today.
One side of the card says, “You can trust God.” The other side affirms this simple statement with these words; “You are not a candidate for insecurity. You are no longer a client of timidity. He has given His love to you; why don’t you give your doubts to Him?
On the days you don’t feel close to God, trust your faith and not your feelings.”
The steadfast love of God is trustworthy. Have a good day and a good weekend trusting in God’s steadfast love.
A prayer: Watch over me, God. Help me to recognize your steadfast love. Amen.
--Ben Keckler
02.26.10
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Daily Devotion - Thursday, February 25
Leaning, Letting Go and Leaping
“Cast your burden on the Lord,
God will sustain you.
I will trust in the power of God.”
--The Psalm writer, selection from Psalm 55
This week we are dealing with the theme of trust, one of those important characteristics we hope will grow as we take risks in relationships. From time to time, I have cited the writings of Jean Blomquist in these daily devotions. Today, “Trusting Nimbly.” The article is about a hike she took with her husband when they vacationed in Yosemite National Park. On this hike they were to climb to the summit of 10,850 foot Mt. Hoffman. When Jean took time to reflect on the successful ascent, she realized that she had learned three things about trusting. She identified her insights as:
Leaning: She discovered that trust meant leaning on others and on God.
Letting Go: Trust requires surrender of pain, brokenness and being vulnerable.
Leaping: Trust is the meeting point of the already and the not-yet. Sometimes we have to leap to arrive at the not-yet.
A few insights to think about today as we engage in exploring the theme of trust.
A prayer: Show me the moments when leaning is appropriate, when letting go would be helpful, and when leaping is the right alternative. Amen.
--Ben Keckler
02.25.10
“Cast your burden on the Lord,
God will sustain you.
I will trust in the power of God.”
--The Psalm writer, selection from Psalm 55
This week we are dealing with the theme of trust, one of those important characteristics we hope will grow as we take risks in relationships. From time to time, I have cited the writings of Jean Blomquist in these daily devotions. Today, “Trusting Nimbly.” The article is about a hike she took with her husband when they vacationed in Yosemite National Park. On this hike they were to climb to the summit of 10,850 foot Mt. Hoffman. When Jean took time to reflect on the successful ascent, she realized that she had learned three things about trusting. She identified her insights as:
Leaning: She discovered that trust meant leaning on others and on God.
Letting Go: Trust requires surrender of pain, brokenness and being vulnerable.
Leaping: Trust is the meeting point of the already and the not-yet. Sometimes we have to leap to arrive at the not-yet.
A few insights to think about today as we engage in exploring the theme of trust.
A prayer: Show me the moments when leaning is appropriate, when letting go would be helpful, and when leaping is the right alternative. Amen.
--Ben Keckler
02.25.10
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Daily Devotion - Wednesday, February 24
Trusting is Difficult
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
--The prophet Isaiah, 55:8
This week we are dealing with the subject of trust. The capacity for trusting can easily erode right before our eyes. With uncertainty surrounding so many public and private arenas, the heart song of many people these days sings the question, “In whom shall we trust?”
Our currency, both coin and paper, proclaim “In God we trust.” This is a bold, bold statement; a statement we often struggle to reflect in daily living. Today’s text serves to remind us that the thoughts and ways of the Holy are far different than our thoughts and ways. To trust God means accepting friendship with one radically different from us and, at best, mysterious. One writer calls it “naked commitment to live with God’s strangeness.”
How is your trust right now? The constant battle goes on and on and on, doesn’t it? We close today with a little poetic offering by Neva Perdue who penned these words while in a hospital bed and titled them “At Dark’s Edge.”
“and if I
should slip away
a quiet exhalation in time
a moment welling up on the edge of always
trickling without sound or regret
into the darkness of new birth
and if I
let go of your hand
forsaking the tenderness of flesh and eye
for uncharted embrace
will you smile?”
--Ben Keckler
02.24.10
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
--The prophet Isaiah, 55:8
This week we are dealing with the subject of trust. The capacity for trusting can easily erode right before our eyes. With uncertainty surrounding so many public and private arenas, the heart song of many people these days sings the question, “In whom shall we trust?”
Our currency, both coin and paper, proclaim “In God we trust.” This is a bold, bold statement; a statement we often struggle to reflect in daily living. Today’s text serves to remind us that the thoughts and ways of the Holy are far different than our thoughts and ways. To trust God means accepting friendship with one radically different from us and, at best, mysterious. One writer calls it “naked commitment to live with God’s strangeness.”
How is your trust right now? The constant battle goes on and on and on, doesn’t it? We close today with a little poetic offering by Neva Perdue who penned these words while in a hospital bed and titled them “At Dark’s Edge.”
“and if I
should slip away
a quiet exhalation in time
a moment welling up on the edge of always
trickling without sound or regret
into the darkness of new birth
and if I
let go of your hand
forsaking the tenderness of flesh and eye
for uncharted embrace
will you smile?”
--Ben Keckler
02.24.10
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Daily Devotion - Tuesday, February 23
Anxious and Trusting
“Have no anxiety about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
--Paul’s letter to the Philippian church, chapter 4
The opening words of today’s text do not seem appropriate. Anxiety is a natural thing when life is not ordered and controlled. In hospital life we encounter patients and families (and even sometimes one another) whose anxiety levels are high. It seems to me that the helpful, interpretive word for life in places like a hospital might be: “Having anxiety is understandable; letting your anxiety drive you may not be helpful.”
Paul offers an alternative to anxious, tense, stress-filled and self-destructive tendencies. The alternative is not a shield from the uncertainties we face; it is a source of protection when we find our lives disrupted. The alternative is not an exemption; it is a comfort when we find the puzzle difficult. The alternative is not a magical wand for the disturbing condition; it offers a calming effect when everything appears fragile and tenuous. The alternative: “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
This radical alternative can be a most appropriate resource for moments of anxiety. Releasing our requests to God is a statement of trust, releasing our total being into the arms of the Holy One. Such trust can be liberating and empowering.
A prayer: God, whom I trust, I release my anxious inner being to you. Amen.
--Ben Keckler
02.23.10
“Have no anxiety about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
--Paul’s letter to the Philippian church, chapter 4
The opening words of today’s text do not seem appropriate. Anxiety is a natural thing when life is not ordered and controlled. In hospital life we encounter patients and families (and even sometimes one another) whose anxiety levels are high. It seems to me that the helpful, interpretive word for life in places like a hospital might be: “Having anxiety is understandable; letting your anxiety drive you may not be helpful.”
Paul offers an alternative to anxious, tense, stress-filled and self-destructive tendencies. The alternative is not a shield from the uncertainties we face; it is a source of protection when we find our lives disrupted. The alternative is not an exemption; it is a comfort when we find the puzzle difficult. The alternative is not a magical wand for the disturbing condition; it offers a calming effect when everything appears fragile and tenuous. The alternative: “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
This radical alternative can be a most appropriate resource for moments of anxiety. Releasing our requests to God is a statement of trust, releasing our total being into the arms of the Holy One. Such trust can be liberating and empowering.
A prayer: God, whom I trust, I release my anxious inner being to you. Amen.
--Ben Keckler
02.23.10
Monday, February 22, 2010
Daily Devotion - Monday, February 22
Trusting God Who Is Often Disguised
“Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”
--Psalm 143. 8
Jean-Pierre de Caussade wrote Abandonment to Divine Providence. The book is a collection of letters that fall under the general theme of “trusting God who is often disguised.” These days the frequent ring of conversation focuses on the seemingly unending snowfalls of 2010. As is always the case, there are a variety of ways to view our long, white winter.
The snowfalls have been heavy and there have been many aching shoulders and backs. It is easy to complain. But the heavy snow also created a wonderful picture when the snow descended in its downward dance to rest on the welcoming pine tree limbs. It could be called one of those “disguises” of the Divine.
God comes to us in the present moment, utilizing all sorts of disguises. Some, like the snowfall, can be called wonderful or beautiful. Other disguises have had the label of “misfortune”, “disaster”, “humiliating circumstance”, “a dark moment”, “something ordinary”. Truly God is present in every moment of life. The important thing is learning to trust that reality.
Each of us would love to hear of God’s steadfast love every morning, but some days the disguise looks far different and it is difficult to trust. We struggle with “disguises” that are difficult. We may feel abandoned by the Divine. May we sense God’s steadfast love through the words and deeds we experience. Have a good day and week!
--Ben Keckler
02.22.10
“Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”
--Psalm 143. 8
Jean-Pierre de Caussade wrote Abandonment to Divine Providence. The book is a collection of letters that fall under the general theme of “trusting God who is often disguised.” These days the frequent ring of conversation focuses on the seemingly unending snowfalls of 2010. As is always the case, there are a variety of ways to view our long, white winter.
The snowfalls have been heavy and there have been many aching shoulders and backs. It is easy to complain. But the heavy snow also created a wonderful picture when the snow descended in its downward dance to rest on the welcoming pine tree limbs. It could be called one of those “disguises” of the Divine.
God comes to us in the present moment, utilizing all sorts of disguises. Some, like the snowfall, can be called wonderful or beautiful. Other disguises have had the label of “misfortune”, “disaster”, “humiliating circumstance”, “a dark moment”, “something ordinary”. Truly God is present in every moment of life. The important thing is learning to trust that reality.
Each of us would love to hear of God’s steadfast love every morning, but some days the disguise looks far different and it is difficult to trust. We struggle with “disguises” that are difficult. We may feel abandoned by the Divine. May we sense God’s steadfast love through the words and deeds we experience. Have a good day and week!
--Ben Keckler
02.22.10
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