Monday, March 22
James De Koven, Priest (1879)
PSALMS 31:3
Since you are my rock and fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me. NIV
God is truly merciful, but he does not shield us from adversity. Psalms 31 reminds us that pain and suffering is part of life. It is so easy to be grateful to God when things go our way, but it is through pain that we have the opportunity to get closer to God. God knows our pain. He sees it all. Yet, we cannot always understand our own pain. We ask “Why me?” or “How will I manage?” We can become despondent. However, when we accept that pain is part of God’s plan for us we can turn to Him for mercy and understanding.
Our Lenten walk is a time to examine our sorrows and fears, being particularly mindful of any troubles that we have brought on ourselves through sin. What keeps us awake at night? What or who do we fear? Who are our enemies or critics? What have we done to dishonor God? When we identify our troubles, we can then look to God and say as David said, “My times are in your hands.” We must accept that God controls everything about us. In doing so, we can embrace and live His plan for us. We are at peace.
The way of man is not in himself, nor in our friend's hands, nor in our enemies' hands, but in God's.
Ellen DeSanctis