Today’s readings: Click on today’s date at http://www.usccb.org/bible/
God touches us and makes us whole
Monday, March 16, 2015
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Psalm 30:4-6
Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name! For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but there is joy in the morning. When I felt secure, I said,  “I will never be shaken.”
I look up into the nearly evening sky and see new buds all over the tiny branches of our maple tree. Silhouetted against the sky, they will turn to leaves in the coming sunshine this week and next.
At my mom’s house in Lincoln this morning, I opened the door to the sound of thousands of starlings. Hundreds, anyway. Like the maple buds, they lined the branches of several trees and sang their spring song over and over. They have come to those particular trees year after year. Before my parents built their home in 1976 on the foundation of Dad’s parents’ house, the starlings came.
When I feel secure I say, “I will never be shaken.” There are solid growing buds in me, and they will absorb the sun and become green with life. Over and over the Bible pleads with us to rejoice in the certainty of life in God. We will see the goodness of the Lord, and always there is joy in the morning.
Grief, loss, death, pain, suffering, fear are as real as the joy. They break into my life and sometimes seem to be on the verge of breaking me. So I have developed a reflexive opening to my prayers, “Thank you, Lord.”
Sometimes I feel confused at this point, because I am praying about grief or pain or fear. I might backtrack a step, but the prayer of gratitude remains. Sustained by God’s touch, God’s presence, God’s good word.
His favor lasts a lifetime. Joy comes in the morning. All the time. God is good.
Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King. We seek your face Lord – do not let us be put to shame. We lie down and sleep in safety, and awaken full of rest, for the earth and all that’s in it belong to you, O Lord. And it is good. Every day you make all things new.
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1360
