Day By Day #14

Day by Day #14

MORNING/MIDDAY OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: Luke 4:1–12

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘[Humans] shall not live on bread alone.’”

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:

            “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;

            they will lift you up in their hands,

               so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Devotional

Life is filled with desert experiences, times when we find ourselves in seemingly barren places and susceptible to temptation by the Evil One. These experiences are painful, difficult, and disorienting. This is perhaps nowhere more evident than when we look closely at our family histories and explore their impact on us. We suddenly find ourselves in a desert, wondering how to integrate difficult past experiences into a hopeful future.

Yet Jesus models for us the importance of allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us into and through these places so God can do a profound work in us. Every spiritual journey takes us into the hardest realities of our lives. We are invited by God to surrender to this process and meet the darkness we harbor within. If we refuse to do so, we will inevitably project that darkness outward, making others our enemies. Desert experiences can do a profound work in us—but only with our consent. Note that Jesus goes into the desert “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1), and then emerges from the desert “in the power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14). The desert has deepened and empowered him, making him ready to begin his active ministry.

God uses hard times, sufferings, and trials to produce maturity and greatness in us (James 1:2–4). The key is that we patiently remain with Jesus, trusting God to reveal over the course of our lives a delicate and beautiful pattern visible only in hindsight.

Question to Consider

What is one specific area in your life that God is inviting you to patiently trust him today?

Prayer

Lord, give me the courage to follow you on the unique journey you have for me, even when it leads me into a desert. Help me surrender my need and desire to be in control of people and circumstances. Grant me the power today to simply rest in your arms of love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

MIDDAY/EVENING OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: Genesis 37:17–20; 50:19–21

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” . . .

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Devotional

One of the great wonders of the sovereignty or the “bigness” of God is the way he moves invisibly in and through human affairs. We observe this powerfully in Joseph’s life as he suffers a number of traumatic experiences at the hands of his family and ends up living exiled in Egypt for decades. Even when suffering from one setback after another, Joseph trusts that God is somehow leading him into a larger purpose. Scholar Walter Brueggemann writes:

The theme of the Joseph narrative concerns God’s hidden and decisive power which works in and through but also against human forms of power. . . . The theme is that God is working out his purpose through and in spite of Egypt, through and in spite of Joseph and his brothers. . . . The evil plans of human folks do not defeat God’s purpose. Instead, they unwittingly become ways in which God’s plan is furthered.^a

Phillips Brooks, a seventeenth-century American preacher, summarized God’s redemptive work this way:

You must let God teach you the only way to get rid of your past is to make a future out of it. God will waste nothing.^b

God never discards any of our past when we surrender ourselves to him. He is the Lord God Almighty! He fashions every mistake, sin, and detour we take in the journey of life into a future of blessings. Much of how God accomplishes this remains a mystery. We are simply invited to trust his goodness and love.

Question to Consider

What hopes and dreams come to mind when you consider that God wastes nothing?

Prayer

Father, I trust in your goodness and love today. You placed me in my particular family in a particular place and moment in human history. All that I have, I have received from you (1 Corinthians 4:7). While I cannot see all you see, I rest in your love and trust in your power today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

^a Walter Brueggemann, Genesis: Interpretation Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982), 293, 376.

^b Phillips Brooks, The Candle of the Lord and Other Sermons, Second Series (New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1910), 10.