Hardship and Mercy
Our God – the great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love – do not treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us.
“O God, our God, how great you are!
How terrifying, how powerful!
You faithfully keep your covenant promises... Remember how much we have suffered! ~ Nehemiah 9:32 (GNT)
Bartimaeus cried: “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” ~ Mark 10:48b-49 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
We suffer a lot but God is merciful to all who will respond to his calling.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Lord, for calling us to yourself. There is no greater gift than to be with you. There is healing in your presence. Still, I too often try to go it alone -- to tough it out -- to fix the problems myself. It doesn't work but I persist. Free me from my pride and independence. Help me to trust you for healing and restoration. For you are the God who keeps all his promises. You are the God of steadfast love. You are the one I want to be with. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2011 I started posting these Bible verses for my spiritual formation students at Pacific Islands University. In the process of responding to the verses, I found the rhythm of looking for a common thread and writing a prayer based on that key idea to be helpful for my own soul. The prayers are more or less modeled on the TRIP method, which is what I ask my students to do in their journaling. ~ Brad Boydston
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase -- a freestyle biblical adaptation -- somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
